Product Description

Andromeda Romano-Lax, with her husband and two children, set out to explore the dazzling waters of the Sea of Cortez in a 24-foot sailboat. Inspired by Steinbeck’s famous 1940 book The Log from the Sea of Cortez, the author quickly proves herself an experienced and lyrical guide to one of North America’s most unusual and rugged places. Her vivid descriptions of the abundant marine life turn readers into armchair naturalists. An encounter with a mentally unbalanced skipper, a baseball game with local villagers, and a kayaking trip in a violent storm are among the adventures — and misadventures — Romano-Lax chronicles here. Including a map, a delightful blend of adventure, science, and philosophy, Searching for Steinbeck’s Sea of Cortez is a memorable trip to some of the most biologically diverse waters in the world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #843512 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Library Journal
Imagine hitchhiking in Baja's wilderness with a pair of toddlers in tow, then packing them into a sea kayak on the Sea of Cortez. Clearly, Romano-Lax, the author of several guidebooks to Alaska, where she resides, has a nonchalant and intrepid attitude toward travel. With her husband and two children (one still in diapers), she sets out on a journey in search of the tide pools explored by John Steinbeck and Ed Ricketts 60 years ago. Her goal is to duplicate the route described in Steinbeck's The Log from the Sea of Cortez in a small sailboat captained by her mentally unstable brother-in-law. The captain jumps ship midway through the expedition, leaving the hardy family to continue by foot, rental car, bus, and charter boats as they make their way around the shores of the Sea of Cortez. Two months later, the journey ends in Guaymas with the travelers out of funds and both children recovering from minor (but frightening) injuries. This, though, is only half of Romano-Lax's story. The reader travels with Steinbeck and Ricketts as well, in combination with the author's own observations of the invertebrates that inhabit the shoreline of Baja's inland sea. There's sufficient information here for any naturalist, environmentalist, or trekker considering a similar journey to explore this little-known part of North America. The omission of photos is an unfortunate drawback. For most public and academic libraries. Janet Ross, formerly with Sparks Branch Lib., NV
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Motivated by John Steinbeck's 1941 book, Log from the Sea of Cortez, Romano-Lax, with her husband and two young children, completed a two-month, 4,000-mile journey in a 24-foot sailboat piloted by the author's brother-in-law. Mexico's Gulf of California, known locally by the more romantic sounding Sea of Cortez, is off the east coast of Baja California. The author recalls seeing schools of fish and stingrays, crabs, clams, mussels, and blue damselfish, to name just a few, and she describes the sheltered pools housing hundreds of tiny sea urchins. She observed pelicans, gulls, ravens, frigate birds, and sea lions, and she chronicles her trek through mangroves along the shore. She writes, too, of the oppressive tropical heat and seasickness, of trying to catch a fish for their supper, and she describes the arduous task of making a simple pot of coffee as the boat bobbed during a storm. Readers will find this a captivating guide to an extraordinary place. George Cohen
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

The Sea of Cortez - Searching for the spirit of Ed Ricketts
This was a great read! I have been to many of the places in the late 1960s and early 1970s that Romano-Lax visited, and I can vouch for the accuracy of her descriptions. I admire her courage (or possibly foolhardiness) in going on such an odyssey with her husband, two young children and a mentally questionable captain who also happened to be her brother-in-law. Oddly, I can identify with being with a mentally deranged person in Baja California. I was also in that same fix in 1968 when I joined a zoology field trip to San Felipe, Baja California Norte, only to find that one of my companions was seriously depressed to the point of being suicidal (it later turned out that he was on drugs). Travel to the Sea of Cortez seems to result in such strange associations.

I used to own an old copy of Steinbeck and Ricketts that I had been given for cleaning up a storage shed. It was the only book in the shed and I was surprised to find it. I fingered through Ed Ricketts' descriptions and photographs of porcelain crabs and murex shells. I read the text and pondered Steinbeck's philosophical diatribes. But most of all it made me want to go to Baja. Within a few years of my discovery of the book I traveled to northern Baja three times and later made an extensive trip as far south as La Paz in Baja Sur. Despite the problems, Baja left its mark on me and I never regretted any time that I spent there. My main grief is that I missed a trip to Cabo San Lucas in 1971 that I had an opportunity to take.

The mangroves, the beauties and problems of Bahia Concepción, Mullegé, La Paz, Loreto, the Colorado River delta and Golfo de Santa Clara are well known to me and Romano-Lax has described each of these so well that I almost felt that I was back on the beach smelling the salt air and watching v-shaped formations of pelicans as they seemed to float almost effortlessly over the surging tide.

Ed Ricketts would have approved of this book. Although he never liked to get his head wet, he was apparently most alive when wading in the surf and tidepools. In some ways this book is more a tribute to him than to John Steinbeck, but in this case you really can't separate them.

If you are at all interested in the sea and/or Baja California, you need to read "Searching for Steinbeck's Sea of Cortez: A Makeshift Expedition along Baja's Desert Coast." It is the next best thing to going there yourself!

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Steinbeck (and Ed Ricketts) would love it.
This is an ambitious book, well done. Its special beauty comes from Romano-Lax's ability to weave together so many elements into an enticing, captivating whole. There's the travel narrative, of course, with a string of adventures (and misadventures) involving her family -- including 5-year-old son Aryeh and 2-year-old daughter Tziporah -- and the challenges presented by an increasingly unstable brother-in-law who's also their boat's captain. There's the literary element, presenting new perspectives on John Steinbeck's Sea of Cortez explorations with buddy Ed Ricketts and fresh insights into their relationship. Toss in science, natural history, environmental issues, glimpses of Baja California's rich culture, and marvelous descriptions that give a strong sense of place. Then add in Romano-Lax's search for answers, her desire to understand how the Sea of Cortez has changed since Steinbeck's time, and, finally, her own shifting perspectives on what it means to know a place (or "know" anything) -- and the many ways of knowing. In the end, Romano-Lax's travels are multi-dimensional: across the Sea of Cortez, through time, and -- perhaps most important of all -- internally. The trip was well worth taking and I savored it from start to finish.

Author is a whiner - it's tiresome - and there's NO INDEX
I agree with another reviewer who stated that the continual and constant trashing of the author's brother-in-law gets old real quick. But to make matters worse - she has a whining attitude about almost everything. Read Sparky's book - good tales by a contemporary who was on the cruise with Steinbeck. Worst of all - THE BOOK HAS NO INDEX - no way of looking up place names, creature names, etc. It's worthless as an on-the-spot guide.