The Hungry Ocean : A Swordboat Captain’s Journey by Linda Greenlaw

I just finished listening to The Hungry Ocean : A Swordboat Captain`s Journey by Linda Greenlaw. Abridged into fifteen 30-minute segments which were read by Jim Fleming on Wisconsin Public Radio’s Chapter a Day in September 2004.

This book was a captivating ‘book on tape’ or should I say ‘on mp3′. Greenlaw, as one of the few female sword-fishermen, is captain of this swordfishing boat. She tells a great story, or memoir, of one of her month-long expeditions. Describing life on a commercial fishing boat, from the monotony of the ride out to the fishing grounds to the sleep deprivation when the fish are being hauled into the boat and including financial details of how the crew is paid (or not), made this an interesting listen. And the fact that Greenlaw is a woman gives the story an interesting twist but is not the focus of the story.

From the back of the book:

In his No. 1 best seller The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger describes Linda Greenlaw as “one of the best sea captains, period, on the East Coast.” Now Greenlaw tells her own riveting story of a 30-day swordfishing voyage aboard one of the best-outfitted boats on the East Coast, complete with danger, humor, and characters so colorful they seem to have been ripped from the pages of Moby Dick.

The excitement starts immediately, even before Greenlaw and her five-man crew leave the dock — and doesn’t stop until the last page. While under way, she must contend with savage weather, equipment failure, too few fish, and too many sharks — not to mention the routinely backbreaking work of operating a fishing boat in a state of mind-numbing exhaustion after working 10 21-hour days in a row.

Throughout the course of the trip, Greenlaw brings to vivid life the characters of the five men in her crew, including their arguments and the jokes they play on one another. What comes through is how dangerous a profession commercial fishing is — and how remarkable are the people who choose to devote their lives to it. Greenlaw also discusses what it’s like to be probably the world’s only female swordfish captain (“no big deal”), tells riotously funny stories from her career, explains in detail the nuts and bolts of longline fishing, and pauses often to reflect in luminous prose on the beauty and power of the sea.

With a true fisherman’s gift for spinning a yarn and a voice that’s wry, honest, and all her own, Greenlaw brings readers right on deck with her and her crew, re-creating the experience of going for the big haul against awesome odds. At once a thrilling page-turner and a passionate ode to a fascinating way of life, The Hungry Ocean will captivate lovers of the sea, adventure, and literature alike.