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44
tury 's , the hookers were built for the rough seas of western Ireland; yet they are not well suited for an ocean crossing . This makes the story one of six intrepid men coping with the shortcomings of a vessel pushed beyond its functional design. Like many accounts of ocean sailing there are broken spars, gear that fails or tangles in a gybe , fouled pumps and planks that the crew sometimes doubt will hold . More, though, there is the classic way in which a Dubliner finds a degree of humor in most situations. There is also a touch of the supernatural, that is, the natural view of nature in the west of Ireland. An entry in the log made by Colm , a crew member from Connemara reads: ' 'An bhfuil an bad si ag seoladh linn? [Is the ghost boat sailing with us ?]" This, it is explained to Paddy, refers to the St. Patrick's good luck through her many years. The story in Connemara was that a ghost ship sailed in her company and would be seen in times of trouble . Operation Sail seems anti-climatic after the crossing, but Paddy gives a good feel of the mayhem and break-down of organization for which that week has become famous . It was one of my great pleasures to become acquainted with Paddy Barry and I forgive him for misspelling my name in this great tale. I hope all who read SEA HISTORY become acquainted with Paddy and his mates through this book . LARRY OTWAY Mr. Otway is Director of the Saint Brendan Project in New York (see p34). The Sea Chain, John E. Duncan (Americana Review, Scotia, NY, 1986, 439pp, 180 illus , $ 14.95pb/ppd; order from NMHS, 132 Maple Street, Croton, NY 10520). The Duncan family story, beginning in Bath, Maine, early in the last century, spreads out across the seafaring world of the next hundred years. Fred Duncan, born in 1887 aboard the full-rigged ship Florence, said in his seafaring memoirs, Deepwater Family (published in 1969): " My father commanded the ship and my mother was an educated, vivacious, funloving lady who presided over the Captain ' s roving home for two years and would rule over it until the family left the sea in 1898. " That earlier book of warmly remembered scenes at sea aboard a Yankee deepwaterman, "the aristocrat of sail," is now bountifully augmented by another Duncan , a grandson of Fred's uncle, who provides a close-up reconstruction of his fami ly' s life in the palmy days of American sail . SEA HISTORY, SPRING 1987