Seasoned by Salt
By Jerry L. Mashaw & Anne U. MacClintock
Illustrated by Anne U. MacClintock
288 pp. 20 line drawings, 2 maps. 2007. Paper. $16.95
ISBN 1 57409 246 2
978 1 57409 246 4
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Seasoned by Salt is the fascinating account of a one-year cruise, from Connecticut to Grenada and back, undertaken by an adventurous sailing couple. The book alternates throughout between their two complementary voices as they relive their journey.
Jerry L. Mashaw and Anne U. MacClintock are not your average tourists. Their story brims with humor and high adventure, and reflects a deep understanding of the history, people, and economy of the many islands that they visited. During their journey, they develop an understanding of the historical bond between North America and the Caribbean, particularly their intertwined colonial past and their shared legacy of slavery and racial division.
This book is a romance, a comedy, a search for personal meaning, and above all a wonderful sailing story that finds subtle parallels between individuals' relationships and nations' and explores the crucial and continuing ties between the sea and history.
“Seasoned by Salt takes us on a nearly year-long voyage through historical time as well as hurricane-infested space. Mashaw and MacClintock convey much Caribbean history along with their highly personal account of mastering the technical skills of sailing while hearing ‘the seagull's shriek and the breaker's roll.’” —Prof. David Brion Davis, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author of Challenging the Boundaries of Slavery
“If you have wondered what it would be like to take a year-long sabbatical and sail your boat to the Caribbean and back again, you'll find the answers in Seasoned by Salt. Jerry Mashaw and Anne MacClintock's narrative goes beyond the glossy sailing magazine advertisements and the boat show hype to capture the intense highs – and mind-numbing lows – of the authentic cruising experience. In between wedging himself into the cockpit locker to fix Otto the autopilot and sharing snorkeling adventures with his grandchildren, Jerry explores the history and politics of the new South and the Caribbean islands. Anne's Passage Notes offer humorous insights into the habits, behavior, and language of the worldwide cruising community. Together they provide a glimpse into the complex world of emotion and action that is cruising, and begin to answer the question of why anyone would want to commit a year of their life to being wet, salty, cramped, and frustrated aboard a small boat in paradise.” —Beth Leonard, author of The Voyager's Handbook
“Seasoned by Salt is an intelligent and lyrical account of a journey through the Caribbean in a small boat. In this book the islands are seen through the eyes of the only people who can understand their essential nature: sailors from afar, tired and sunburnt and feeling like the very antithesis of a Club Med poster. Mashaw and MacClintock's understanding of the place flows from this perspective, and is persuasive.” —Kevin Patterson, author of The Water In Between
“Mashaw and MacClintock's perceptions mesh into a full-bodied account of what it means to live together aboard a small sailboat, a world in which one's own ingenuity is the most valued currency. Seasoned by Salt captures the feel of sailing among the Caribbean islands and realizing what matters in life.” —Daniel Hays, co-author of My Old Man and the Sea and author of On Whale Island
“…personal and observed with a keen, honest eye…” —Blue Water Sailing
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About the Authors:
Jerry Mashaw is a law professor at Yale University with a passion for maritime adventure. He has published a number of works in his field, but this is his first sailing book. His wife, Anne MacClintock, is a writer and painter. They live in Connecticut.