_______________________________________________________
The Sun Herald, Sunday, June 13, 2004:
Lively anecdotes keep book afloat
by Eric Nye
Mississippians tired of seeing their state ranked last in survey after survey will find solace in its
"backwardness" after reading Scott B. Williams' "Exploring Coastal Mississippi."
Being underdeveloped, the Magnolia State possesses not only the nation's most unspoiled river, the
Pascagoula, but also its most pristine barrier islands.
"Mississippi's islands are quite distant from the mainland," Williams writes. "This and Mississippi's
poor economy have saved them from being connected by causeways and developed as tourists resorts
like those of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas."
Out of this happy coincidence grows the premise for Williams' book.
"The distance from shore that discouraged commercial development of these islands makes them
perfect for exploration by anyone with a boat capable of reaching them," he writes.
Williams couldn't have written this guide to Mississippi's marine waters and islands at a more propitious
time. As pointed out in a recent Sun Herald editorial, the Coast's population has tripled in the past 50
years, and hundreds more people visit the islands by boat today than when artist Walter Anderson
sought solitude there in the 1950's.
More boaters means a higher likelihood of accidents. As a result, every boater heading for a weekend
of fun on Ship Island should read "Exploring Coastal Mississippi" as a safety precaution, if nothing else.
By Williams' account, the biggest threat to boaters comes not from the island's alligators, sharks and
cottonmouth snakes, but from the boater's own lackadaisical attitude toward safety.
Williams, an experienced sailor and kayaker, devotes an entire chapter to regional weather, navigation
and safety, showing through personal experience how quickly a simple day trip to the islands can turn to
disaster when a boater is unprepared.
Williams' lively anecdotes keep his book afloat; most of the time, anyway. The book is divided into three
parts. The first covers Coast history, water safety, boat selection and recreation. The second takes
readers on a tour of coastal bays and rivers, starting at the Pearl River and working east toward the
Pascagoula. The third leads readers back along the islands to the starting point.
The book's main weakness lies in Part 2 where anecdotes about the Pearl River, St. Louis Bay, Back
Bay of Biloxi, and Pascagoula River run dry and the narrative lapses into a set of steering instructions.
In addition to more stories, a map of each bay and river would be welcome here. Instead, readers must
rely on the books single, small-scale map of the entire Coast on Page 2. Astute readers will blame the
editor, not the author, for these oversights. By the time the book loses steam, Williams has earned our
forgiveness by admitting his own fallibility, showing us a less hurried way of life and by telling good sea
stories, especially in Part 1.
Williams redeems himself in Part 3. Clearly, his heart belongs to the islands. His descriptions of sailing
to them in his 26-foot sailboat and paddling across the Sound in a sea kayak make the reader yearn to
escape the hectic mainland and follow him.
Describing a kayak trip to Horn Island, Williams says, "I rounded a sandy point and came upon three
full-grown alligators stretched out on the open beach like sunbathing tourists."
Anyone who writes that well deserves a following.
_______________________________________________________________________________
__
The McComb Enterprise-Journal, Sunday, July 4, 2004
New guidebook profiles Gulf Coast
by Ernest Herndon
One recent Friday I had to go to Gulfport on business, and I hated it. The traffic, billboards, the
development, the casinos drove me up a wall.
I concluded my business before noon and could have spent the rest of the day sightseeing, but I actually
chose to go back to the office and work rather than stay down there.
On Saturday I settled into my hammock with a copy of a new book, "Exploring Coastal Mississippi" by
Scott B. Williams of Brandon. After reading about French explorers, Biloxi schooners, deserted islands,
mysterious bayous and quaint shops, I was ready to buy a sailboat and move to the coast.
Such is the power of a good book. Such is the power of "Exploring Coastal Mississippi," published this
year by University Press of Mississippi.
As readers of this page likely know, Scott is my longtime paddling buddy. We've canoed, kayaked, and
camped all over creation, and he's even coaxed me into sailing a few times.
We started canoeing together in the late 1980's, but unlike me, Scott wasn't content with just paddling
rivers. He got into sea kayaking and made a couple of epic solo journeys: from Florida to the Virgin
Islands, and down the Mississippi River.
