Beckoned by the Sea


Book Description

A rich and diverse tapestry weaving together the many voices, narratives, skills, and talents of women up and down the coastal Pacific Northwest who devote their lives and careers to the sea. Beckoned by the Sea celebrates coastal women from northern BC to northern California who work on or with the sea. The twenty-four women featured in this inspiring and fascinating book represent a variety of industries—from conservation, commercial fishing, and marine biology to safety and rescue, tourism, and the arts. Weaving together elements of social history, culture, geography, and environmentalism, author Sylvia Taylor draws on in-depth interviews, meticulous research, and her own experience as a deckhand on a commercial fishing boat. Beckoned by the Sea investigates the myriad ways in which women have contributed to the marine industries that sustain the people and shape the culture of North America’s west coast—and reveals how the sea itself has touched the lives of these women by giving them not just a livelihood but an infinite source of inspiration and personal fulfillment.




The Beckoning Sea


Book Description

Looking back, author Bernhard J. Abrahamsson cannot say exactly why, at age fourteen, he chose a seafaring life. Perhaps, the choice was less the result of deliberate design and pursuit than of circumstances that led him in that direction. In The Beckoning Sea, Abrahamsson, a native of Sweden, shares the short stories and vignettes from a youth spent dreaming of seeing the world. This memoir narrates his experiences when he joined the Swedish Merchant Marine and sailed all over the world on Swedish and Israeli merchant ships through the 1950s. He passed the sea captain's exam in 1953 and was licensed as a captain in 1958, reaching the rank of commander in the Swedish Naval Reserve before becoming a US citizen. Funny and sad events mesh to form a picture of seafaring as it once was--of a lifestyle that no longer exists. The Beckoning Sea offers stories of friendship, loss and madness at sea, the forces of nature, and life in the rough ports of the Baltic coal trade immediately after World War II. A tale of a boy's journey to adulthood, The Beckoning Sea also contains a collection of memories and often comical stories from Abrahamsson's own second chapter--his life after leaving the sea and planting his feet on firm ground.




The Seas


Book Description

National Bestseller "The Seas took me back to how I felt as a kid, when you’re newly falling in love with literature, newly shocked by its capacity to cast a spell..." ?Maggie Nelson (from the Introduction) A Most Anticipated Book of Summer at BuzzFeed, NYLON, and more. Moored in a coastal fishing town so far north that the highways only run south, the unnamed narrator of The Seas is a misfit. She’s often the subject of cruel local gossip. Her father, a sailor, walked into the ocean eleven years earlier and never returned, leaving his wife and daughter to keep a forlorn vigil. Surrounded by water and beckoned by the sea, she clings to what her father once told her: that she is a mermaid. True to myth, she finds herself in hard love with a land-bound man, an Iraq War veteran thirteen years her senior.The mesmerizing, fevered coming-of-age tale that follows will land her in jail. Her otherworldly escape will become the stuff of legend. With the inventive brilliance and psychological insight that have earned her international acclaim, Samantha Hunt pulls readers into an undertow of impossible love and intoxication, blurring the lines between reality and fairy tale, hope and delusion, sanity and madness.




Seven Tears into the Sea


Book Description

Beckon the sea, I'll come to thee.... Shed seven tears, perchance seven years.... At the age of ten, Gwen Cooke had a strange encounter with a boy with dark, slightly tilted eyes. He came to her on the beach, whispered strange words in her ear, and then disappeared. Shortly thereafter, her family moved away from their seaside home and Gwen never saw the boy again. Now seventeen, Gwen is returning to her childhood home. Her nana asked her to come. But Gwen knows it's time to go back for another reason: She yearns for the sea. Perhaps the sea itself is calling to her. Perhaps the memory of the boy and his haunting words are drawing her back to the place they met. Perhaps it's time for her to face her destiny.




Simply by the Sea


Book Description

Coastal living to island living- Simply by the Sea is a beautiful collection of interiors by Tracey Rapasardi. Comfortable interiors welcome family and friends at these stunning coastal retreats that sit along the natural beauty of the coastlines.




The Fisher Queen


Book Description

It’s 1981, and Sylvia Taylor has signed on as rookie deckhand on a wallowy 40-foot salmon troller. Looking forward to making money for university, she is determined to master the ins and outs of fishing some of the most dangerous waters in the world: the Graveyard of the Pacific. For four months, she helps navigate the waters off northern Vancouver Island, learning the ways of fisherfolk and the habitat in which they breathe, sleep and survive. The politics of selling fish, the basics of tying gear, near-death experiences, endless boat troubles, the emotional perils of sharing cramped quarters—all are part of a steep and unforgiving learning curve. Taylor’s story captures the reality of life on a fishboat and documents the end of an era, a time when the fishing industry wasn’t yet marred by unchecked overfishing or hyper-regulation. Her lyrical, simple prose explores the tight-knit relationship of fishers with the west coast’s wild, untamed waters. Her memoir bursts with all the humour and hell, peace and upheaval that is the Pacific Ocean.




