From Baird Maritime
A novelised yarn describing the adventures of an Irish/American teenager who ran away to sea in the mid-1950s.
The author was, indeed, shanghaied from the American port of Mobile, Alabama. It is later revealed that he was sold aboard ship by a paedophile gang for $100.
He was lucky. He landed on a ship crewed by a great bunch of West Indian and Filipino sailors. They looked after him, protected him from the lustful first mate – who had paid for him – and educated him in a way that no school ever could.
His few months aboard taught him invaluable lessons about the world, about people, about racism and, even, about the sea and ships. It prepared him well for his formal education and, later, for the real world.
A very good read from a very perceptive writer.
Ordering information:
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