Customer Reviews

Seaworthy: A Swordboat Captain Returns to the Sea

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I thought this an awful book. Billed as an adventure story, there is precious little adventure in it.

After a ten year hiatus from swordfishing, Linda Greenlaw is offered the command of Seahawk, a creaky old vessel with lots of problems. She assembles a crew (who she can't stop gushing over) and spends a week getting Seahawk ready, whereupon she sets sail for the Grand Banks in hopes of catching enough swordfish to make a profit. Along the way, she and her crew encounter a variety of equipment failures and somehow end up fishing illegally in Canadian waters, resulting in Ms. Greenlaw's arrest and brief incarceration. She and her crew finally reach the Grand Banks, fish, catch some, and then return home on the owner's orders to attempt to sell their catch for top dollar. The gambit doesn't work and no one makes any money.

The story certainly isn't as interesting as, say, Moby Dick or 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. But told well, it might have made a solid magazine piece. Instead Ms. Greenlaw and her publisher chose to present it as a 250-page book filled with very little real conflict, but lots of repetition, tortured imagery, technical explanation so convoluted and jargon-filled as to be almost meaningless, purple prose, bad grammar and worst of all, page after page of Ms. Greenlaw's self-congratulation, -explanation, and -aggrandizement. Indeed, Ms. Greenlaw spends far more time describing how she felt about the events that took place than she does describing the events themselves. That's fine if you're sitting around the kitchen table shooting the breeze with an old friend you've known for years. But it hardly belongs in a book being offered to the public as a tale of adventure.

And much of the writing is just plain bad. Lines like:

"I showered in cold water, hoping to clear my mind of the snarl that clogged the routes along which sanity traveled."

or

"Darkness waded in cautiously and headed west. Hesitating waist-deep, then plunging into the murky chill, the diving night splashed light onto the opposite horizon, which swam like spawning salmon up the riverlike sky."

made me want to throw my Kindle across the room (and I really love my Kindle).

In short, I thought Seaworthy not worth its price (even with the Kindle discount) or the time it took to read it. There are many good sea stories out there: e.g., Two Years before the Mast, The Sea Wolf, Moby Dick, The Perfect Storm. Bypass Ms. Greenlaw's latest offering for one of those.

By age 47 Linda Greenlaw had led a life that by any counts would seem like two lifetimes to the average person. Average is something Greenlaw is not. Made the only female captain of a swordfishing boat at age 24, she retains that status and has earned the accolade from Sebastian Junger, author of THE PERFECT STORM, in which she is featured as "one of the best captains, period, on the entire east coast." She was 29 in 1991 as she and her crew set out for the Grand Banks in the face of one of the deadliest winter storms in history that caught her and her companion boats in the deadly North Atlantic. She never could have dreamed that nearly 20 years later, she would find herself in a completely different kind of adventure --- one of a legal nature --- when she hit the sea.

Greenlaw had continued deep water fishing until 1997, but the scarcity of swordfish in the North Atlantic forced fishermen to seek alternative income sources, so she bought her own boat and turned to lobstering. This brought about a more land-based life, so she purchased a home off the coast of Maine on tiny Isle au Haut and took a foster daughter under her wing. In her spare time she wrote five books, two of them hitting the New York Times bestseller lists. Between setting and hauling lobster traps and family responsibilities, she traveled on book tours and made personal appearances. After 10 years, she began to hear the siren call of deep water fishing as newly minted rules governing the once free-for-all deep water fishing industry brought about a resurgence of the Atlantic swordfish population. This wily predator, whose only natural underwater enemy was the shark, had fought its way back, and its human hunters were returning to the North Banks in search of this popular delicacy and formidable challenger to their skills.

By then, Greenlaw's world was safe, quiet, predictable, even humdrum, so when an old friend who owned a fleet of boats called to say, "I need a swordfish captain for this season, Linda. Will you do it?" she caved. With little time to hire a crew and re-fit the Sea Hawk to make it seaworthy, they were soon headed for the Grand Banks off the coast of Newfoundland. Within three weeks, she found herself being escorted by the Canadian Coast Guard to a Newfoundland port, booked and placed behind bars, wondering if perhaps she might have picked more adventure than she had bargained for.