Next he delved into boat-building, then sailing. Now he has a live-aboard sailboat docked at a marina in
Biloxi for his frequent visits to the Coast.
Scott also happens to be a talented writer, and has written for magazines such as Sea Kayaker, Canoe
& Kayak, and Mississippi Outdoors. So it was only natural for him to put his knowledge of the Gulf
Coast into a guidebook.
`"Exploring Coastal Mississippi: A Guide to the Marine Waters and Islands" (softcover, illustrated, $22)
has 240 pages of detailed information on boating and other travel spiced with colorful anecdotes. The
book is divided into three parts: general information; the mainland, bays and rivers; and the barrier
islands.
Scott keeps his focus broad enough that anyone interested in the coast and its natural wonders can find
much to appreciate. It's also useful to seasoned boaters.
"Fifteen years of countless trips to the islands and explorations of the coastal rivers have led to putting
what I have learned of the area into this book." Scott writes in the introduction. "The more I traveled to
other islands and coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as parts of the Caribbean, the more I
realized how hard it would be to find anything to rival what Mississippi's natural coastal areas have to
offer."
He called the state's barrier islands "perhaps the most remote and unspoiled of any along the Gulf
Coast, from the Florida Keys to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico."
The book is chockful of Scott's own adventure stories: getting stormbound on an island without sufficient
food and water; encountering big alligators on the beach; springing a leak in his kayak offshore while a
buddy (me) capsizes; getting his sailboat stuck in shallows miles offshore; and being swept away from
the boat by strong currents.
He could easily write a book just about his adventures - and it just so happens he has. His second book,
tentatively titled "From Black Creek to the Bitter End," is due out next year from University Press. It's
Scott's first-person account of his kayak journey across the Caribbean.
Although I'm not crazy about sea kayaks, I have no doubt I'll be ready to paddle one into the sunset after
reading that book.
The Sun Herald, Sunday, June 13, 2004:
Lively anecdotes keep book afloat
by Eric Nye
Mississippians tired of seeing their state ranked last in survey after survey will find solace in its
"backwardness" after reading Scott B. Williams' "Exploring Coastal Mississippi."
Being underdeveloped, the Magnolia State possesses not only the nation's most unspoiled river, the
Pascagoula, but also its most pristine barrier islands.
"Mississippi's islands are quite distant from the mainland," Williams writes. "This and Mississippi's
poor economy have saved them from being connected by causeways and developed as tourists resorts
like those of Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas."
Out of this happy coincidence grows the premise for Williams' book.
"The distance from shore that discouraged commercial development of these islands makes them
perfect for exploration by anyone with a boat capable of reaching them," he writes.
Williams couldn't have written this guide to Mississippi's marine waters and islands at a more propitious
time. As pointed out in a recent Sun Herald editorial, the Coast's population has tripled in the past 50
years, and hundreds more people visit the islands by boat today than when artist Walter Anderson
sought solitude there in the 1950's.
More boaters means a higher likelihood of accidents. As a result, every boater heading for a weekend
of fun on Ship Island should read "Exploring Coastal Mississippi" as a safety precaution, if nothing else.
By Williams' account, the biggest threat to boaters comes not from the island's alligators, sharks and
cottonmouth snakes, but from the boater's own lackadaisical attitude toward safety.
Williams, an experienced sailor and kayaker, devotes an entire chapter to regional weather, navigation
and safety, showing through personal experience how quickly a simple day trip to the islands can turn to
disaster when a boater is unprepared.
Williams' lively anecdotes keep his book afloat; most of the time, anyway. The book is divided into three
parts. The first covers Coast history, water safety, boat selection and recreation. The second takes
readers on a tour of coastal bays and rivers, starting at the Pearl River and working east toward the
Pascagoula. The third leads readers back along the islands to the starting point.
The book's main weakness lies in Part 2 where anecdotes about the Pearl River, St. Louis Bay, Back
Bay of Biloxi, and Pascagoula River run dry and the narrative lapses into a set of steering instructions.
