20 Top Classic Tales of the Sea

Introduction by William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill
This list of the Top 20 Classic Tales of the Sea represents some of the best works of maritime fiction and non-fiction ever written, withstanding the timeless traditions, culture and canons of the sea.  Each is a work of art in its own right, a classic, an expression of life, truth and beauty with wide universal appeal to be enjoyed by sailors and landlubbers alike. Here are what I and so many others consider to be the Top 20 Classic Tales of the Sea in no particular order.

 Castaway in Paradise by James Simmons, explores the reality in the myth through the exciting stories of castaways who, because of shipwrecks, perfidious sea captains, or their own choice, found themselves true-life Robinson Crusoes.

An interesting and balanced first-hand perspective on the native peoples of the South Seas (The Marquesas and Tuamotus Islands). In The South Seas, by Robert Louis Stevenson, presents a cross between a journal and slightly speculative history.

Typhoon, by Joseph Conrad is the story of a steamship and her crew beset by a tempest and of the captain whose dogged courage is tested to the limit. Captain MacWhirr blunders into a hurricane, he and his crew must pull together to survive.

The Old Man and the Sea is one of Ernest Hemingway’s most enduring works. It's the story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal—a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. The classic theme of courage in the face of defeat, of personal triumph won from loss. 

Mutiny on the Bounty is the title of the 1932 novel by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall, based on the mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh, commanding officer of the Bounty in 1789. 

The novel tells the story through a fictional first-person narrator by the name of Roger Byam, based on actual crew member Peter Heywood. Byam, although not one of the mutineers, remains with the Bounty after the mutiny. He subsequently returns to Tahiti, and is eventually arrested and taken back to England to face a court-martial. He and several other members of the crew are eventually acquitted.

Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson is an adventure tale known for its atmosphere, characters and action. The influence of Treasure Island on popular perceptions of pirates is enormous, including treasure maps marked with an "X", schooners, the Black Spot, tropical islands, and one-legged seamen carrying parrots on their shoulders.

First published over a century ago, 20,000 leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne is an extraordinary tale of long-lost treasure and revenge remains one of the most memorable in classic literature. Nemo's underwater world.

It's a nineteenth-century science fiction tale of an electric submarine, its eccentric captain, and the undersea world, which anticipated many of the scientific achievements of the twentieth century.

The sole survivor of a torpedoed destroyer is miraculously cast up on a huge, barren rock in mid-Atlantic. Pitted against him are the sea, the sun, the night cold, and the terror of his isolation. At the core of this raging tale of physical and psychological violence lies Christopher Martin’s will to live as the sum total of his life.

Pincher Martin by William Golding is an overpowering story of a man's will to live -- a tale of suspense with an ultimate meaning that extends far beyond one man and a single catastrosphe.

Robinson Crusoe lived 28 years all alone in an un-inhabited Island having been cast on shore by shipwreck, where in all the men perished but himself. The book is a fictional autobiography of the title character, an English castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Venezuela, encountering native Americans, captives, and mutineers before being rescued by pirates. Try reading this book again as an adult.

Joshua Slocum was the first person to sail around the world. In this book, aptly titled Sailing Alone Around the World he tells about his voyage. Joshua Slocum's story is very entertaining to read. He writes about the practical and technical challenges of long distance sailing in the 19th century and about his encounters with the peoples and tribes on his route.  Joshua Slocum  faced death and only escaped with the narrowest of margins.

Renowned travel writer and novelist Paul Theroux has been many places in his life and tried almost everything. But this trip, accounted in The Happy Isles of Oceania, where he travels in and around the lands of the Pacific may be his boldest, most fascinating yet. From New Zealand's rain forests, to crocodile-infested New Guinea, over isolated atolls, through dirty harbors, daring weather and coastlines, he travels by Kayak wherever the winds take him--and what he discovers is the world to explore and try to understand.

The Sea-Wolf is a novel written in 1904 by American author Jack London. An immediate bestseller, the first printing of forty thousand copies was sold out before publication. Of it, Ambrose Bierce wrote “The great thing—and it is among the greatest of things—is that tremendous creation, Wolf Larsen… the hewing out and setting up of such a figure is enough for a man to do in one lifetime.”

Author, Thor Heyerdahl tried to prove in his book, Kon Tiki that South American Indians could have migrated to Polynesia. The odyssey of him and his crew on a balsa raft stands as one of the all-time great true-life sea epics.

 

The brisk narrative in Captains Courageous focuses on the maturing of 15-year-old Harvey Cheyne, the only son of an American business tycoon. Through Harvey’s encounter with raw nature, hard work, and ordinary men, the once pampered youth learns the meaning of the American dream and prepares himself to pursue it.

