You _ really _(!) need a shallow draft boat here in Delaware [& MD, NJ,
and PA ] these days as the rivers are slowly drying up....and Philadelphia
is now a saltwater port ! [ The flooding tides of the Atlantic Ocean now
has pushed the salt-line of the Delaware Bay and River up to Philadelphia
]. I guess that makes me a salt water sailor ?
Between various activites on the water...I just finished a book that I
accidentally ran into in the library....perhaps the best seafaring book I
have ever read...and I've read a lot of them.
The Harvard Classics
Edited by Charles W. Eliot, L.L.D
Title : " Two Years Before the Mast ...and Twenty-four Years After "
Author: R.H. Dana, Jr.
Copywrite 1937
It's a _true_ and outstanding documentary by a highly intelligent chap who
had to drop out of law school around 1834 [ yes 1834 ] because of a health
problem and decides to get his health back by signing onto a merchant brig
as a simple seaman for a two year cruise from Boston [ his home-city ] to
the West Coast of USA. [ Note: this is all prior to the Panama Canal
]. He describes in absorbing detail life on these merchant sailing ships,
vivid descriptions of [ for example ] Pueblo (!) de Los Angles [ Los
Angles was just a few shacks on shore in those days, ] as was SFO,
Monterey, Santa Barbara, etc,. etc....
Warning: You may lose some sleep once you start this book. Some of you
West-Coasties may really especially enjoy it.
Twenty four Years Later the writer [ now a lawyer- advocate for seaman's
affairs ]..revisits San Francisco and other of the ports he made...and
describes how the towns and missions [ now cities ] have changed.
Bill Zeitler
Wilmington, DE
Potterer at heart [ Ex - P-15 # 2060..." Just Wight "...now in a " light
cruiser" [ modified Bay Hen ]
PS: If you find a copy of this book you may also want to keep a
dictionary handy of nautical technical terms....to fully understand all
the various sails, yards, masts, halyards, rigging, etc.etc.