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48th out of 58 books
—
24 voters
Seaworthy: A Swordboat Captain Returns to the Sea
The bestselling author's sequel to The Hungry Ocean--a fast-paced account of her return to swordfishing
Linda Greenlaw hadn't been bluewater fishing for ten years- not since the events chronicled in the books The Perfect Storm and The Hungry Ocean-but when her lobster traps aren't paying off, her truck is on its last gasp, and the bills are piling up, she decides to take...more
Linda Greenlaw hadn't been bluewater fishing for ten years- not since the events chronicled in the books The Perfect Storm and The Hungry Ocean-but when her lobster traps aren't paying off, her truck is on its last gasp, and the bills are piling up, she decides to take...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published
June 1st 2010
by Viking Adult
(first published 2010)
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Dear Ms. Greenlaw, get over yourself.
After 10 years away from sword-fishing - 10 years spent lobstering on Isle au Haut - Linda has decided to jump back into the fray and captain the Seahawk with a hand-picked crew of four men who vary in their high seas experience. Understandably, she is nervous that she won't live up to the high standards and expectations she set when she captained for 19 years before retiring to land, but excited to see if she still has what it takes to bring aboard one of t...more
After 10 years away from sword-fishing - 10 years spent lobstering on Isle au Haut - Linda has decided to jump back into the fray and captain the Seahawk with a hand-picked crew of four men who vary in their high seas experience. Understandably, she is nervous that she won't live up to the high standards and expectations she set when she captained for 19 years before retiring to land, but excited to see if she still has what it takes to bring aboard one of t...more
As many of you know (especially those who know my wife, Carol), I'm an easy mark for a strong, intelligent woman who is comfortable in her own skin and very adept at leading in areas not usually seen as a woman's domain. Linda Greenlaw fits this profile.
I first learned about swordfishing captain, Linda Greenlaw in Sebastian Junger's book "The Perfect Storm." (She was played by a pretty impressive woman in her own right - Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio - in the George Clooney movie version). I've re...more
I first learned about swordfishing captain, Linda Greenlaw in Sebastian Junger's book "The Perfect Storm." (She was played by a pretty impressive woman in her own right - Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio - in the George Clooney movie version). I've re...more
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This time around Linda is recounting what she thought of as her last big chance to captain a swoardfishing boat from assembling the crew to defending her actions. I found Seaworthy to be just as absorbing as Lobster Chronicles, just as fascinating and perhaps even a touch more depricating.
Greenlaw is a true renegade (even though I cringe at using that word after the 2008 campaigns)as well as an enthralling educator. No doubt I know waaaaayyyyy more about swordfish and how to fish for them comme...more
Greenlaw is a true renegade (even though I cringe at using that word after the 2008 campaigns)as well as an enthralling educator. No doubt I know waaaaayyyyy more about swordfish and how to fish for them comme...more
Greenlaw, a former blue-water sword fisherman, has spent the last ten years of her life living on an island in Maine, Isle Au Haut, lobstering and writing books about her fishing experiences. An old friend offered her a chance to captain his boat for another season of sword fishing. The trip was a disaster. Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. The boat was poorly equipped and in bad condition. They were delayed more than once in their trip to the Grand Banks to begin setting their lines...more
"Darkness waded in cautiously and headed west. Hesitating waist-deep, then plunging into the murky chill, the diving night splashed light onto the opposite horizon, which swam like spawning salmon up the riverlike sky. The sun hated as if it were a baby chick, pecking from within the shell until fully risen, yellow and warm, and as unsure as I was...after all, the sun starts anew every day. This could well be my last chance...and I would make the most of it."
Linda Greenlaw's latest book, Seawort...more
Linda Greenlaw's latest book, Seawort...more
May 21, 2013
Bucket
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
bio-auto-bio,
nature-the-outdoors,
non-fiction,
reviewed,
travel,
women,
adventure,
leadership,
grad-school
Linda Greenlaw was the first (and best, according to Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm) female swordfish boat captain in the United States. Throughout her 20s and 30s, she worked her way up through the ranks from crew member to captain, but always fishing for swordfish. This book chronicles her return to captaining a swordfish boat (the Seahawk) at age 47 after a 10-year hiatus.
She assembles her crew: Archie, nearly 60 but with a steady positivity and mechanical and fishing skills;...more
She assembles her crew: Archie, nearly 60 but with a steady positivity and mechanical and fishing skills;...more
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Linda Greenlaw has been on my reading list for quite some time now- I had wanted to read "Lobster Chronicles" but I found "Seaworthy" when I was browsing in a bookstore.
