West Coast Windjammers In Story and Pictur Book

Does anyone doubt the important place the little wooden schooners and four-masters from Europe and the East Coast held in the settlement and building of the West? The early settlers in California, Oregon and Washington came around the Horn and sailed north from San Francisco. Lumber for homes and industry went south by sea from the Northwest. And with nothing to guide them but the wind, compass, sextant, stars and a sixth sense, the sturdy little ships struggled through fog and gales, more than half of them foundering. This is the story of those ships and of the intrepid pioneers who built them. It is told by a man who understands their epic stature, who can write with feeling of stalwart skipper, mate and seaman, of musty fo'c'sles, of the creak and groan of blocks, wind in the rigging and chanteys sung about the capstan. When torches were touched to the oil-soaked hulls of many old sailing vessels in Puget Sound, Jim Gibbs watched with the wonderment of youth...and saw thousands of years of sail go up in orange flames. The torch he carries now is not to destroy but preserve the golden ago of schooners, barkentines and all wind ships that navigated West Coast waters. Gibbs is dedicated to this purpose, is immersed in seal lore and has researched deeply into his subject of historic ships, cargoes, shipbuilding and dramatic episodes that characterized the doughty skippers.Read More