The Sea's Bitter Harvest: Thirteen Deadly Days on the North Atlantic

by Campbell, Douglas A.

• ISBN13: 9780786709700
• ISBN10: 0786709707
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-12-18
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

In the course of thirteen days in January 1999, four commercial clam boats sank in horrifying succession while working the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, taking the lives of ten men. Husbands, fathers, loners, and drug users, each man was lured to the nation's most dangerous trade by the lucrative wages offered to those who dared to reap the harvest of the ocean. In this compelling maritime tale of risk and danger, acclaimed journalist Douglas Campbell compassionately portrays the destinies of the men who lost their lives to the Atlantic and the lure of profits from clamming. From the tough and sometimes troubled young men on deck to their families on shore, and the courageous people who tried to rescue them, this narrative memorializes a way of life, and exposes the hazards of this dangerous trade.

Author Biography

Douglas A. Campbell worked as a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty-five years. He has written on topics ranging from the American economy to Atlantic eels, and has had a lifelong interest in the sea. He lives in Philadelphia

Table of Contents

Prologue	1	(2)
Happy, Harrowing New Year	3	(13)
The Crew of the Adriatic	5	(7)
Fill-in	12	(4)
A Promise of Prosperity	16	(12)
The Floating Factory	28	(10)
Loyalty's Price	38	(11)
Dredging for Dollars	49	(11)
Fill-in: The Clam Pump	50	(3)
Fill-in: Regulating the Pirates	53	(7)
The Touch and the Terror	60	(12)
Intoxicating Sea	72	(11)
The Crew of the Beth Dee Bob	72	(7)
Fill-in: The Edge Men	79	(4)
Your Money or Your Lifestyle	83	(7)
Making Your Trip, Heading for Trouble	90	(9)
Clam Boat Down	99	(4)
A Fisherman's Mother Remembers	103	(10)
Fill-in: A Day on the Debbie & Jeanette	110	(3)
Salvation in the Air	113	(10)
The Beth Dee Bob Sighs Its Last	123	(11)
Alone in the Blackened, Sloshing Sea	134	(10)
Fill-in: A Matter of Minutes	139	(5)
The Promise	144	(4)
Father and Son	148	(6)
``There's No Future in This''	154	(8)
A Winter Weather Window	162	(14)
The Crew of the Cape Fear	164	(12)
Love and Death	176	(7)
The Many Ways to Sink a Boat	183	(16)
Fill-in: Doomed by Design	190	(9)
Death Roll	199	(12)
A Search and Some Answers	211	(9)
Securing the Future	220	(8)
George's American Dream	228	(8)
Tough Men, Treacherous Seas	236	(7)
The Crew of the Ellie B	237	(6)
Ready to Sail the Adriatic	243	(7)
Sleepwalking	250	(5)
Sorrowful Sea Dollars	255	(13)
Epilogue	268	(13)
Acknowledgements	281	(2)
Index	283