Clouds of White Sail: Fishermen, Racing, and the End of an Era

(Paperback)

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Description

Fishermen from New England and the Canadian Maritime Provinces once made a reputation by driving their schooners under a full press of sail in a howling gale on their run into market, fueling the popular imagination with romantic images of Captains Courageous. But by the early twentieth century, they seemed destined to go the way of workers ashore, who had been displaced by new technologies. Then fate intervened in the form of the International Fishermens Races. Clouds of White Sail tells the story of how schoonermen were able to reignite the publics love affair with the beauty of their ships and the romance of the sea and hold onto their way of life in a way that few other workers were able. Michael Wayne Santoss narrative takes a page from the focsle traditions from which he draws; like the men whose saga he immortalizes, he not only loves a good story but also knows how to tell one.

Reviews

Clouds of White Sail is a trans-Atlantic chapter of Americas history. Michael Wayne Santos masterfully weaves the tale and the lore of the newly arrived Irishmen who contributed to the growth of maritime industriessail-making, schooners, Grand Banks fishing and racingwhich invigorated New England seaport life through the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Sail-makers and schooner syndicate sponsors like my great-great grandfather John H. McManus and his sons, 'Americas Cup' sail-maker Charlie and the renowned knockabout schooner designer Thomas, worked alongside Boston Brahmins as well as other new immigrant groups. Together as Americans, they successfully defended the 'Americas Cup' from the British and challenged their Canadian counterparts in swashbuckling schooner races that captivated both nations. In so doing, these groups of old and new Americans helped to forge some of the best maritime traditions of our country, which we all still share. -- Matthew Thomas McManus
The Schooner Adventure was built in 1926. Designed by Thomas McManus as a 'knockabout'having no bowsprit, which was known as a 'widow maker' due to the danger of working on the jibshe spent 27 years fishing cod, haddock and halibut off Georges Bank. Since her return to Gloucester in 1988, she has become a National Historical Landmark and serves to preserve and celebrate the traditions of Americas oldest port through education, interpretation, and community events. As her skipper, I appreciate what she stands for, which is why I find Michael Santos book, Clouds of White Sail, so compelling. He has captured the story of the fishermen and the ships they sailed in a readable narrative that helps us to understand their experiences and their contributions to American maritime history. -- Capt. Captain Stefan Edick, Schooner Adventure, Gloucester, Massachusetts

Author Bio

Michael Santos is professor of history at the University of Lynchburg.