Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

The Accidental Captain is a non-fiction memoir written by Glenn Patron. When Patron's father moved his young family out to Long Island, he had no idea of the impact living in Great Neck, which is surrounded on three sides by water, would have on his young son. Patron was an uninspired student who just didn't have much ambition for achieving the academic success his father expected of him. While his dad had little or no interest in the water himself, he understood the pull it was exerting on his son. For Patron's Bar Mitzvah, his dad made the offer of a small sailboat. The conditions were simple: he would buy the boat, but it would remain on land until his son improved his grades. That little Blue Jay stayed landlocked for over a year. Glenn would spend his hours out there on his little boat until his father, realizing that those good grades were just not going to happen, sold the boat. Glenn never did have that moment he dreamed of, captaining his little sailboat, but that maritime dream still kept hold of his imagination.

Glenn Patron's non-fiction memoir, The Accidental Captain, is filled with travel, adventure and the many mishaps that inevitably occur when learning a skill by doing. This memoir is filled with stories about both the author's love of the sea and his ability to somehow, some way, make the most impossible situations work out, and work out brilliantly. I couldn't stop laughing as I saw the picture of him sitting and smiling dressed in full yachting apparel in his little Blue Jay as it sat in his backyard, and I knew right then that this would be an entertaining read. Patron doesn't take himself seriously, which is a good thing, and he shares both his triumphs and total lapses of judgement with a wry candor which is quite refreshing. His writing style is smooth and conversational, and I enjoyed every moment I spent reading about his maritime adventures. The Accidental Captain is most highly recommended.