Customer Reviews

The Making of a Sailor or Sea Life Aboard a Yankee Square-Rigger

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best description of the hard life of an American sailor in the 1870s. Harlow, from New England, describes his first coastal voyage on a schooner, down the coast and up the Chesapeake and the Potomac. Then he tells of his long voyage to Australia on a square rigger. The book is fascinating and easy to read even if you don't fully understand all the nautical terms. It is well documented with sea chanteys, pictures and explanatory footnotes.

Great book - writtten in the early 20th century, the author puts you in the late 19th century toward the end of the great sailing era. The rigging details were very detailed and confusing, but as necessary for the functioning of the vessel, authentic and necessary in the book.
Due to the phonetic spelling of accents and the detailed rigging terms, this is not a fast book to read. It is not a contemporary novel. But you can easily become emersed in how a 19th century sailor learned his trade and lived his life.
It was hard to put down.