“No,” she answers, finally. “I don’t hate them. Absolutely not.”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Particular gratitude goes to my late father-in-law, John P. Ware, who planted the seed in my head several years ago, but who should not be held responsible for the tree that grew out of it. Special thanks to Capt. Andrew Burton and the crews of S / V Tudy and S / V Caribe for introducing a shore-hugger to blue-water sailing; to Herb Matthews, for lessons in celestial navigation; to Bruce Kirby, for checking the manuscript for technical errors. All mistakes in terminology, sailing tactics, etc., are my fault, not his. Thanks also to Capt. Bill Schwicker, for providing nautical lore about the Florida Keys and the Bahamas; to Mike Monroe and “Captain Finnbar,” for relating to me, one night years ago in Key West, their experiences in Hurricane Allen aboard the ketch The Island Princess; to Mary Perkins and Capt. Reef Perkins, for information on wrecking and salvaging; and to my wife, Leslie Ware, for teaching me how to hand, reef, and steer, and especially for her invaluable suggestions and editing of countless rough drafts.

I am also indebted to a small library of books, but especially to the following:

Richard Meade Bach, The Young Wrecker of the Florida Reef. Lee and Shepard, 1865.

Graham Blackburn, The Overlook Illustrated Dictionary of Nautical Terms. Overlook Press, 1981.

Roger F. Duncan, Coastal Maine: A Maritime History. W. W. Norton, 1992.

Roger F. Duncan and John P. Ware, The Cruising Guide to the New England Coast. G. P. Putnam & Sons, 1990.

Barbara H. Erkkila, Hammers on Stone: The History of Cape Ann Granite. Peter Smith Books, 1987.

Joseph E. Garland, Gloucester on the Wind. Arcadia Publishing, 1995.

Tria Giovan, Cuba: The Elusive Island. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1996.

Harry Johnson and Fredrick S. Lightfoot, Maritime New York in Nineteenth Century Photographs. Dover Publications, Inc., 1980.

Richard Maury, The Saga of Cimba. Harcourt Brace & Co., 1939.

Charles B. McLane, Blue Hill Bay: Islands of the Maine Coast. The Kennebec River Press, Inc., 1985.

James A. Michener and John Kings, Six Days in Havana. University of Texas Press, 1989.

Farley Mowat, The Serpent’s Coil. McClelland & Stewart Ltd., 1980.

Joseph M. Murphy, Santeria: African Spirits in America. Beacon Press, 1993.

Henry M. Plummer, The Boy, Me and the Cat. Commonwealth Press, 1961 (from a self-published manuscript by Mr. Plummer, dated 1912).

Rear-Admiral H. F. Pullen, Atlantic Schooners. Brunswick Press, 1967.

Birse Shepard, Lore of the Wreckers. Beacon Press, 1961.

Peter H. Spectre, A Passage in Time. W. W. Norton, 1991.

Stan Windhorn and Wright Langley, Yesterday’s Key West. Langley Press, 1973.

And thanks to the editors of Time-Life Books for The Fabulous Century: Volume One: 1900-1910, and Judy Crichton and the WGBH Educational Foundation for America 1900, Henry Holt & Co., 1998.

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