Call of the North Wind:
Voyages & Adventures on Lake Superior
by Marlin Bree

Reviewed by Gloria Peck

Call of the North Wind reminded me of it’s predecessor, In the Teeth of the Northeaster. Both relate many Lake Superior stories about people and ships of today and the recent and distant past. These stories are told in the context of Bree’s current sailing adventures on Lake Superior. It differs from In the Teeth of the Northeaster in that Bree’s current trips are more mellow, trips that many of his readers can and do take. The first half of the book is devoted to sailing and musing on Persistence, the little wooden boat he built and took on the wild solo voyage halfway around Lake Superior in 1984. In the last half of the book, he is aboard a thirty-five foot catamaran, Tullamore Dew.

The book held my interest because Bree’s portrayals are great, not only of the people he meets and the historical figures whose life vignettes he recounts, but also of himself. As an ordinary person who bumbles through life, it’s refreshing for me to read a book in which the author has the humility to relate a story about forgetting his wallet on a store counter and dropping his motor in the water. Reading his first person accounts makes the book come to life for me.

Bree likes people. He says “I seldom meet a sailboater I do not like....” His writing shows it. His historical accounts are lively, fascinating, and respectful of the persons in the story. Sailors will like the adventures and history buffs will like the historical drama.

“Call of the North Wind” is available from Northern Breezes $16.95 + $3 SH. Call 612-542-9707 or click To Order

About Sailing Breezes Magazine
Please send us your comments!!

All contents are copyright (c) 1997 by Northern Breezes, Inc. All information contained within is deemed reliable but carries no guarantees. Reproduction of any part or whole of this publication in any form by mechanical or electronic means, including information retrieval is prohibited except by consent of the publisher.