Herman Melville's peerless allegorical masterpiece is the epic saga of the fanatical Captain Ahab, who swears vengeance on the mammoth white whale that has crippled him. Often considered to be the Great American Novel, Moby-Dick is at once a starkly realistic story of whaling, a romance of unusual adventure, and a searing drama of heroic courage, moral conflict, and mad obsession. It is world-renowned as the greatest sea story ever told.

Herman Wouk's boldly dramatic, brilliantly entertaining novel of life-and mutiny-on a Navy warship in the Pacific theater was immediately embraced, upon its original publication in 1951, as one of the first serious works of American fiction to grapple with the moral complexities and the human consequences of World War II. In the intervening half century,The Caine Mutiny has become a perennial favorite of readers young and old, has sold millions of copies throughout the world, and has achieved the status of a modern classic.

Two Years Before the Mast is a book by Richard Henry Dana, Jr., written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834 and published in 1840.  While at Harvard College, Dana had an attack of the measles which affected his vision. Thinking it might help his sight, he left Harvard to enlist as a common sailor on a voyage around Cape Horn on the brig Pilgrim. He kept a diary throughout the voyage, and, after returning, he wrote a recognized American classic.

Stephen Crane found himself floating in a dinghy for thirty hours after The Commodore, the steamship he was on, wrecked on its way to Cuba. Those experiences informed his short story "The Open Boat." Alternating between the harrowing moments of waves crashing over the bow of the dinghy and the development of a certain kind of brotherhood in the face of overwhelming danger, "The Open Boat" remains one of Crane's best works and a wonderful example of American literary naturalism.

The Death Ship tells the story of an American sailor, stateless and penniless because he has lost his passport, who is harassed by police and hounded across Europe until he finds an 'illegal' job shoveling coal in the hold of a steamer bound for destruction.

The Death Ship is the first of B. Traven's politically charged novels about life among the downtrodden, which have sold more than thirty million copies in thirty-six languages. Next to The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, it is his most celebrated work. 

The Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey through life. In the myths and legends that are retold here, renowned translator Robert Fagles has captured the energy and poetry of Homer's original in a bold, contemporary idiom and given us an Odyssey to read aloud, to savor, and to treasure for its sheer lyrical mastery. This is an Odyssey to delight both the classicist and the general reader, and to captivate a new generation of Homer's students.

Like the celebrated Klondike Tales, the stories that comprise South Sea Tales derive their intensity from the author’s own far-flung adventures, conveying an impassioned, unsparing vision borne only of experience. The powerful tales gathered here vividly evoke the turn-of-the-century colonial Pacific and its capricious tropical landscape, while also trenchantly observing the delicate interplay between imperialism and the exotic. And as Tony Horwitz asserts in his Introduction, “When London’s stories click, we are utterly there, at the edge of the world and the limit of human endurance.”

William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill, webmaster of this site, is the author of the book Lubber's Log, published by Llumina Press; a boating journal and adventure story of the author's first time experiences in the preparation, maintenance and piloting of a new, unfamiliar boat. You can visit his website here.

An Ode to the Waterfront

Introduction by William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill

As a boater, the springtime holds a special excitement as the waterfront begins to awaken.  It's a time when the tarps and shrinkwrap come off,  we slowly ease into the rhythm of boat prep; painting, polishing, and teaking, cleaning, lubing and testing. It's a time when waterfront clam shacks, fried food eateries, boat yards and yacht clubs start stirring, just before the activities on the waterfront turn into a veritable rolling boil.

The following article by William Sisson evokes memories of the sights, sounds, and smells of the sleepy small village where he grew up on the water and about this special time of year which carries with it the keen anticipation of all the things that will make for another unforgettable boating season.

________________________________________________________________________________

A GREAT 

AWAKENING

Posted on 20 June 2012
Written by William Sisson

 

As the days warm and the nights lengthen, the waterfront comes alive

A watchful eye, a steady hand, an enduring dream.

I  grew up in a small riverside village with three boatyards within a half-mile of the family home. Each spring we were serenaded by the sounds of pile drivers and power tools; hammering, scraping and sanding; the smell of paint, varnish, creosote and outboard exhaust. Remember red lead?

Spring and early summer is a great time along the waterfront, everything just waking, every dream fresh, any adventure possible. Even the sad little tubs emerging from beneath their winter tarps and covers look as if they are worth the effort — one more coat of paint and wax, new plugs, perhaps a water pump, some TLC.

