The Hungry Ocean; A Swordboat Captain's Journey

New York: Hyperion, 1999. First Edition [stated]. Fifth Printing [stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Paul J. Pugliese (Map). xiii, [3], 265, [5] pages. Illustrations. Appendix. Map. Minor wear and soiling to DJ. Signed by author sticker on front of DJ. Signed by the author on the title page. Linda Greenlaw was the first female sea captain in the swordfishing fleet and has skippered a boat through two terrible storms. In this book, she relives some of the most exciting and frightening trips of her life, including the five-day trip during which she encountered a 48-hour ocean storm. Linda Greenlaw, provides the details of one memorable event searching for fish in the waters off Newfoundland. Unlike so many other accounts that tell of disasters at sea, The Hungry Ocean provides an informative look at the typical routine of a successful fishing voyage. Linda Greenlaw is known as one of the best sea captains on the East Coast. Here she offers an adventure-soaked tale of her own, complete with danger, humor, and characters so colorful they seem to have been ripped from the pages of Moby Dick. Derived from a Kirkus review. A precise account of what happens aboard a swordfishing boat on the Grand Banks when it is not being terrorized by a perfect storm. It is Greenlaw's intention to tell the story of a typical swordfishing trip, how she manages the boat, crew, and fishing during the month they will be together at sea pulling a 40-mile longline. And she does tease from the everyday a fixating description of the fisherman's shipboard day, preparing for and pulling in the harvest and contending with that temperamental nuisance known as the weather. Then there is the simple nature of the work, the hundreds of hours of arduous physical labor squeezed in a few weeks, under brutal conditions, that you might not get paid for. Greenlaw is a savvy captain with a knack for knowing the mood of both her crew and the weather. There is a noticeable lack of sting and fear when things go wrong. Absent as well are doubts or confusions Greenlaw might have understandably entertained about this or that, which undercuts any rawness or immediacy demanded by the retelling of events. Still, this is a welcome flip side to the multitude of hellzapoppin' peril-at-sea stories.