Two Years Before the Mast


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

(4.5 stars; 112 reviews)

While there are many books upon the subject of sea life, there are few that can compare with Two Years Before the Mast. It is the story of a sailor's life from the forecastle, not a captain, nor a passenger, but a regular hand. The book was a great favorite with the jack tar of Dana's day, and two thousand copies are said to have been sold to Liverpool sailors in a single day. Even those who haven't the faintest idea what reefing topsail is, or which is starboard and which larboard, will find it an engaging story of an era long past told in simple narrative style. (Summary by BethAnne)

Dedicated Proof-Listener: Gesine & Rapunzelina
Meta-Coordinator/Cataloging: Jc Guan & TriciaG
(17 hr 41 min)

Chapters

Preface 5:10 Read by BethAnne
Departure 5:48 Read by BethAnne
First Impressions 16:21 Read by BethAnne
Ship's Duties 14:14 Read by BethAnne
Sundays At Sea 18:40 Read by BethAnne
Cape Horn 23:41 Read by BethAnne
Loss of a Man 12:19 Read by BethAnne
Juan Fernandez 16:55 Read by BethAnne
Daily Life 14:00 Read by BethAnne
Santa Barbra 20:21 Read by BethAnne
A South Easter 11:37 Read by BethAnne
Passage Up the Coast 13:12 Read by BethAnne
Monterey 7:33 Read by BethAnne
Trading At Monterey 27:01 Read by BethAnne
Discontent 32:00 Read by BethAnne
Flogging, Part 1 19:57 Read by BethAnne
Flogging, Part 2 18:28 Read by BethAnne
Liberty Day on Shore 21:03 Read by BethAnne
San Diego 19:37 Read by BethAnne
Easter Sunday, Part 1 19:27 Read by BethAnne
Easter Sunday, Part 2 17:27 Read by BethAnne
Sandwich-Islanders, Part 1 20:05 Read by BethAnne
Sandwich-Islanders, Part 2 19:58 Read by BethAnne
New Comers 23:07 Read by BethAnne
California and its Inhabitants 15:40 Read by BethAnne
The Alert 16:22 Read by BethAnne
New Ship and Shipmates, Part 1 25:53 Read by BethAnne
New Ship and Shipmates, Part 2 23:50 Read by BethAnne
San Diego Again 19:20 Read by BethAnne
Rumours of War, Part 1 23:10 Read by BethAnne
Rumours of War, Part 2 21:56 Read by BethAnne
San Francisco 22:25 Read by BethAnne
A Fandango 28:11 Read by BethAnne
News From Home 35:07 Read by BethAnne
Loading for Home, Part 1 24:48 Read by BethAnne
Loading for Home, Part 2 34:34 Read by BethAnne
Homeward Bound 32:29 Read by BethAnne
Bad Prospects, Part 1 29:18 Read by BethAnne
Bad Prospects, Part 2 30:58 Read by BethAnne
Doubling Cape Horn 29:05 Read by BethAnne
Northward Ho! 28:15 Read by BethAnne
Nearing Home 20:55 Read by BethAnne
More Stirring Incidents 24:43 Read by BethAnne
Hurrah for Yankee Land! 24:29 Read by BethAnne
Original Concluding Chapter, Part 1 23:46 Read by BethAnne
Original Concluding Chapter, Part 2 25:20 Read by BethAnne
Epilogue, Part 1 30:47 Read by BethAnne
Epilogue, Part 2 27:48 Read by TriciaG
Epilogue Part 3 24:22 Read by TriciaG

Reviews

I feel as if I've been there


(5 stars)

All the descriptive detail leaves one feeling as if they were there. Daily journal entries highlight the unrelenting respect for authority required by everyman under the captain for survival. Day after day cowling and succumbing to unrelenting work schedules and lack of sleep.The shipmates supreme luxury being a full nights sleep. This book is true food for the soul for anyone with any salt in their blood. One can feel the excitement of the return home and the completion of the task. Conclusions and epilogues highlight the interest in returning to California shortly after and seeing tremendous change. Magnificent, worth the second read. Ahoy Dana, if you hear me, Bravo and thank you. The sticks


(5 stars)

I really liked her voice. She is smart and the story is great!. This story will explain everything that went on aboard a Sailing vessel back in the old days haha.

Excellent! We're not worthy, wonderful volunteers


(5 stars)

Thanks, most enjoyable addition to the archives!


(5 stars)

The reader for the content of the book was overall great! However...when I came to the epilogue two and three, I was incensed to hear an AI voice reading. It will NEVER be able to replace a human. It has not the voice inflection nor emotion to be capable to do this!! Please do not allow this on your site. It is a dumbing down of humanity to allow this to go on.

Decent Recording


(4 stars)

A compelling history, complete with contemporary social commentary, read with great spirit and good inflection. A few common English words are consistently mispronounced, the Latin could be a more clearly enunciated, but most of all the recording is a bit soft and the epilog needs to be revisited by the original reader (please!)

A Classic - and true - Sea Story


(5 stars)

A classic tale of life on a sailing ship from the perspective of a common seaman. Really really good. Although I initially questioned that such a work would be read by a woman, she was an excellent reader and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her. Well done...

A true classic. It hasn't lost any appeal in 180 years.


(5 stars)

I don't get the bad reviews. BethAnne put a lot of effort into this reading including some dramatic reading of dialogue. A soothing voice and cute accent add to the enjoyment too. I would listen to it over again.


(3 stars)

I concur that a male voice would lend more credibility to the story, as well as one who can read entire sentences instead of fragments. These distract from the amazing account of sailing a merchant vessel and requires the listener to constantly mentally connect and correct the spoken words.