North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters

North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters Review

I purchased the eBook version for my reader, and was pleasantly surprised when I started to read. So surprised that I stayed up late to read it all in one sitting! This book is much, much more than just an accessory to the TV show. It is more than a must-read for fans of "Deadliest Catch."

It also covers much, much more than that. There is an insider's view of the Norwegian immigration to the United States, in particular Washington state in the early 1900's. There is a detailed history of the evolution of crab fishing and the Marco crab boat's evolution to supremacy. I was fascinated by the attention to historical details, such as the use of surplus Army cots to build the first crab pots. The wisdom of a seasoned fisherman peppers the book - discussing why certain boat designs work better than others, why a tank full of solid ballast is better than tanks full of mobile crab, and why navigation at sea is not as simple as going in a straight line from Point A to Point B.

Encircling all these historical details are the stories of the Hansen family in the USA. His father's boats. Moving up, moving down and out. The evolution of a skipper/captain.

This book will satisfy the fans. It covers the ground that fans will want to know about - close calls out at sea, pranks between the crew members, embarrassing growing-up stories among the Hansen brothers, and how the Northwestern came to be on TV. It also tells the story of how the first coveted F/V Northwestern jackets came to be!

The digital version of this book had some minor issues. There are many, many words which had been spliced - there is a space in the middle of the word or a dash in the middle of the word inappropriately. The best feature of the digital version, however, was the click-able index. Next to the word in the index was a hyperlink that you could click, which would take you right to the reference.

North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters Feature

• ISBN13: 9780312591144
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters Overview

NOW A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

In the tradition of Sebastian Junger and Linda Greenlaw comes Captain Sig Hansen’s rags-to-riches epic of his immigrant family’s struggle against deadly Alaskan seas, freezing shipwrecks, and dangerously brutal conditions to achieve the American Dream

Sig Hansen has been a star of the Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch from the pilot to the present. Seen in over 150 countries, the show attracts more than 49 million viewers per season, making it one of the most successful series in the history of cable TV. With its daredevil camera work, unpredictably dangerous weather, and a setting as unforgivable and unforgettable as the frigid Bering Sea, The Deadliest Catch is unlike anything else on television.

But the weatherworn fishermen of the fishing vessel Northwestern have stories that don’t come through on TV. For Sig Hansen and his brothers, commercial fishing is as much a part of their Norwegian heritage as their names. Descendents of the Vikings who roamed and ruled the northern seas for centuries, the Hansens’ connection to the sea stretches from Alaska to Seattle and all the way to Norway. And after twenty years as a skipper on the commercial fishing vessel the Northwestern--which was his father’s before him--Sig has lived to tell the tales.

 

To be a successful fisherman, you need to be a mechanic, navigator, welder, painter, carpenter, and sometimes, a firefighter. To be a successful fisherman year after year, you need to be a survivor.

This is the story of a family of survivors; part memoir and part adventure tale, North By Northwestern brings readers on deck, into the dockside bars and into the history of a family with a common destiny. Built around a gripping tale of a deadly shipwreck like The Perfect Storm, North By Northwestern is the multi-generational tale of the Hansen family, a clan of tough Norwegian-American fishermen who, through the popularity of The Deadliest Catch, have become modern folk-heroes.

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Oct 24, 2010 23:18:07