Shetland's Open Boat Days

Charlie Simpson has brought together true stories from the days of sail and oar, told by those who were there or who had intimate knowledge of the days of which they speak and of the courage, endurance and fortitude of Shetland’s fishermen. 150 years ago fishing in open, six-oared boats, miles off shore, was the mainstay of the Shetland economy. Experts in reading the sea and sky, few fishermen wrote about their working lives. This is a collection of the best accounts of their day-to-day experiences and the dramas of the haaf fishing period.