The regulars at the marina lean against pickup trucks and catch up after the offseason hiatus, talking about their boats and fishing, where they plan to cruise this summer and what still needs to get accomplished to get under way. Another old boy pulls into the yard with a boat on a trailer and they break their gam to help with the launch.

Early in the season it is a landscape of Tyvek suits and respirators, dirty Carhartts and fresh calluses, the right tools, expensive parts, the mechanic who never shows, heavy chain, shackles and mooring balls, elbow grease and working until dark. The real fuel isn’t gas or diesel or even the wind; it’s the passion for being back on the water, for shoving off from terra firma and experiencing once more the wonderful sense of freedom that comes from being master and commander of your own little ship.

This is an ode to the waterfront — to all the boatyards, marinas, boat clubs, yacht clubs, repair sheds, chandleries, lobster sheds, brokerages, clam shacks, raw bars, ancient wharfs, dusty nautical antique shops, skiff rentals and anything else that smacks of the sea. It is the smelly beat-up trucks of the pin hookers; the old fishermen’s bars with pool tables and tired, tipsy watermen; fried food wafting from the waterfront eateries; a tackle shop with two dogs sleeping in the corners and a big tank of live eels gurgling away like a fountain; a cold dark ‘n’ stormy in a stuffy members-only club overlooking the harbor.

It is three boys swimming in the river on a hot spring day while their fathers repair the docks at a community boat club. Cars and trucks loaded down with tools, paint, cleaners, sealants, extension cords, flashlights, boat parts, buckets and Lord knows what else. Not a square inch to spare. It’s Dumpster diving, regardless of your age. And Roger Hall’s big, booming voice, rolling like thunder over historic Lotteryville Marina in Avondale, R.I., where they have been tying up boats in one fashion or another since just after dinosaurs departed the Earth.

The 29-foot cold-molded Brenda Kay is taken out of a shed.

It is all those people and places and things you can set your seasonal clock by. This is home away from home. True north. As close to heaven on earth as some of these reprobates (this writer included) are likely to get.

I walk down the lane of the sleepy village once known as Fish Town, past the boatyards to the artist’s studio adjacent to an old saltwater farm where Colonial farmers who rose with the sun harvested salt hay from the estuary. Propped up outside against an antique flatiron is a sculpture of a three-masted sailing ship fashioned from pieces of a wreck tossed up on a winter beach. The weathered piece of wood is about 3 feet long and peppered through with wormholes and the fragments of at least nine large bronze nails. The artist has transformed the relic into a ghost ship of sorts with a bowsprit, rudder, three masts and rigging — after resting on the sea floor these many moons, this gray seabird sails once more.

Also taking shape on a workbench outside is a wind-driven wooden toy known as a whirligig. The end that will act as a sail and point into the wind is a thin silhouette of a skiff with a dog standing in the bow and a man in the stern, one hand on the little outboard tiller, the other waving goodbye. Mounted at the other end of the 30-inch-long creation is a carved figure of a woman whose two arms are made from lightweight wooden blades designed to turn round and round in a breeze.

The man in the skiff represents an actual waterfront character known as “Chick,” who works as the caretaker of an island estate. The woman is his wife. The story is that whenever there is work to be done ashore, Chick and the dog can be found sneaking off in his skiff to the quiet of the island just offshore. The whirligig will be mounted at the water’s edge beside the small stone house where they live.

The talk turns to the rich cast of characters who for generations have given the waterfront a certain color, texture, language and swagger. Guys just barely on the grid. The artist tells a funny story about an incident that happened 30 years ago while he was sipping a beer in a yacht club bar. He was the guest of another sailor whose dues had lapsed. A former commodore — a real stickler for protocol — approached the pair, and the older man tapped the member on the shoulder and whispered that he needed to finish his drink and leave the club. Until the dues were paid in full he was no longer a member in good standing, he was informed, and it was not proper for him to be relaxing in the club bar.

Brenda Kay is a D.N. Hylan & Associates reproduciton of a 1950's Beals Island lobster boat.

The remembrance prompted a story about a dragger captain known as Buck, who like the stuffed-shirt commodore has since been called to his final eight bells. When Buck came ashore with a good thirst after several days of fishing, he’d make the rounds of waterfront establishments, the cash burning a hole right through the pocket in his jeans. The good captain had a spot reserved for him at the end of the bar in one of his favorite joints, which was set up especially for the larger-than-life character. When it was late in the evening and Buck was on a good toot, the draggerman could strap himself to the bar and onto his stool with a lanyard that went around his back and fastened to the brass fixture on the bar. Kept the old salt from falling overboard.

