The Forty Fathom Bank And Other Stories (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
For forty-five years the Captain had been making that same run with little to break the monotony except the usual bad weather off Cape Mendocino, which of late made the old wood hull creak and groan and show her years. The routine sameness of sea and sky, of loading and discharging, of bills of lading, of endless loads of redwood and fir swinging up from the docks, the cry of gulls mingling with the hiss and rumble of steam winches together and unvaried, like a single experience, the Captain sometimes reflected, had certainly made his life seem shorter. Yet his way of life, isolated as it was, had had certain advantages. It had given him time and the peace of mind to read, which was one of his greatest pleasures; also to write in his journal, which he usually did late each night in the privacy of his cabin—hence his nickname, Midnight. He had always considered himself a reasonably happy man, satisfied with his chosen work, productive in that he had served in the development of the coastal lumber industry, and creative in that his journal, much of which had been published in various shipping magazines, was a vivid and running account of nearly a half century of West Coast trading.
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