[ZEY]≡ PDF Gratis The Serpent Coil Farley Mowat 9781585742875 Books

The Serpent Coil Farley Mowat 9781585742875 Books

Download As PDF : The Serpent Coil Farley Mowat 9781585742875 Books

The Serpent Coil Farley Mowat 9781585742875 Books

I first read Farley Mowat's "The Serpent's Coil" and its companion volume "The Grey Seas Under" about the ocean-going salvage business when I was in my teens and recently decided to read them again. I remembered them as exciting tales of the sea, but now I appreciate them not only for their compelling adventure narrative, but also for the delicate balance of historical account, human interest story, and technical detail Mowat was able to so deftly weave into relatively short books.

"The Serpent's Coil" recounts the story of the former Liberty ship "Leicester" which left London in 1948 and due in large part to chronic radio problems encountered Hurricane VII (this was prior to the naming of major storms). After her ballast shifted she rolled precariously and ultimately the crew abandoned the vessel (with several perishing). Astonishingly, the ship did not sink, but continued to drift in the Atlantic Ocean.

The story then shifts to the deep sea tugs "Foundation Lillian" and "Foundation Josephine" and the drama associated with attempting to salvage the "Leicester". The personalities of the people involved are expressed brilliantly, as are the problems faced with sharks and competition trying to claim the abandoned ship (the big Dutch tug "Zwarte Zee" was also trying frantically to find the "Leicester" as doing so could result in a huge payout). Before the adventure was over there were numerous obstacles to overcome including yet another hurricane. This was truly a case of defying the odds.

This is one of my favorite books ever about the sea, and I highly recommend it as well as "The Grey Seas Under". Farley Mowat was one of the best adventure writers in history, and if you have any interest in ships, salvage, adventure writing (the story is completely factual, but it reads like a page-turning novel crafted for high drama), or just excellent nonfiction these are great books.


Tags : The Serpent's Coil [Farley Mowat] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The 1948 rescue of the Liberty ship <IT>Leicester<RO> is chronicled in vivid detail--a story that takes readers through two hurricanes before the crew is finally rescued. Reprint.,Farley Mowat,The Serpent's Coil,The Lyons Press,1585742872,Ships & Shipbuilding - History,Salvage;North Atlantic Ocean.,Shipwrecks;North Atlantic Ocean.,General,History - General History,Leicester (Liberty ship),Maritime History,Modern - 20th Century,North Atlantic Ocean,Salvage,Shipwrecks,Transportation,Transportation Ships & Shipbuilding History,Travel Special Interest Adventure,Foundation Josephine (Tugboat)

The Serpent Coil Farley Mowat 9781585742875 Books Reviews

If you like sea stories and/or Farley Mowat's writing, you will love this book. It is similar to "Grey Seas Under", but about salvage of a single ship.
Farley never disappoints and this is a great complement to The Gray Seas Under, another tale of mariners fighting the elements.
Mowat wrote about seafaring disasters, a subject I am working on. His books on salvage tugboats were the only ones I could find on the subject. He writes well, and some of my writing friends recognized him as the author of several books about dogs, as well. The book served the purpose for which I bought it.
A perfectly written yarn about the seamen on the briny deep.
Fantastic narrative of a story that is factual and yet is so amazing as to strain belief. Wow!
I found this book to be very interesting and attention grabbing.... I recommend it.
I've probably read this book 20+ times since I first met it when I was 12. It never gets old.

It is the kind of macro/micro writing that I think Mowat does spectacularly well, now focused on the story of three ships -- two deep-sea rescue tugs and one Lend-Lease surplus freighter.

A far-from-comprehensive list of things I learned from this book
* What the legs on oil-drilling platforms are called.
* What kind of ballast you get from the Thames.
* The effect fog used to have on radios.
* What a Carley float is.
* Why you can't just tie up to the ship you're towing.
* How much list 60 degrees is.
* How some hurricanes start.
* What happens when your boiler explodes.
* How big a pump you can move in a dory.
* What it's like to fly a plane into a hurricane.
* How much weather satellites have changes the world.
* What the Great Circle Track is.
* What the Beaufort scale is.

And so much more. I can't get over how meticulous the research on this book is. The bit with the meterologists in Africa. The book that Sparky sets his soldering iron on. The thing is that Sparky (on the Leicester) died in the storm, so someone must have seen his cabin or inventoried his stuff? But it gives the whole book so much texture.

And it's not just the battle to save one ship. I still laugh at the stories of the crewmen, the guy from Come-By-Chance who was planning to take back blackstrap rum and retire forever, or the crew getting "pirate fever" and flitting all over their salvaged boat.

I think the reason this book and its companion are so repeatable for me is that I get dropped into a whole different world, and that world is as richly constructed as any of the most intricate science fiction books I read. It just happens to be history instead of make-believe.

Read if You enjoy a good story. You love books about boats. You have liked other Mowat. You love seamless learning.

Skip if You think non-fiction books should be dry. You are not that into learning salvage techniques of 60 years ago.

Also read Grey Seas Under, the companion book about Foundation Maritime.
I first read Farley Mowat's "The Serpent's Coil" and its companion volume "The Grey Seas Under" about the ocean-going salvage business when I was in my teens and recently decided to read them again. I remembered them as exciting tales of the sea, but now I appreciate them not only for their compelling adventure narrative, but also for the delicate balance of historical account, human interest story, and technical detail Mowat was able to so deftly weave into relatively short books.

"The Serpent's Coil" recounts the story of the former Liberty ship "Leicester" which left London in 1948 and due in large part to chronic radio problems encountered Hurricane VII (this was prior to the naming of major storms). After her ballast shifted she rolled precariously and ultimately the crew abandoned the vessel (with several perishing). Astonishingly, the ship did not sink, but continued to drift in the Atlantic Ocean.

The story then shifts to the deep sea tugs "Foundation Lillian" and "Foundation Josephine" and the drama associated with attempting to salvage the "Leicester". The personalities of the people involved are expressed brilliantly, as are the problems faced with sharks and competition trying to claim the abandoned ship (the big Dutch tug "Zwarte Zee" was also trying frantically to find the "Leicester" as doing so could result in a huge payout). Before the adventure was over there were numerous obstacles to overcome including yet another hurricane. This was truly a case of defying the odds.

This is one of my favorite books ever about the sea, and I highly recommend it as well as "The Grey Seas Under". Farley Mowat was one of the best adventure writers in history, and if you have any interest in ships, salvage, adventure writing (the story is completely factual, but it reads like a page-turning novel crafted for high drama), or just excellent nonfiction these are great books.