mast top. There is no mention of the material of which sails were made. In the period under discussion they were linen , with little pictures stenciled on the selvage to indicate weight; " ravens" for the lightest, "ducks" for the heaviest. Later came numbers. Flax and cotton were used only on fishing boats, until the yacht America (1851) demonstrated the virtues of cotton. The subject is large, and within the limited space allotted to it, is well handled . Chapter Six , "Fittings," does a poor job of discussing anchors; the need fo r bouyancy Jed to wooden stocks, to prevent anchor damage on rocky bottoms. The use of steam hammers to forge the anchor crown permitted use of iron chains and stocks . The anchor was not hung from the cat-head when not in use, as stated on page 109, but rather lashed on deck. Geared capstains (the work extends to 1850) are ignored, as are anchor wood-locks and monkey-tails, and geared wheels and their effect on rudder shape. The use of chains to control the rudder in an emergency is misunderstood. On page 126 the author states that the yawl was unique among ships boats, in being clinker-built . Five lines further down the clinker-built cutters are described . The chapter is weak in accuracy and facts. Chapter Seven , ''Accommodation:" the work "kentledge" doesn't appear in discussion of iron ballast, but historical aspects are well served . Chapter Eight, ''Armament;' is obviously a labor oflove, and well NORMAN RUBIN done. Barges, by John Leather (Granada Publishing, London/Sheridan House, D obbs Ferry NY, 1984, 256pp, illus 50 photos , $34.95 ). John Leather's latest offering sheds light , indeed a kind ofradiance, on the fl at bottomed sa iling vessels that did so much of the world 's work until well into this century. He starts out with an informative discussion of the body of literature that is growing up around these hardy dreadnoughts of the sailing world , which went on carrying cargo into the era of supersonic flight and atomic technology-and which , indeed , are being re-commissioned and sometimes new built today, by people who prize the same qualities that made them so adaptable and survi vable in an era of rapid industrialization. Leather's review of the literature begins quite properly we feel with a special appreciation of Frank Carr's Sailing Barges, the class ic work published half a century ago, when people's minds were bent on the glories of the vanished tea clippers rather than the humble spritties and boomies that still plied their immemorial trades under scholars' noses. Leather SEA HISTORY, WINTER 1984-85
notes that Carr was the inspiration of his interest in working craft , born when he was growing up in the 1940s, and wondered at the polygonal canvas shapes moving over the woods and housetops of the Essex countryside near the River Colne. Though the barge seems so indigenous to the countryside she sails th rough , as much a part of it as windmills or church spires, she in fact fl ourished in different fo rms in all the nav igable waters of Europe, and travel ed widely. At the foot of the street near Leather's Essex farm , the deepwater-voyaging barge Leading Star was launched in 1856-she was of 210 tons, 130 feet long, and rigged as bark! Ordinary spritsail barges traded routinely to Remagen, far up the Rhine, bringing bottled Apollinari s water back to the Thames , to be unloaded in St. Katherine's Dock. Leather prints an account of such a voyage by a man who sailed the route. It is a special glory of this work that it is concerned with particular experiences in barges. And the varied traffics and types of barges are indeed fascinating . Leather explores a sampling of the better-known English and North American types , including the gundalows of the Merrimac in New Hampshire and the scow schooners of San Francisco Bay. (One sample of each is ali ve and under sail today, thanks to people who care for these workaday vessels.) But in this work also, you'll find an iron sai ling barge built to sai l on Lake Nyasa in Africa, another built for the New Hebrides in the Pacific, and yacht barges, some quite exotic, and a barge that sailed to the Ri ve r Pl ate, stayed on in local trading, and then came home again . There are plans to pore over, and photos to lose oneself in. This beautiful and engross ing account does justice to a hardy, ubiquitous breed of craft , and the sturdy sailormen (and at least one wo man) who sa iled in them. PS The Big Barges; The Story of the Boomie and Ketch Barges, by Harvey Benham and Roger Finch , with Peter Ferguson (Harrap, London , 1983, 168pp, illus , £ 11.50). In this fin e work, the heritage of the big sailing barge is celebrated in a notable collaboration between Harvey Benham , veteran of much East Coast sailing in the last hal f century in sailing barges, wherries and oyster smacks as well as yac hts, and Roger Finch, marine artist, who has sailed aboard a Thames sprittie barge, done with the help of Peter Ferguson , editor of Topsail , the journal of the Society for Spritsail Barge Research, and with " the generous and invaluable participa-
Scarce and Out of Print MARITIME/ EXPLORATION Books Bought and So ld Lists Issued
ACADIA BOOK SERVICE Box 244, Cas tine ME 04421
WANT GOOD BOOKS ABOUT BOATS? Se nd for Internatio n a l Marine Books, a great, free catalog of 500 marine titles. International Marine Publishing Company Box SH, Camden, Maine 04843
WOODEN Ship-Building Reprint o f Des mond 's c las:- ic 19 19 hook. 100' \ or ill ustratio n:. on tcc hniquc:-
of constructi ng la rge !<.hip:- . 244 pp, papcrbad . $ 14.95. + $2 to mail . (N Y re > ;idd 7"/c tax) Vestal Prc:-s. Box 97 Vestal 4 7 NY 13850. 1607) 797-4872.
VISA. M.istcrCard, Arn Exp.
CLIPPER CLASSIC AMERICAN CLIPPER SHIPS 1833-58,
by Howe and Matthews. 350 clipper histories. TWO VO LUME BOX ED SET, 780 PAGES, 113 PLATES. $45 IMMEDIATE DELIVERY
SEAWAY BOOKS, Box 274, At. 94, Salisbury, NY 12577
SHERIDAN HOUSE, INC PUBLISHERS BARGES Jo h n Leather "... sheds light , indeed a kind of radiance on the fl at bottomed sa iling vessels th at did so much of the world's work unti l well into th is century." Sea Hiswry $3 4.95
SPRITSAILS AND LUGSAILS Joh n Leath er Evokes the craft and men of the past two ce nturies and tales of seafarers of England and orth America who fi shed, worked and smuggled under sa il. $34.95
OF YACHTS AND MEN Wi ll iam Atki n "Crowded with a vast store of anecdote, remembrance and good boat designs...spiced with good photographs and beautiful li ne d rawi ngs~ Maine Coast Fisherman $22.50 T hese a nd other class ic stor ies of t he sea can be pu rchased from Sh e rid an H o u se Inc . 145 Pali sade Street Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522
Send today fo r a fre e cata log. ~ =--
I'\._ _
41