Shiyak!: Misadventures of the Schooner Lottie Bennett: The Last Windjammer Voyage to Alaskan Salmon Waters. By Tom Anderson. Hardcover.
The book is brand brand-new and I have numerous copies, so no rush to obtain to it first. This would make a nice gift!
I can mail this book for $3.50 by media mail (slow-moving), or $5.95 by priority mail (quicker).
From the dust coat flap:.
Shiyak! is the real account of a sea experience that happened in 1932. It recounts in magnificently flowing writing the tale of a journey to the Bering Sea area of Alaska in a four-masted, topsail schooner, the last industrial windship to cruise from San Francisco Bay to Alaskan salmon waters. The voyage was a flamboyantly promoted co-operative fishing exploration to the Kuskokwim River. The promoters promised an attractive trip with little work and a good-looking revenue in the middle of the Great Depression all for a modest financial investment. A varied group of twenty-nine guys with varied motives made the voyage. Poor planning and the greed of the ship's owners triggered unneeded difficulties, including poor nutrition, health problem and the eventual failure of the business. With a classy prose design rare in today's busy world, the author paints a sweeping picture of desperate times, panoramic appeal and raw feelings. Photos from the author's own film of the trip illustrate the tale. "Tom Anderson records the wonderful beauty of the Alaskan coastline, together with the challenging rhythms of commercial salmon fishing, in prose which mirrors the lyrical acuity of Herman Melville." Roberta Cairney, Legal Counsel, San Francisco.
From the back of the dust jacket:.
"Anderson tells a swashbuckling good story and a true one of man versus the sea and guy against man. Storms, near mutiny, scurvy, hair-raising escapes, from rocky coasts, hardships and battles in the fo'c'sl: it's all there, together with a delicate account of Eskimo life as it was before using outboard motors and canned food. An accomplished writer, Anderson has a sure eye for authentic seascape and a sure ear for salty dialect. Should reading for sailors and armchair travelers." Grant Barnes, Director, Stanford University Press.
"Ship out with Tom Anderson in a big schooner bound for the Alaska fisheries! A really true-to-life and gripping
yarn of the last days of industrial sail." Peter Stanford, President, National Maritime History Society.
"Shiyak! is a salty tale of the sea, and its difficulties. Anderson explains, in always moving and colorful information, the infinitely challenging aspects of sea and sky as seen from the distinct vantage of an old-time sailing ship. For all those who appreciate raw adventure, checking the nerve and character of its rough and varied seafarers, this book brings alive both sordidness and appeal in the magnificent background of the Far North." Hon. Thomas B. Stewart, Alaska Superior Court.
"I hope Shiyak! reaches all of the men and ladies who, like myself, have a deep fondness for ships and those who cruise them in fair weather condition and foul." Rear Admiral Earl E. Stone, U.S. N., (Ret).
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