Bowker Francis E. Atlantic Four-Master. The Story of the Schooner 'Herbert L. Rawding'. 1919-1947

Mystic, CT: Mystic Seaport Museum, 1986. — 104 p. — ISBN: 0-913372-42-0.This book is much more than a biography of the four-masted schooner 'Herbert L. Rawding', though it is that too. One learns about other vessels that were the author's training grounds, some of which he sailed in before the mast or as an officer, and some of which he merely observed as a knowledge-able visitor. One learns of the routine of sea life on a big schooner and how things were done in those far-off days of the 1930s when Biff and I were both young and sea-struck. He realized his dream of seafaring under sail and thus became the object of some envy on my part. But we've been good friends, sharing a common love for more than forty years, and my envy long ago turned to gratitude for his willingness and his ability to share his experience through the well-written pages of his several books.
This is but the latest book, and there are many like myself who hope that it will not be the last.