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Tancook Whalers: Origins, Rediscovery and Revival

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This book is an outgrowth of a research and construction project undertaken by the Maine Maritime Museum to document and describe the construction of a replica of the unique "double ended" fishing schooners built on and sailed from Tancook Island in Mahone Bay of Nova Scotia. The book includes an interesting description of the type and its relationship to the island community, as well as an anecdotal description of the museum's construction and initial sailing of the replica. Highlights of the book include drawings of the lines of a number of Tancook whalers, ranging in length from 28 to 41 feet (many derived from Howard Chappelle's historical drawings), and period photographs of the originals in and about Tancook island. Less effective are the overly spare analysis of the evolution of the type, and the inclusion of material on the very different, larger, transom-sterned schooners built on and near the island. The description of the replica's construction would be of very limited use to anyone considering constructing their own Tancook boat, although it is an interesting narrative of the project. Despite its limitations, however, this is an invaluable book for anyone interested in Tancook whalers, the maritime communities of late 19th Century Nova Scotia, or the development of fishing schooners.