Her writing is so "matter-of-fact" which makes the reading easy and engaging, you follow as if she were recounting the story at your dining room table.
I also really enjoyed that although this is a story of a female captain in a male-dominated world, she never once made it about that. Her only struggle that she emphasized was tha...more
Her writing is so "matter-of-fact" which makes the reading easy and engaging, you follow as if she were recounting the story at your dining room table.
I also really enjoyed that although this is a story of a female captain in a male-dominated world, she never once made it about that. Her only struggle that she emphasized was tha...more
After ten years of lobster fishing, writing, and dreaming of going back to the deep sea, Linda Greenlaw gets a chance to come out of retirement and captain a swordboat again. She jumps at it, rounding up a crew of friends and taking over a beat-up old ship that has all the reliability of the Millennium Falcon. As she deals with breakdowns, plagues of sharks, and a diplomatic incident with Canada, she also grapples with the question of whether she's lost her edge as a captain, or whether she has...more
I first checked this book out from the library as soon as I heard of it. I had read all of Linda’s other books (including the cookbook she cowrote with her mother) and enjoyed them all. This one was kind of…not grabbing me. I got about halfway through it and then wasn’t very motivated to pick it up again. Feeling bad, I tried it on audiobook (as I often will do if it I’m not loving it in print) and was able to finish it. Linda narrates it, so I did enjoy that part. It was a slow moving book, and...more
I am a fan of Linda Greenlaw and it was good to see a book about her returning to the love of her life. The seasoned captain's return was an unmitigated nightmare. Well, except that I guess it was mitigated a bit by the 4 men who were her crew this time out. She left the dock with the greatest 4 guys she ever fished with and they did her proud on this awful trip. Linda writes well and you get caught up in her adventures, but she was "in her head" a lot in this book. It was more reflective than h...more
Likes: Interesting female role model, great characters on board, well-written, compelling tale / plot, interesting to learn about the swordfishing industry...
Dislikes: I was a bit distracted by the ruminating (have things changed in 10 years? have I changed? what does it all mean?) and a few of the meditations on swordfishing vs corporate life were a bit heavy-handed...I felt most betrayed, however, when I found out in a related Google search that the Discovery channel folks had been on board fi...more
Dislikes: I was a bit distracted by the ruminating (have things changed in 10 years? have I changed? what does it all mean?) and a few of the meditations on swordfishing vs corporate life were a bit heavy-handed...I felt most betrayed, however, when I found out in a related Google search that the Discovery channel folks had been on board fi...more
I’ve been intrigued with Lynda Greenlaw since reading the Perfect Storm and seeing the subsequent movie. She knows fishing and writing about fishing and although she lives on an island in Maine, I’ve given her the “local girl done good” stamp. I’ve actually read all of the books about her different life adventures and even one of her mysteries (not great), but her personal tales are a hoot! She even wrote a Down East cookbook with her mom….awwww! Check out one of her books, any one, and you’ll g...more
Parts of this book were interesting, and the opening was good. I found the tone of the book though, to be somewhat self-serving. I ended up not really caring what happened. There are good details about life aboard a small fishing boat, and I did experience some moments, of "what a very different life this is." I preferred her first book to this one. I'm sorry though, that I didn't make it to my local independent bookstore a couple of weeks ago, when Linda Greenlaw did a reading. She has certainl...more
Comments based on publisher's Advanced Reading Copy. Greenlaw’s, The Hungry Ocean was the book that The Perfect Storm should have been, at least in the sense of the intricacies and dynamics of long-line swordboat fishing. This more introspective and personal work does not disappoint and will make great quick summer reading. I hope that the author has a tour and/or interviews scheduled in support of the book. Her NPR interview about The Hungry Ocean was very compelling, and I look forward to hear...more
Linda Greenlaw makes me want to set out to sea in a boat and experience the life of a commercial fisherman or woman as it would be! Yet the armchair travel is probably a lot safer. I have always enjoyed her writing and I can't wait for more. If you really want to experience the highs and the lows of this type of life I would say that Linda is one of the best to read. Her honesty is refreshing and she is an inspiration to live life as you see fit! Keep on striving and you will have really lived!...more
Seaworthy: A Swordboat Captain Returns to the Sea – Linda Greenlaw (Viking 2010) 639.2. Swordboat captain (made famous in a Perfect Storm)and accomplished author’s newest tale about her return to offshore fishing after ten years away. They don’t get much fishing done, but the author does get arrested for failing to honor international boundaries. 3.5/10. Read January 2011.
