The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain's Journey - Hardcover

Greenlaw, Linda

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786864516 ISBN 13: 9780786864515

Publisher: Hachette Books, 1999

Synopsis

The term fisherwoman does not exactly roll trippingly off the tongue, and Linda Greenlaw, the world's only female swordfish boat captain, isn't flattered when people insist on calling her one. "I am a woman. I am a fisherman. . . . I am not a fisherwoman, fisherlady, or fishergirl. If anything else, I am a thirty-seven-year-old tomboy. It's a word I have never outgrown."

Greenlaw also happens to be one of the most successful fishermen in the Grand Banks commercial fleet, though until the publication of Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm, "nobody cared." Greenlaw's boat, the Hannah Boden, was the sister ship to the doomed Andrea Gail, which disappeared in the mother of all storms in 1991 and became the focus of Junger's book.

The Hungry Ocean, Greenlaw's account of a monthlong swordfishing trip over 1,000 nautical miles out to sea, tells the story of what happens when things go right--proving, in the process, that every successful voyage is a study in narrowly averted disaster. There is the weather, the constant danger of mechanical failure, the perils of controlling five sleep-, women-, and booze-deprived young fishermen in close quarters, not to mention the threat of a bad fishing run: "If we don't catch fish, we don't get paid, period. In short, there is no labor union."

Greenlaw's straightforward, uncluttered prose underscores the qualities that make her a good captain, regardless of gender: fairness, physical and mental endurance, obsessive attention to detail. But, ultimately, Greenlaw proves that the love of fishing--in all of its grueling, isolating, suspenseful glory--is a matter of the heart and blood, not the mind. "I knew that the ocean had stories to tell me, all I needed to do was listen." --Svenja Soldovieri

About this title

About the Author:

Linda Greenlaw has been a deep-sea fisherman for 18 years, becoming the first and only female swordfish captain in the Grand Banks Fleet. This career earned her a prominent role in Sebastian Junger's runaway bestseller, The Perfect Storm and a protrayal in the subsequent film. She was raised in Maine and graduated from Colby College. Greenlaw now lives on Isle au Haut, Maine, where she captains a lobster boat.

From AudioFile:

Linda Greenlaw's notoriety as "one of the best sea captains on the East Coast" came through Sebastian Junger's dramatic account in THE PERFECT STORM. Greenlaw's story of life aboard swordfishing boats will interest many listeners. However, just as Greenlaw wasn't the ship's captain on her first voyage, so her first efforts as writer and narrator fall a little short. Her flat voice and unschooled timing demand listen-ers' perseverence. Greenlaw gives reflection and detail in ample proportion of both shipboard routine and adventure. R.F.W. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Hachette Books
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0786864516
• ISBN 13: 9780786864515
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288