In addition to more stories, a map of each bay and river would be welcome here. Instead, readers must
rely on the books single, small-scale map of the entire Coast on Page 2. Astute readers will blame the
editor, not the author, for these oversights. By the time the book loses steam, Williams has earned our
forgiveness by admitting his own fallibility, showing us a less hurried way of life and by telling good sea
stories, especially in Part 1.
Williams redeems himself in Part 3. Clearly, his heart belongs to the islands. His descriptions of sailing
to them in his 26-foot sailboat and paddling across the Sound in a sea kayak make the reader yearn to
escape the hectic mainland and follow him.
Describing a kayak trip to Horn Island, Williams says, "I rounded a sandy point and came upon three
full-grown alligators stretched out on the open beach like sunbathing tourists."
Anyone who writes that well deserves a following.
_______________________________________________________________________________
__
The McComb Enterprise-Journal, Sunday, July 4, 2004
New guidebook profiles Gulf Coast
by Ernest Herndon
One recent Friday I had to go to Gulfport on business, and I hated it. The traffic, billboards, the
development, the casinos drove me up a wall.
I concluded my business before noon and could have spent the rest of the day sightseeing, but I actually
chose to go back to the office and work rather than stay down there.
On Saturday I settled into my hammock with a copy of a new book, "Exploring Coastal Mississippi" by
Scott B. Williams of Brandon. After reading about French explorers, Biloxi schooners, deserted islands,
mysterious bayous and quaint shops, I was ready to buy a sailboat and move to the coast.
Such is the power of a good book. Such is the power of "Exploring Coastal Mississippi," published this
year by University Press of Mississippi.
As readers of this page likely know, Scott is my longtime paddling buddy. We've canoed, kayaked, and
camped all over creation, and he's even coaxed me into sailing a few times.
We started canoeing together in the late 1980's, but unlike me, Scott wasn't content with just paddling
rivers. He got into sea kayaking and made a couple of epic solo journeys: from Florida to the Virgin
Islands, and down the Mississippi River.
Next he delved into boat-building, then sailing. Now he has a live-aboard sailboat docked at a marina in
Biloxi for his frequent visits to the Coast.
Scott also happens to be a talented writer, and has written for magazines such as Sea Kayaker, Canoe
& Kayak, and Mississippi Outdoors. So it was only natural for him to put his knowledge of the Gulf
Coast into a guidebook.
`"Exploring Coastal Mississippi: A Guide to the Marine Waters and Islands" (softcover, illustrated, $22)
has 240 pages of detailed information on boating and other travel spiced with colorful anecdotes. The
book is divided into three parts: general information; the mainland, bays and rivers; and the barrier
islands.
Scott keeps his focus broad enough that anyone interested in the coast and its natural wonders can find
much to appreciate. It's also useful to seasoned boaters.
"Fifteen years of countless trips to the islands and explorations of the coastal rivers have led to putting
what I have learned of the area into this book." Scott writes in the introduction. "The more I traveled to
other islands and coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico, as well as parts of the Caribbean, the more I
realized how hard it would be to find anything to rival what Mississippi's natural coastal areas have to
offer."
He called the state's barrier islands "perhaps the most remote and unspoiled of any along the Gulf
Coast, from the Florida Keys to the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico."
The book is chockful of Scott's own adventure stories: getting stormbound on an island without sufficient
food and water; encountering big alligators on the beach; springing a leak in his kayak offshore while a
buddy (me) capsizes; getting his sailboat stuck in shallows miles offshore; and being swept away from
the boat by strong currents.
He could easily write a book just about his adventures - and it just so happens he has. His second book,
tentatively titled "From Black Creek to the Bitter End," is due out next year from University Press. It's
Scott's first-person account of his kayak journey across the Caribbean.
Although I'm not crazy about sea kayaks, I have no doubt I'll be ready to paddle one into the sunset after
reading that book.
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Scott's Boat Pages
Home page of Author, Boatbuilder, and
Adventurer Scott B. Williams
Home page of Author, Boatbuilder, and
Adventurer Scott B. Williams
Website Design by Scott B. Williams, Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved. No Part of this website or its written content, photos,
etc., may be used without permission. Contact Scott B. Williams, webmaster.
etc., may be used without permission. Contact Scott B. Williams, webmaster.