BOOKS A NEW CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY OF THE SEAi
SEA VENTURE: The Downing Wreck Revisited, by A. Mardis, Jr., tells the exciting story of the flagship of the 1609 Virginia Relief Fleet her Ille and death struggle with ahurricane, her sinking off Bermuda. her rediscovery . and Identification. Pub. by Fathom Eight $8.75 per copy postpaid. Conn. residents add 7V2% tax. ADVENTURE BOOKS. Dept Hl 2 Coachmen's Square, New Canaan. Conn. 06840 Send _ __ copies of SEA VENTUR E. Attached Is my check or money order for '"-----~
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INTERNATIONAL TUG ENTHUSIASTS SOCIETY Apart from a monthly Dutch version we now publish 6 ti mes a ye ar fo f the tug enthusiasts abroad a special English issue of our magazine Lekko. Write for a free copy and full details. Subscri ption rates: G. Brit. : ÂŁ8/yr, Belgium: B. Frs. 600/yr, Germany: DM 36/yr. Send lnt'I Postal money order to " l.T.E.S." to: Tony van Bussel c/o Graan voor Visch 19915, 2132 WR Hoofddorp The Netherlands.
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Ferryboats-A Legend on Puget Sound, by Mary Kline & George Bayless (Bayless Books, Seattle, 1983, 400pp, $39.95). The history of the Northwest is inextricab ly li nked with its waterways , and whi le seago ing vessels, with thei r perceived romance, have captured most of the historian's attention, it was the munda ne and commonplace steamer and ferry that did so much , day in and day out , to develop the region. Here forthe first time is an authoritati ve examination of the vi tal part these smaller vessels played in transporting people, freight, and fina ll y the automobile. The au thors, both with backgrounds in maritime history, are well qualified to produce such a work . Kl ine has been director of Northwest Seaport , while Bayless has long been active in local sh ip preservation efforts. Their mutual enthusiasm for the subject , which has created virtually a labor of love, shows throughout. Bayless purchased the extensive photo and document collection of the late Wm. Thomiley, public re lations man for Puget Sound Navigation Company, and it is this collection which provides the framework for their research efforts . The authors have compiled a tremendous amount of data and presented it wisely, without getting bogged down in obscu re detai l. (For those wishing to dig deeper, a good bibliography is included .) The reader gets a solid gro unding in Puget Sound's maritime history, goi ng back to the Hudson's Bay Company steamer Beaver. The development of steam navigation in the region is presented , with the principal characters , such as Jos hua Green and the Peabodys of the Black Ball line, covered in detail. Just what constitutes a ferry varies around the world , and the authors have, quite rightly, included the "mosquito fleet" of small steamers in showing how ferries developed. In modern context a ferry is a vessel operating on a regularly schedu led ro ute, in place of a bridge or tunnel. This book does not deal with technical aspects of ferry construction, which may disappo int some readers . It is instead largely a story of people, those who ventured their capital to meet demand , the crews who ran the boats , and those who rode them. Fortunately, many of these people are still living, and their input has done much to enliven the narrative. Wherever poss ible, old timers such as Captai n Bob Matson have been interviewed , and many of those who figured in the history have checked the text for accuracy. The chapter on the creation of labor unions, and the strikes of the thirties, is well done and sheds considerable light on how we got to our present situation . Perhaps this is the real value of history, to make sense
of our contemporary crises . Eventuall y the many smaller ferry compan ies were bought by Peabody's Black Ball line and in time even Peabody was bought out- by the State of Wash ington. Why thi s happened , and how the State became owner of what is often call ed the largest ferry fleet in the world , is well covered . With perhaps a little reading between the 1in es o ne may discern who rea lly squeezed Peabody out , know ledge wh ich shou ld help in understanding today's messy situatio n. There are hundreds of interesting photos of vessels, well reproduced , but unfortu nately captions are seldom dated and in some cases m iss ing enti rely. Editing of the text is poor. Employment of a tru ly competent editor, (a circumstance all too rare these days) would have perfected what is otherwise a fine effort. These oversights do little to lessen the work's importance, however. In addition to a solid bib liography, there is a very thorough index and detailed fleet lists for the major ferry companies, features wh ich ins ure that Ferryboats wi ll become a standard reference. The physical aspects of the book, enhanced by Herb Carlson's renderings , are superb. Considering the high quality ev ident throughout , the price is ve ry reasonable. It is not likely that the wo rkaday ferryboats of Puget Sound wi ll ever receive such deluxe, comprehensive treatment in the future . ROB ERT
B. CHAPEL
Mr. Chapel is editor of L ines and Offsets, journal of the Traditional Wooden Boat Society. Steaming To Bamboola: The World ofa Tramp Freighter, by Christopher Buckley (Co ngdo n & Lattes , New York, 222pp, $7.95 pbk). And where have all the sailormen gone? Christopher Buckley tells us in Steaming to Bamboo/a , his narrative of life on a tramp steamer. The men who go to sea today, it seems, are very much like the men who went to sea a hundred yea rs ago in the tall ships. They are misfits. They are criminals. They are innocents hiding from life on land. They are loving, and , most of all , they are real human beings who love the sea. Like the sail ors of old , they move from ship to ship with ease. They stride through foreign po rts as easily as New York and Savannah , and they stagger or are carried back to the ship at the last possible moment before she leaves port. There are differences, of course. Now, we have a chief engineer who hates the captain with a vengeance, but who loves that engi ne more than life ashore . There is someth ing cozy about the drippy and steaming atmosphere of a steamer's engine room that is lost in the more modern and antiseptic world of the SEA HISTDRY, SUMMER 1984