Blowing Out The Stink: Life on a Lumber and Cod Schooner, 1897-1947

Blowing Out the Stink—a fisherman’s phrase for doing laundry at sea—tells the story of the lumber and cod schooner Wawona and the quirky adventures of her captains and crews in the North Pacific. Learn about the the innovations of Wawona’s builder, H.D. Bendixsen. Capt. Ralph E. “Matt” Peasley, “the big overgrown kid,” became the most famous ship captain in America. Capt. Charles Foss called on the heavens for a breeze by wearing his wife’s hats. And the crew caught hundreds of tons of cod in the stormy Bering Sea while secretly fermenting shipboard wine with canned fruit and sourdough starter. First published in 2006 as the award-winning Shipbuilders, Sea Captains, and Fishermen: The Story of the Schooner Wawona, Blowing Out the Stink features detailed illustrations, historical photographs, and great stories, Blowing Out the Stink recreates a world that ended with the last sailing ships and updates readers on the ultimate fate of Wawona.