Customer Reviews

Down The Bay: Based On A True Story

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It's 1978, and the school year is ending for thirteen-year-old Debbie Sherman of Blue Hill, Maine. Her parents want her help packing crab meat in a down-home family business that brings needed income from summer tourists.
But Debbie is determined to do something else with her summer. She has no idea what that may be. Her hard-working father, Eddie, is frustrated.
"I don't know what we're gunnuh do with huh, Flo," he says, turning to his wife.
Finally the parents come up with an idea that appeals to their daughter. They'll put her to work as sternman on board the Nancy Ellen, a lobster boat owned by her older brother, Reggie.
Thus begins D.S. Terry's Down The Bay, a non-fiction novel I found to be evocative and unforgettable. Focusing on two consecutive summers Debbie Sherman (D.S. Terry after marriage) spent as her brother's lone crewman, the book is mostly autobiographical. A few characters are fictional, in cases where the author was denied permission to use real names.
As they haul traps on Maine's Blue Hill Bay, Debbie and Reggie discover someone stealing their lobsters. Reggie mistakenly accuses two men, then apologizes when he learns he is wrong. The brother-sister duo eventually bring the real criminals to justice.
But there's a lot more to this fine book than catching lobster thieves.
On board the Nancy Ellen, Debbie quickly learns how dangerous lobstering can be. Twice Reggie's foot is snagged by the warp, a rapidly moving line between the boat and traps. The rope drags him across the deck, where he's perilously close to going overboard.
When it happens the second time, Debbie learns to operate the lobster boat. That way she can rescue her brother, if he's dragged into the sea.
The two near accidents foretell a family tragedy revealed late in the book. That event makes D.S. Terry's non-fiction book a memorial to a man who lost his life in the course of his maritime work.
Through D.S. Terry's delightfully descriptive writing, readers see and feel the Maine coast.
"Reggie dropped the oars in unison," the author writes, describing her early morning ride to the moored lobster boat. "They cut the water with a soft 'glip.'"
Minutes later, out on the boat, night vanishes.
"The sun poked over the tree line of the nearby land, laying an orange steak across the rippling water to the east. Reg came back from the bow, turned the wheel, and eased the throttle forward, just a little. I fiddled with my shoulder straps (she's wearing her father's hip boots) and got them to stay on my shoulders. The boat swung round and away from her mooring, and we headed out of the harbor toward the sunshine and the coming day."
I loved this true story, which is a first-published work for D.S. Terry. It is sweet and nostalgic, yet tough too in that it introduces a reader to the dangers of maritime adventure, and the rough-edged characters who populate Maine's coastal towns. The novel's ending may break your heart.
In sum, I found Down The Bay a stunningly good non-fiction book.

This touching new book brought me back to my own personal childhood experiences lobster fishing with my Grandfather on the southern coast of Massachusetts. Down The Bay is a great read, especially for teens who may be facing their own struggle for identity, independence and their place in society.