The title of the book, SEAWORTHY, applies equally to Greenlaw and to the creaking boat Sea Hawk. She knew she was a little out of shape, because the difference between hauling lobster traps off the Maine coast and setting 40 miles of lines in the stormy North Atlantic brought that fact home immediately. She quickly restored her skills and was fit and sound within a few days. The Sea Hawk was not. Soon to acquire a much less romantic, non-nautical name by her motley but hardworking crew, the bucket of rusty parts and wheezing engines tempted almost all of them to jump ship each time they pulled into a port for repairs. Only Greenlaw's newfound maturity, pit-bull tenacity, and the sense of humor of her first mate kept them on board for the big prize --- a payload of swordfish.

SEAWORTHY finds Greenlaw at a philosophical point in her life. This introspective examination of her own reaction to the near disasters that beset her and her crew surprises her as she recalls how she would have acted in her younger, more fiery years as a sea captain. She realized, with each new snafu, that she had mellowed in her nearly 30 years at sea, yet her fierce drive to overcome the elements and the setbacks heightened the camaraderie and loyalty between her and her crew. Her awareness and appreciation of her prey has been heightened, too, by the years.

SEAWORTHY is laced with Greenlaw's own special agility with words, spinning tales of the joys, beauty and terrors that await any deep water fisherman, whether for sport or for a living. Even if your fishing experience is limited to hanging a line over the side of a row boat, or trekking along a mountain stream, the thrill of that tug on the line, that breaking of the surface of a sinewy, battling fish, is brought vividly to life.

Sorry, but I am on page 116 and I am calling it quits. I have loved every one of the author's previous books, but this one is simply boring; and it has perhaps a bit of ego here and there??? There are just too many better books waiting to be read!

I seem to be in the minority, but I found Greenlaw's earlier books to be better than this one. Perhaps a change in publisher could have something to do with it--different editor? Who knows.

The story is a good sea yarn, that's for sure, but the writing is often repetitive, with too many digressions into the author's worries about getting older and not being up to what's required. At times the author seems to lapse into platitudes, to the point where I expected that any minute I would have to read that those are the breaks and you just have to take it as it comes.

I'll probably read Greenlaw's next book--I've bought all of them--but I might hold off on buying the next until I've seen reviews and been able to read a few pages.

Great ! Another book where the cost of a Kindle Editon is more than a Hardcover
Edition. Does the publisher think that us buyers will pay more for a Kindle Edition? I guess so, but not this buyer, NOT NOW, NOT EVER.

Let me start by saying that I thought Greenlaw's first book "The Hungry Ocean" was brilliant and I have given copies to several friends. I also enjoyed "The Lobster Chronicles" as a different but informative chronicle of life on a small island in Maine. Thus, I approached "Seaworthy" with positive expectations.

Greenlaw's strength is in describing the mechanics of swordfishing - how the boat works, finding the fishing grounds, setting and hauling the longline, etc, and those descriptions made "The Hungry Ocean" such a good read. There is some of that in "Seaworthy", but nothing much new. The reduced discussion of fishing mechanics makes this seem more like a lengthy magazine article that was stretched into a short book (ridiculous at $18 for the Kindle edition!), and suffers as a result.

What the book is filled with is Greenlaw's musings about whether she still has what it takes after a ten year absence from swordfishing. A legitimate question, but belabored over and over and over again ad nauseum. No one else cares about this as much as Greenlaw, who is consumed by a need to prove herself...to herself.

The result is a book about Greenlaw's neurosis, filling page after page with rationalizations, excuses, fears, bad psychological analysis, and machismo. Whereas in "The Hungry Ocean" Greenlaw comes across as a competent, incredibly hard-working captain, in "Seaworthy" she comes across as an emotional mess whose neuroses threaten the jobs and lives of her admirable crew. I was just wondering when the crew would mutiny, but they were too nice.

Sadly, one learns almost nothing about the remarkable swordfish from this book, other than that Greenlaw is at war with them, and is driven like Captain Ahab to kill as many as possible. More! More! There is no sense of respect for the prey like some hunters and fishers have, no discussion of their biology unrelated to how to catch them, and Greenlaw makes clear in her discussion of sharks that she has no reverence for animals in general.