Short Stories From The Library of Wayne King Livingston


Book Description

The stories you are about to read are from traveling and a culmination from eight years of my wife and I living among the people in lands of rich stories, not excluding Ireland. It has given me great joy to write of our adventures in a format that takes the best of times, stirred with some pathos of fallen friends and then mixed into the tales within! These reminiscences will be treasured by my wife Pat and I - forever! No one character is represented in his or her entirety and no narrative can be said to be an actual event. These storied chapters herein, capture our lives as it might have happened. I have pasted the wonderful characters together from all the many vignettes we encompassed while dwelling amongst one of the most reflective societies today. Not reflective in some lofty sense, but as in a mirror of life that needs the rich loamy land and vibrant countryside to place one’s heart into. Ireland, with not much doubt, is the last and most beautiful, virginal country left today. Thanks to flying, there are many corners and stories on this earth that I have seen and wrote about of great exotic beauty and depth, but the endowments of pastoral Ireland leave one breathless. It’s soft and natural charm is the result of native Irishmen resisting the huge industrial revolution that has changed lives within the short span of our diminutive existences. The Emerald Isle is a refuge from the unbridled growth of material things. Time will undoubtedly take this last resort, but there are those of us who have advantaged ourselves with an affair of the heart - a sojourn with Ireland! The Author




Where the Shadows Beckon


Book Description

Get ready for the journey of a lifetime in the first book of an all-new, captivating fantasy series from thrilling debut author Gillian Grant. A world without gods. A dangerous quest. And a secret that will shake Eith to its very core. As a hunter, Evren Hanali of Orenlion has probably seen it all and done even more, even though she likes to fade into the background. She prefers a solitary existence, doing the jobs she’s commissioned for and not much else. But fate has other plans. It seems she has a destiny—one she is only beginning to unravel. And unlikely companions and exotic places are only the beginning of her journey. When circumstances beyond her control—and gravity—send her plummeting to what she fears may be her death, walking away unscathed opens a world of possibilities. Somehow, she becomes the leader of a motley crew of allies with a shared mission. Only it’s not clear what anyone’s end goal is, and trust is hard-earned. Still, the merry band of adventurers finds solace and friendship along the way—not to mention dangers galore. In the instance of the Yawning Deep, as above is not as below. Add magic and mayhem to the mix, and Evren has the fight of her life on her hands. When one hard-fought win leads to revelations of lies, deceit, and murder, Evren and company must be willing to fight for what they believe—and each other. Or die trying.




By the Sea


Book Description

In this stunning book, intuition and instinct meet modern science as the therapeutic benefits of being in, on or by the sea are explained and explored, and how, if we look after the oceans they will, in turn, look after us. There is something about the vastness of the oceans, which are significantly larger than the continents combined, that has drawn humans in a significant way since the beginning of coastal communities. Throughout history, people have gravitated to live near the sea, it is part of the survival instinct. Water also has huge cultural and spiritual significance for people through the ages and for centuries we looked to the sand and surf as a fully-stocked medicine cabinet. Despite the widespread intuitive feeling that being by the water makes us happier and healthier, there hasn't been much scientific evidence to quantify this connection. Until now. Environmental psychology is the study of how the natural environment makes us feel, think and behave, and scientists in this area are discovering the tangible benefits of breathing in the fresh sea air. Reasons to spend time by the sea: 1. Just looking at the sea can promote reductions in heart rate and improvements in mood. 2. The negative ions in sea air accelerate your ability to absorb oxygen, and balance your seratonin levels. 3. The bracing climate is especially beneficial to the respiratory organs and the skin, and also improves circulation and strengthens the body's defences. 4. Spending time by the sea promotes better mental health. 5. When you are by the sea you are more likely to exercise.




Broken Seas


Book Description

This collection of seafaring sagas displays how sailors fight their way across vast waters, face unknown dangers, and find the courage to battle forces of nature with amazing fortitude. This collection includes the story of Mike Plant, America's greatest solo sailing racer, as he headed out to sea from New York harbor never to be seen again; the journey of one man on a wooden fishing skiff who faced an early sea ice storm to search desperately for a lost partner; the courageous adventure of Gerry Spiess aboard Yankee Girl, a 10-foot home-built plywood sloop, as he left Long Beach, California, to begin a bold voyage in the smallest craft ever to sail across the Pacific Ocean; and the tragic legend of the men aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald who found themselves in a deadly race against time as a terrible storm deepened. These powerfully retold stories will sweep readers into the world of high seas adventure and desperate survival of outstanding sailors aboard memorable boats.