The scratchy sound of songbirds greets me on the walk back to the marina, where an osprey issues its loud, clear whistle. Down the bay, terns are working. Soon enough, the truck will smell of wet waders, wet clothes, wet dog. A little cigar smoke. As the evening comes you can smell and taste the salt in the fog as it rolls over the dunes and works its way up the river from the sound.

Another season is under way, and we are happily working our way home.

This article originally appeared in the July 2012 issue of Soundings magazine.

William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill, webmaster of this site, is the author of the book Lubber's Log, published by Llumina Press; a boating journal and adventure story of the author's first time experiences in the preparation, maintenance and piloting of a new, unfamiliar boat. 

You can visit his website here.

Boat Camping Overnight - "On The Hook"

Article by William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill

My wife and I are campers.  No, not in the traditional sense at a designated campsite in a tent or caravan, but in a boat on a body of water for a day or two or more.  Both are considered outdoor recreational activities, the only difference for us and so many others being the vehicle and the venue.

Just what is the allure about camping on a boat at an anchorage of your choice when there's always the uncertainty of stormy or unpleasant weather, or that your anchor might drag in a stiff breeze?  That some guy whose night vision has been compromised might ram your starboard quarters while you sleep or your starter or house battery might run dry with all those electrical appliances and safety lights drawing down the juice, your bilge failing as you take on water, you and your crew going down with the ship? 

These are often the musings of fictitious, overactive imaginations, for these things rarely if ever occur and they could prevent you from enjoying one of boating's most pleasurable experiences.  To be sure you have to be prepared for the worst case, carry the proper equipment, take the proper precautions, but once organized you should have the tools and wherewithal to handle just about anything out of the ordinary that comes your way. 

Personally, we like to camp because we're energized by the challenge of semi self sufficiency, the unpredictability of the elements and the freedom to chose the day's activities on a whim, unfettered by the conventions and demands of daily life on terra firma.  "On the hook" one has a myriad of choices and options.  You can wake up with the sun or sleep in, fish, swim, relax, read, feed the birds, explore, BBQ as you watch the sun set and gaze at the stars and moon emerging in the immense black dome in the heavens so often obscured by trees or other building structures on land.  Best of all, there are no time constraints unless you decide you want to impose them.  You can leave the watch and clock at home.

In our earlier days as trailer boaters we were often troubled at having to return to the launch ramp before sunset so we could beat it back home to have supper at a decent hour. This was after securing the boat to the trailer, taking the hour or so long drive home,  washing down the boat, flushing the outboard and putting away all the gear we had packed for the day.  We felt we were missing out on a major part of the boating experience. Instead of relaxing we were harried. 

Things are a bit easier now that we're in a slip and most everything we need in the way of basic household/boat accommodations, staples and entertainment are left on the boat. We're prepared for anything and everything.   Having the comforts of home at the marina including shore power, hot showers and a protected cove is great, but there's something missing; the sense of adventure, freedom and the challenge of the unknown.

Perhaps you have a same yen for adventure and self reliance.  If so, I have a few ideas to share with the uninitiated, those who have thought about camping but have never tried it.  I've outlined below are a few things you might consider in your camping plan before setting out.  Don't be discouraged by the length of the list, you won't need all these things. 

What To Bring

Food and beverage is a given, the only limitation being the size of the cooler(s) you bring, the size of your fridge and how much storage space you have.  If you'll be grilling you'll need plates, napkins and utensils, butter or margarine, salt, pepper and other seasonings, a BBQ grill (propane recommended) or a butane stove, fuel and a torch lighter, spatula and tongs. Don't forget a sponge/rag, paper towels and garbage bags (plastic grocery bags will do) because you'll be cleaning up afterwards.  Consider keeping  the grilling simple with hamburgers, hot dogs and chicken. 

Other food staples might include eggs, bread, buns, crackers, nuts, fruit, salad ingredients, mini cereals, cheese, mayo, ketchup, relish, canned tuna, peanut butter, coffee, tea and juice.

Water is the most important beverage.  We find that if you freeze bottled water it'll stay cool much longer and can serve the dual purpose of keeping the cooler on ice (your should store enough ice for a couple of days).  The other beverages are a matter of choice, but count on having at least 7-8 bottles of water per person per day.

On person essentials are sunglasses, brimmed hat and long sleeve and long pants for cool evening weather and mosquitoes, sweater, sweatshirt or windbreaker and swimwear if you're going in the water.  Don't forget the sunscreen and towels.

