Several years ago, my husband and I took a cruise to Alaska out of the Port of Seattle. We departed in the late afternoon, and as soon as we left the safety of Juan de Fuca Straits, the captain turned us into the Pacific to head past Vancouver and points north, headed for the Inside Passage.
There was a lot of wind on the deck and it was really cold. I remember having to wear sweats and a jacket for the rest of the day, while glassing for whales. Conditions deteriorated, and soon it started raining horizontal, so I joined my husband for some Bingo in a lounge on one of the top decks. By then, the waves were crazy-rough. The way the ship would rise, then crash down--rise then crash down. . . people were hanging on to banisters up the stairs and when walking long corridors, it was hard not to stagger back and forth. Up in the lounge, we were in the very front of the ship and could see the prow raise up high, then lurch down again. Even in a massive cruise vessel, I began feeling rather small in the middle of the Pacific, thinking, "that water must be super-cold, since we're just off the coast of Canada." Then a woman in front of us threw up all over herself and the settee that she and her husband were occupying.
Rough seas, indeed! I don't get seasick, fortunately. After Bingo, we had dinner and called it a night. By morning, the stormy seas were behind and we spent the day in calmer waters, sailing up the Inside Passage, which was stunningly beautiful, rain or no rain.
This week, on Brook's Journal, you have an exclusive sneak peak into a book by author Bradley Johns, who has a real handle on 18th century nautical history, knowledge, and lingo. This excerpt will take you back into the rough seas of 1791 on a warship off the coast of Brittany. Think Master and Commander, and hang on for a seaworthy voyage into adventure! Welcome Bradley and take a look at that gorgeous cover! WOW!
And don't forget to READ ON!
ALL ABOUT THE BOOK!
1791 — England's cannon remain ever silent as her shipping is ruthlessly preyed upon, a detestable state of affairs, though soon to be remedied...
England is ill prepared, Europe is in turmoil and the French Revolution is readying to sweep across the continent. A tedious uneasy peace poises on a knife's edge. Britannia rules the waves, yet as more and more ships mysteriously vanish, it is rightly thought an act of war. However, England needs more time, or all could be lost.
With war looming, Lieutenant Hayden Reginald Cooper, Royal Navy, awaits in Portsmouth braving a bitter cold winter with half pay, beached in a constant state of penury. With little prospects, little "interest" and no chance of promotion or advancement, he is the perfect choice for the Admiralty: unknown, unimportant and wholly dispensable.
And so it begins, a turbulent action-packed naval adventure within the murky waters preceding war, the French piracy soon to discover the grit of a lowly Lieutenant, one who has very little to lose…
EXCERPT: Ships of War — Murky Waters
Bradley John ©
Chapter 22
Stormy seas awaited Agamemnon at Ushant, murky waters spawned within a darkened sky. It was no less a chilling reminder of what was yet to come. The sun had risen. But still there remained a bleak silhouette ever gracing the eastern horizon, a dull dome serving to surround the last remnants of the Channel. With Brittany looming, the Iroise Sea now beckoned and with Ushant behind them, there was definitely no turning back. It was with some gratification that Cooper accepted the conditions. The Iroise Sea was well known for her violence, all told beholding a temperament more befitting a maddened wild beast. In the offing, high seas threatened, a cold outlook promised. Nonetheless did Eagle manage to maintain an unrestricted view to the horizon, the regular call of "all's well" constantly reassuring the ship. Upon rounding Ushant the great ship spread her wings, sailing large, the wind swirling about her back til she bore directly south.
'Captain, it seems the seas have built even more since we rounded Ushant,' Blane nervously vexed. 'Could they become any more monstrous?'
'I assure you Doctor, with some degree of exactness, these seas can form even monstrously bigger, given leave to do so.'
'Egad. But is not the ship already shuddering somewhat horribly at the stern? Is there no cause for concern? The quarterdeck is as calm as Brading Tavern on Sunday, almost as if I had prescribed them a tincture of my finest laudanum?'
'But it is just Agamemnon pooping, Doctor,' reassured Cooper.
'Pooping? Well, yes that makes sense, but I very much rather it is I who is in danger of pooping, such is my distress.'
'What? Oh? Indeed, ha, ha!'
'I could be wrong of course, just a simple doctor, but is not the ship shuddering perhaps to the point she soon might break up?'
'It grieves me to inform you, sir, that you are indeed wrong, on both counts.'
'Both counts?'
'Aye, come now sir. Firstly, you are no simple doctor and I think you know this. And secondly, that shudder you discern is merely the resultant shock from the prosecution of high and heavy seas, the hull scudding and trembling as the ship is belted somewhat upon its quarter. It is most common for her to scud before the wind within such a tempest. And good sir, it is called pooping.'
'Oh? Well, yes of course, that pooping.'
ALL ABOUT BRADLEY
Bradley John Tatnell (aka "Bradley John") is an Australian novelist whose ancestry can be traced back to the Norman Conquest in England. His forbears lived mostly in Kent, Hertfordshire and the Isle of Thanet. Some were mariners and some were even of the aristocracy. His direct ancestors arrived in Australia soon after its colonisation in the late 1700's, most of which were proud country folk. James Squire, a notable character in history, who arrived on the first fleet in 1788, was his (sixth) great grandfather.
Bradley John graduated from the Church of England Grammar School at age 16 and the Queensland University of Technology at age 19. His early life was spent mainly in the arena of law.
Bradley John has a love of all things ancient and historical, including golf, to which he plays with ye old hickory shafted clubs including the original heads from pre-1935. He also studies the ancient art of Korean sword, having attained master level. His love of language, in all its forms, now extends to the pursuit of conquering Hangul, the language of the Korean people.
Bradley John has been privately writing novels since 2003. "Ships of War — Murky Waters", his first publication, births a series of naval adventure fiction intended to span the length of the French Revolutionary Wars. This of course is the much loved genre which includes the thundering Hornblower series by C.S. Forester, the Aubrey-Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian and the popular "Master and Commander" blockbuster by Peter Weir. Owing to Bradley John's English heritage, no guesses are needed to determine which side the book's heroes will sail upon…
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Thank you for hosting Bradley John today, Brook. Take care, Cathie xo The Coffee Pot Book Club