Maritime Life and Traditions No. 31

Table of Contents MR YAMASHITA AND HIS CORMORANTS By Richard King For centuries on the Nagara River (Gifu City), Japan, men have been using cormorants to fish. Today cormorant fishing, or ukai, is no longer economically viable but is increasingly popular with tourists. The author met the master cormorant fisherman, Junji Yamashita, and here tells of his extraordinary career an an usho. NORWEGIAN PILOTAGE, PILOTS, AND PILOT BOATS IN THE AGE OF SAIL By Arild Maroy Hansen With the longest coastline in Europe, Norwegian people have always been faced with the need to navigate safely along the coast and into the fjords. The author looks back at Norwegian pilotage in the age of sail and considers the earliest days of an organized service and the considerable technological evolution of its boats. MERSEY FLATS By Mike Stammers A humble barge, the Mersey flat played an important role in the rise of the port of Liverpool, England, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. THE NEVINS WAY By Olin Stephens, William Gardner, and Charles D. Mower Many internationally renowned yachts, including a large number of America's Cup defenders, were launched from the Nevins Yacht Yard, on City Island, New York City. Not only was Henry B. Nevins a master yacht-builder, but he also knew how to surround himself with the best people in their field POETS IN FOUL-WEATHER GEAR By Donatien Garnier It could be assumed that poetry has no place in the tough world of commercial fisheries, but every year the Fisher Poets Gathering in Astoria, Oregon, proves that assumption wrong.