However, my biggest problems with Greenlaw's account are her ramblings about responsibility and dealings with the crew. While praising her crew's hard work and loyalty, she defends her despotic role as captain. A good case can be made for clear authority on a small ship far at sea, but Greenlaw abuses this by repeatedly acting or failing to act in ways that threaten not only the crew's pay for the voyage but also their very lives. She makes it very clear that she is only at home as despot in her small world at sea, and when confronted by the rest of us -- governments, conservationists, Canadians, etc., her inalienable right to freedom is being wrongfully encroached. Heaven forbid she should apologize to her crew for her actions that have cost the crew - that would be un-captain like, so instead we get pages of rationalizations and comments that she is less of a jerk than some other swordfishing captains -- not an excuse.

Whereas after "The Hungry Ocean" I thought Greenlaw would be an interesting person to meet and talk to, after this book I only worry about what further risks and possible loss of life to crew she will cause in her endless quest to prove herself to herself.

The long emotional ramblings and amateur psychological rationalizations make for very different reading than "The Hungry Ocean", and at least for me, vastly less enjoyable.

Never heard of her before. Saw this book at the library and thought I'd check it out...looked like a fast read. Fast read indeed as I skimmed over most of it. goodness...does she have an ego! I sure hope I don't ever get stuck sitting next to her on a plane.

SO...how much did they all make? There was sooo much chatter in the book about the money, and then she didn't even tell us how much they all made! I know that they made $80,000 gross, but how much were the provisions/fuel, how much did the boat owners, her and her crew make? Seems like her crew did A LOT of work [except for the one guy] especially before they set sail.

Linda Greenlaw has been called one of the best captains on the entire east coast; beyond that she is also one of the most interesting authors. She is the only female sword boat captain and gained her fame from the book and movie `The Perfect Storm'.
With her most recent book she tells of returning to sword fishing in a somewhat questionable boat. She spends much time musing on her aging and how different she is than on her last trip out to the open sea. She also questions herself, and attitudes, but proves worthy of the challenges on a problem laden voyage. She is even arrested by Canadian authorities for illegal fishing in their waters. Some have questioned whether it was done intentionally to get publicity for this upcoming manuscript. In my opinion - no, but read and judge for yourself.

Her explanations of commercial fishing and seamanship, working on an ocean going fishing boat are technical, but explained well enough that almost any landlubber could understand and be interested in. She tells of the fascinating habits of the swordfish and their monogamous life - so much so that at times a mate will follow a partner who has died on the hook to the surface, in what seems like a suicidal gesture.

This is a story that tells of good old fashioned work and values, the call of the sea and a challenge somewhat akin to gambling, except with these adventures you are gambling with your life and those of your crew.
Her books are always a treat. Those who enjoy the sea, fishing or simply a good adventure story would indeed enjoy this and her other books.

An easy, interesting, read for a summer's day while sitting on the beach looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. Having grown up on the East coast, I was familiar with many of the places this author mentioned.

Another great swordfishing boat from Ms. Greenlaw> Finished it in 3 days, now I'm ready for the next one. Linda Greenlaw, I know where you went with Archie. Another book should be started. I personally have greatly enjoyed Ms. Greenlaw's writings since "The Hungry Ocean". Since reading Sebastian Jungr's "The Perfect Storm" I've been hooked on her writings. I envision Linda's volumes to be put in a collection, a bound volume or collection of fishing stories. I guess the fisherman in me keeps me always interested. Her writing style keeps one unable to put the book down for long. I cen't give much away about it. There are many people who would be intersted in this book. Whether a hard bound book, an audio volume, or a kindle version, please dont miss the chance. If your a fan of her writings, dont get behind by missing this. There are highs and lows, good weather, bad weather, good fidshing, bad fishing. Also she acknowledges clearly that no fishers are atheists, even if it takes a near death storm to elicit fishermen's prayers.
The Canadian Maritime Authoritires; Ripped her off. Check it out, you'll see.

Thanks for another great one.