KAIROS
12-10-2009, 12:15 PM
Dark evenings here find me longing for new books and digging out some good old ones to re-read. I've just ordered 'Wanderer' (Sterling Hayden) because of another thread here.
Every few years I re-read Dana Story's account "Growing up in a Shipyard". He's a good writer and photographer and has written several books related to wood ship building history around his home town of Essex Mass. It's a great little book published by Mystic Seaport Museum and available at Barnes & Noble online. Story's family philosophy is at the other end of the spectrum from what I hear about Hayden. Story and Hayden probably would't have got along :D. Here is what the book-back-cover says:
"Dana Story is the last of many generations of Essex men to labor in the town's renowned shipyards. His father oversaw creation and launching of 424 vessels between 1872 and 1932, including some well known yachts and ships. Having grown up in his father's shipyard, Story tried to carry on the trade after World War II, but by then wooden shipbuilding was an anachronism, and his yard failed in 1948. In this candid reminiscence, Dana Story captures the spicy character of a coastal New England town. With obvious fondness he brings to life the shipyard "gangs", men of long experience, proud and eccentric. This is an engaging account of a vanished segment of New England life."
For those of us slogging through a (relatively) small boat project, this wood ship building perspective is a kind of kick in the pants....it makes me think I ought to toughen up and get to work and quit my whining.
I've been trying to find a similar memoir about the smaller shipyard my boat was built in, in Scotland (McGruers). But it's rare to have a writer and photographer on the inside as Story is.
I couldn't find another thread here on this Dana Story topic. Maybe the search tool doesn't work well in this case? You Forumites will enjoy.
Cover Photo:
http://www.yachtflyers.com/forum_images/shipyard_DanaStory.jpg
Every few years I re-read Dana Story's account "Growing up in a Shipyard". He's a good writer and photographer and has written several books related to wood ship building history around his home town of Essex Mass. It's a great little book published by Mystic Seaport Museum and available at Barnes & Noble online. Story's family philosophy is at the other end of the spectrum from what I hear about Hayden. Story and Hayden probably would't have got along :D. Here is what the book-back-cover says:
"Dana Story is the last of many generations of Essex men to labor in the town's renowned shipyards. His father oversaw creation and launching of 424 vessels between 1872 and 1932, including some well known yachts and ships. Having grown up in his father's shipyard, Story tried to carry on the trade after World War II, but by then wooden shipbuilding was an anachronism, and his yard failed in 1948. In this candid reminiscence, Dana Story captures the spicy character of a coastal New England town. With obvious fondness he brings to life the shipyard "gangs", men of long experience, proud and eccentric. This is an engaging account of a vanished segment of New England life."
For those of us slogging through a (relatively) small boat project, this wood ship building perspective is a kind of kick in the pants....it makes me think I ought to toughen up and get to work and quit my whining.
I've been trying to find a similar memoir about the smaller shipyard my boat was built in, in Scotland (McGruers). But it's rare to have a writer and photographer on the inside as Story is.
I couldn't find another thread here on this Dana Story topic. Maybe the search tool doesn't work well in this case? You Forumites will enjoy.
Cover Photo:
http://www.yachtflyers.com/forum_images/shipyard_DanaStory.jpg