I have to admit that I've been avoiding this author like the plague, but when this book popped up on the trade table at work, I decided to give it a go. And I liked it, a lot. I read it in one sitting, and it was what a light book should be: informative, entertaining, exciting, and left me willing to read something else by the author should it happen across my path.
This book moved right along for me, in spite of the fact that I do not understand the mechanics of sword fishing. I wish there were pictures of the boat and the lines they use for fishing so I could have grasped that a little better. Linda Greenlaw is a fascinating person. Her world is far different from mine and it is interesting to read about her adventures.
I've got a fascination with commercial boats and commercial fishing so anything Linda Greenlaw writes is always on my list. She's a great writer and storyteller. The events of this book take place at the same time as the first season of the show Swords: Life on the Line. It's interesting to have read the book and watched a lot of it happen live.
Sorry if this is a double entry....
Met and heard Linda Greenlaw speak "up north" on her book tour, and was fascinated, especially since I would soon be in her home state of Maine.
WHO KNEW there were women out there like her? I may look for her Discovery Channel reality show about swordfishing, too! I will look at her other books, also.
Met and heard Linda Greenlaw speak "up north" on her book tour, and was fascinated, especially since I would soon be in her home state of Maine.
WHO KNEW there were women out there like her? I may look for her Discovery Channel reality show about swordfishing, too! I will look at her other books, also.
I live in Maine and love the ocean. I am impressed with Linda Greenlaw. She is a 40 something women (like myself) from Maine (like myself) who is doing a job that is mostly is done by males. She is quite amazing. Interesting read of what goes into catching swordfish when you see them in the supermarket or fish market.
I love Linda Greenlaw! This book was great, maybe not as absolutely awesome as The Hungry Ocean but still a great summer read. I think the best part was that just after reading it in Maine we saw her lobstering boat tied to a dock (sadly, it was just her brother refueling, she was out on book tour.)
I enjoyed The Hungry Ocean and The Lobster Chronicles, but I found this one disappointing. I had the feeling that the script was already written before the adventure was started. The writing is perfunctory and the tone self-congratulatory. If you haven't read Linda Greenlaw, try The Hungry Ocean first.
I will be reading all of Greenlaw's books... This book, though slightly repetitive at points, perfectly displays the author's love of the sea while she relays a million horrible events that should, in reality, cause disdain, this book held my attention from the moment I opened it.
I like real-life adventure tales, and this one taught me a lot about fishing technicalities that I didn't know. Although I don't fish, I eat fish, and the behind-the-scenes look was interesting. It wasn't a book that I just couldn't put down, but it was entertaining.
I have enjoyed reading all of Linda Greenlaw's books. She is America's only swordfish boat captain! She had taken ten years off, was living on Isle au Haut in Maine pulling lobster traps when she took on the challenge of fishing another season on the Grand Banks...
Strictly speaking, I didn't finish reading this properly - I paged through the last 50 pages or so, skimming it.
Boring. Simply boring. She admits at the beginning she had bills to pay. Well, hopefully sales of this helped! What a waste of what I thought was good writing talent!
Boring. Simply boring. She admits at the beginning she had bills to pay. Well, hopefully sales of this helped! What a waste of what I thought was good writing talent!
This is not my favorite book by this author. Was hoping to hear more about her life on land. Writing is clear and concise, gist too much fishing for me. I was duly warned as the subtitle is A Swordboat Captain Returns to the Sea.
I am a fan of Linda Greenlaw's writing and have attended three of her book readings/signings. Each time as I sat in the audience, I marveled at the tenacity and strength of this seemingly slight woman standing in front of me. She fishes, hauls lobster traps, cooks, manages crews of salty fisherman (some loyal and hardworking; others, not so). And, she writes--from the most technical details on commercial fishing and seamanship, to the mysterious escapades of Jane Bunker, and finally to a turn of...more
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Linda Greenlaws three bestselling books about life as a commercial fisherman -- THE HUNGRY OCEAN (1999), THE LOBSTER CHRONICLES (2002) and ALL FISHERMEN ARE LIARS (2004) -- have climbed as high as #2 on the New York Times bestseller list. She is the winner of the U.S. Maritime Literature Award in 2003, and the New England Book Award for nonfiction in 2004. Time Magazine called her 2005 RECIPES FRO...more
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Jun 24, 2010 07:04am