Description
Book SynopsisIn 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 skipjack, a wooden oystering sailboat.
Trade Review[An] evocative portrait of the nation's most beautiful and poignant vocational anachronism. It's an action-packed tale, complete with waterborne grudge matches, on-deck shootouts, fierce winter storms and suspenseful escapes. * The Washington Post *
[A] colorful, comprehensive, and valuable piece of Americana. -- Peter Matthiessen, novelist and non-fiction writer, twice winner of the National Book Award
The world has almost run out of fish, as modern technology strips our oceans bare. Christopher White’s Skipjack is a compelling story about how the wisdom of the past can help us protect the future of our fisheries. If you savor seafood, White’s chronicle of the gritty life aboard America’s last sailboat fishing fleet is a tale you need to hear. -- Trevor Corson, he author of Secret Life of Lobsters and The Story of Sushi
Well written, and carefully researched…. Chris White’s brilliant use of the waterman’s vernacular and his intimate knowledge of multiple generations of watermen combine to make this an excellent treatise on a culture that is clearly disappearing. -- Gilbert M. Grosvenor, former editor and Chairman of National Geographic Society
At a time when the last great wildernesses are melting or going up in smoke, it’s comforting to know that these watermen still exist-and that a writer as insightful and lyrical as Christopher White is on hand to document their fiercely independent way of life. -- George Reiger, Wanderer on My Native Shore, and former Conservation Editor, Field & Stream
The author spent a year with the captains of three skipjacks, as they balanced politics and tradition, environmental and economic issues in their struggle to harvest oysters from their wooden sailboats. * Wooden Boat *
A stunning portrait...(White's) keen eye and lively prose together draw a clear image of a place where work, nature, and a deep connection to regional history are interwoven. Join the author as he rides along with the last vestiges of a great American tradition. * National Fisherman *
Exciting and poignant as a few aging men and boats struggle to keep a remarkable way of life alive just a little longer. * Bay Journal *
Table of ContentsPrologue Chapter 1: A Waterman's Summer Chapter 2: At the Races Chapter 3: November, Howell Point Chapter 4: The Water Trades Chapter 5: December, Gum Thickets Chapter 6: To the Shucking House Chapter 7: January, Six Foot Knoll Chapter 8: The Oyster Wars Chapter 9: February, the Deep Chapter 10: The Second Death Chapter 11: March, Black Walnut Sands Epilogue Author's Note Acknowledgments
