Blackwater men

"This book is a celebration of the men who earned an often precarious living from the sea and the waters of their own estuary - and of the traditional boats they sailed in. It is a story of adventure, too, and of two men's love of the water and sail. Arthur Emmett came to Maldon, Essex, after the war to try to earn a living chartering his yacht long before the romance of traditional craft was generally recognised. His log from the early post-war years until 1950 tells of hardships and devastation in the channel ports, adventures and near tragedies at sea and, back on home waters, the families of smacksmen whose whole world and livelihood was confined to the tidal waters of the River Blackwater. A generation on, Arthur's son, Michael, can still be found on The Hythe chartering his own traditionally built Ostrea Rose, although most of the old fishing families have now left to find work on shore. In his section of the book he recalls the days when he was a professional fisherman and shows his genuine admiration for the older generation of smacksmen who taught him all their secrets of the water."--Provided by the publisher.