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Books > Sport & Leisure > Transport: general interest > Ships & shipping: general interest
A hilarious, biting satire of the United States and its unpredictable leader from the best-selling author of The Circle
The grand ship Glory has been skilfully captained for years, but when its well-loved old skipper decides to step down, a new leader thrusts himself forward and a new era begins.
The new Captain is vulgar, bumbling and inexplicably confident. With no knowledge of nautical navigation or maritime law - nor even, as he has repeatedly remarked, a particular liking for boats - he solemnly swears to shake things up.
Together with his band of petty thieves and confidence men known as the Upskirt Boys, the Captain enthralls his passengers: writing his dreams and notions on the cafeteria whiteboard, boasting of his exemplary anatomy, devouring cheeseburgers, and tossing anyone who dissatisfies him overboard.
Until one day a famous pirate, long feared by passengers of the Glory but revered by the Captain for how phenomenally masculine he looks without a shirt while riding a horse, appears on the horizon . . .
A unique view of the revolution: from the ocean The only foreign
writer to portray things Cuban as a volunteer merchant marine, Ron
Ridenour sailed six months on five Cuban ships around the island
nation delivering petroleum, and to and from Europe with container
goods, to tell Cuban sailors' views of their society and the world.
Follow the crew through a gale, catching a giant shark, struggling
with a life boat gone amuck, night life ashore... 108 pages with
photos.
The book traces the history of the various craft that have been
used for transport on Britain's rivers and canals from the earliest
times to the present day. The first section deals with the long
history of the development of river craft, from prehistoric log
boats to the whole range of sailing barges, such as the Humber keel
and the Thames barge. By the middle of the 18th century, canal
construction brought in a new generation of craft, not just the
familiar narrow boats, but the wide boats such as the Leeds &
Liverpool short boats, maintenance craft and even passenger boats.
Steam power was introduced in the 19th century for a variety of
crafts from tugs to pleasure steamers, while the 20th century
brought in the diesel motors for boats and barges of all kinds.
Today, there is still some commercial traffic, but an
ever-increasing demand for boats for pleasure. Much of this story
is told in terms of preserved craft and is also based on the
author's own experience aboard many of these craft, whether crewing
a Thames barge or working in the engine room of a Clyde puffer.
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