For entertainment consider music, games, cards, books, magazines, fishing gear, rafts and inflatable toys.

Simple bedding like comforters, sleeping bags work well for sleeping and don't forget your favorite pillow.

Before You Shove Off

Outside of the importance of communications (VHF radio, cell phone), navigation (nautical charts showing your course and chosen anchorage, GPS/Chart plotter), safety (PFD's, flairs, fire extinguishers, sound producing devices, working navigation lights, first aid kit) and proper anchor and weight for the size of your craft, there are a few things you should do before shoving off to ensure a safe and relaxing camping trip.

1.  Test that all your electronics (GPS, chart plotter,VHF) and running lights to be sure they are in good working order.

2.  Check the latest weather forecast in your area using, the NOAA broadcast on your VHF, TV marine forecast or smart phone weather apps.  Pay particular attention to wind and wave conditions, weather fronts, short and long term forecasts.

3.  Check the tidal information at the anchorage where you'll be anchoring.

4.  Check the bilge for leaks and that the bilge pumps are clear of debris and functioning properly.

5.  Leave a boat plan with a relative or friend or your local marina.

"On The Hook"

1.  When you arrive at your destination be sure you're not in swing distance of any of the other boats in the vicinity taking into account possible changes in wind direction.  After dropping anchor, slowly back off on the line to be sure it's set.  You'll feel it grab and you'll begin to swing on its set point.  After the anchor line is secure on the bow, you can shut down the engine(s).  A 7 to 1 ratio of anchor line to water depth is a safe bet in relative calm conditions.

2.  Be sure your coolers and fridge lids and doors are secure.  Electricity is at a premium on the hook.  To keep well charged when you have no shore power and you have been running down your battery stores use a generator to power up your battery(s) or run your engine for 20 minutes to half an hour each morning to restore battery capacities.

3.  If you're in a populated anchorage it's a good idea to put a colorful marker, like a small buoy on your anchor line so other boaters can see it and won't foul your anchor line.  Display a white anchor light all night long.  There are some aftermarket low-voltage lights that you can plug into your 12 volt outlet that draws very little current.

Camping on the water is much like camping on land and like preparing for any vacation or time away from home, unless your going on an all inclusive holiday, it takes thoughtful planning and preparation.  It's not as burdensome as it might seem though and it's the key to an enjoyable foray into independent living, on your terms, "on the hook".  Nothing beats hearing the calming sound of waves gently lapping against the hull, watching the sunrise, sunset, feeling the cooling effect of water or a soft breeze on a hot day.  Try it just once, it won't be the last time you leave the ramp or dock for a night or two or more. I guarantee it.


Here are some good reasons to overnight on a boat.  Thank you Michele & Arden aboard Cinnamon Girl for this spectacular video.

William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill, webmaster of this site, is the author of the book Lubber's log, published by Llumina Press; a boating journal and adventure story of the author's first time experiences in the preparation, maintenance and piloting of a new, unfamiliar boat. 

You can visit his website here.

The Heart and "Soul of a Sailor"!

Introduction by William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill

This song written and sung by Kenny Chesney speaks for itself.  In Kenny's words, "I think anybody who has a boat has an emotional attachment to it. It has a way of healing a person and gives him a sense of freedom. That's where I feel the most freedom -- and it's helped me heal something that needed healing."

This song, the Soul of a Sailor takes a simple moment in a bar to describe what Kenny calls a "brother in arms", a commercial fisherman.  He really captures the spirit of those that love their time on a boat and the reasons why.


(Song lyrics below the music video)

"Soul Of A Sailor"

He walked in with a salty sway

Lookin' like Blackbeard in his day

A brother in arms just like me

I was born a son of the sea

I can't be still, I can't be tied

The only time I feel alive is

When the wind fills my sail

Riding on a lifelong swell

Let my heart take me where it wants to go

That's the soul of a sailor, the soul of a sailor

He slid a stool and a beer to me

Said, you know, we're both a dying breed
Here's to love lost and newfound friends
And living out life in the boat we're in
I can't be still, I can't be tied
The only time I feel alive is

When the wind fills my sail
Riding on a lifelong swell

Let my heart take me where it wants to go
That's the soul of a sailor, the soul of a sailor

Let my heart take me where it wants to go
That's the soul of a sailor, the soul of a sailor

William L. Gills aka Bos'n Bill, webmaster of this site, is the author of the book Lubber's log, published by Llumina Press; a boating journal and adventure story of the author's first time experiences in the preparation, maintenance and piloting of a new, unfamiliar boat. You can visit his website here.