Connie reminded me of another great Grand Banks adventure, Rudyard Kipling's "Captain's Courageous", which tells the story of a spoiled brat who falls overboard from an Atlantic liner, is picked up by a Gloucester fishing schooner, the "We're Here" and becomes a man under her hard but fair captain, Disco Troop. Good for another long winter evening, as is the movie with Spencer Tracy. Great sea photography of racing schooners, heavy weather, and lots of fish. Enjoy, Rick M17 #633 Lynne L On Friday, January 9, 2015, Conbert Benneck <chbenneck@gmail.com> wrote:
If we can't go sailing in this arctic weather at least a good sailing yarn read in front of a nice fire in a fireplace would make up partially for the lack of the real thing.
As a boy of about 8 my doctor presented me with a copy of "OUT OF GLOUCESTER" by James Connolly. He knew that I built and sailed model boats, so thought that I would enjoy this book I still have the original copy, and reread it every few years again and again. It's a real "keeper" for a sailor.
It has a series of stores about the Grand Banks fishermen and their schooners sailing out of Gloucester, and when there holds were full of cod or mackerel would then race each other to T Wharf in Boston, with the first schooner to arrive getting the best prices for their catch.
Reading these stories is what made a lifelong sailor out of me.
The description of the races among the schooners; run-ins with Canadian Authorities who confiscated their boats for fishing in Canadian waters, and how they escaped, will have you sitting on the edge of your chair; will they make it back to US water or will the Canadian revenue cutters catch them again?
In looking at Google, I find that copies of the book can be found on AMAZON, and that you can read the stories on your computer via the text that the New York Public Library copied and made available on the Internet.
Pour some rum into your hot tea, sit in front of the warm fire, and go sailing with the big boys.... It sure beats what's on the Boob Tube.
Then you'll also know why my Boucher schooner, that I sailed at the Conservatory Lake in Central Park, New York was named the "LUCY FOSTER"
Happy reading
Connie