Skipjack: The Story of America's Last Sailing Oystermen |  | Author: Christopher White
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.99
Buy New: $14.94
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Seller: bookcultureny
Rating:  7 reviews
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Pages: 384
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.5
ISBN: 0312545320
Dewey Decimal Number: 639.410975232
EAN: 9780312545321
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | ISBN13: 9780312545321 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
In Skipjack, Christopher White spends a pivotal year with three memorable captains as they battle man and nature to control the fate of their island villages and oyster fleet. Through these lively characters, White paints a vivid picture of life on a skip - jack, a wooden oystering sailboat as they dredge for oysters—a favorite staple of iconic American seafood cuisine for over a hundred years. But this last vestige of American sailing culture is rapidly dying. State officials have mismanaged the waters, putting sport above business, and modernization above tradition. These captains must set aside their rivalry to fight for their very livelihood. With so many obstacles, it is not certain the fleet will survive the season. Hinging on its success, the viability of the nation’s premiere estuary and the survival of a classic American town hang dangerously in the balance.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
Excellent! December 13, 2009
BillyMac (Baltimore, MD USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This lovely book immerses the reader in Chesapeake Bay, illustrating the sad decline of it's fisheries and the colorful characters whose lives depend on it. The writer creates a rich sensory experience: I saw the sunrises, felt the cold spray, smelled the mud, tasted the oysters and Miss Pauline's pies, and heard the sounds of the wind in the rigging and geese overhead. I felt sad to leave the people and pace of Tilghman Island when I turned the last page.
Down to the Bay in Skipjacks December 21, 2009
wogan (Indiana&Maryland- U.S.A.)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
It is heartbreaking in many ways to read this book - if you love the water and nature, but especially the endangered treasure that is the Chesapeake Bay. Skipjacks are handsome working boats, but to work on them is to know bloody blistered hands and the dangers of running on a body of water than can be just as hazardous as the open ocean.
Christopher White writes of these boats and the last sailing oystermen. He lived in their communities and sailed on their boats. He is able to write as both an insider and someone who knows he has to explain to the rest of the world what watermen or chicken neckers are. The hard but proud life of these watermen and their dialect is well conveyed; also the tragedies that can happen to the boats and their crews. Detailed and well done explanations are given of dredging and the falling numbers of healthy oysters. Also covered are the struggles to save an industry and a natural treasure that to some is a special food, but to others; oysters can help the quality of the Bay- each oyster acts as a filter for a huge amount of water.
The book follows the waterman's year; but also gives the history of oyster harvesting, the Oyster Wars, the rivalry between the boats, the captains and their crews, the skipjack races and even some traditional recipes.
The waterman's year ends on a pessimistic note both for the Bay, the oysters and their industry; but more than that - if you read this book you will know and feel the love of sail, the labor of the watermen and their place in the world. This is a marvelous effort that captures a way of life and an appreciation for an amazing part of the world we live in.
Skipjack by Christopher White January 6, 2010
C. Mouery (Chance, MD)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a very well written story about the life of the skipjack watermen. The nicest thing about it is that you don't have to know the people or even what a skipjack is to read and enjoy it. I now live on Deal Island and know that it is all fact. However, Captain Art Daniels is not the only skipjack captain to sail from Deal Island. There are three skipjacks that sail from here. The Somerset with Captain Walton Benton and the Fanny Daugherty with Captain Delmas Benton both sail from Deal as well. This year, oystering is best in the Tangier Sound so many of the Tilghman watermen are oystering there. It is really sad to watch one of the skipjacks sail on the sound and know that someday soon there won't be one there to watch. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys reading.
Finest Book on the Subject November 17, 2009
Gary D. Saluti (West Chester, PA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I am a transplanted resident of the Tilghman Island area and have long had an interest in the history of the "Eastern Shore". I have been fortunate enough to personally know several of the Skipjack Captains mentioned in this book.
Well, I thought I knew a fair amount about watermen and such before I picked up this book. Boy, was I wrong.
Skipjack is an excellent account of the lives of the Eastern Shore watermen. It is not only accurate but extremely entertaining. I expected a rather dry story line. On the contrary, the book reads like a novel. I particularly appreciated the details provided about the various families involved. White's evenhanded and comprehensive accounting of the reasons for the demise of the oyster population are to be commended.
The finest book on the subject I have ever read!
Beautiful Writing November 30, 2009
Marilyn B. Colborn
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Chris White infuses Skipjack: The Story of the Last Sailing Oystermen with the cadence and the observation of a poet. He captures the patois of the Chesapeake Bay islanders woven into the narrative as he tells the story of a dying way of life. The tough and courageous watermen and their families face the extinction of their centuries old heritage, and White speaks with poignancy to this loss. He is a gifted writer, leaving us heartbroken at the end and wishing for more stories of these very real people of Tilghman and Deal Island.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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