Logs of the Dead Pirates Society: A Schooner Adventure Around Buzzards Bay

Like the previous reviewer I grew up sailing on Buzzards Bay and attended Tabor Academy where I participated in their life changing sail training program. The experiences during those years had such a profound impact on me, that when I grew up I became the executive director of the American Sail Training Association (2001-2006). I still live and sail on Buzzards Bay and from these combined perspectives I can say that this is one of my favorite books of all time. I recently purchased 10 copies for a youth maritime education program that I created and manage. Part sail training essay and part cruising guide, Peffer, a prep school English professor and travel journalist, uses his immense writing talent to capture the essence and spirit of sail training. Anyone interested in learning about sail training and/or the history of Buzzards Bay should read this book.

Buzzards Bay is a pocket of salt water on the southern Massachusetts coast line. Logs Of The Dead Pirates Society: A Schooner Adventure Around Buzzards Bay is an absorbing account of a routine cruise on Buzzards Bay that became a rite of passage and a deeply personal quest for Captain Randall Peffer. He ruminates on the bay's history, and presents unusually keen and articulate insights on the bay's islands, coves, towns and townspeople. Part travelog, part biography, part regional history, Logs Of The Dead Pirates Society is the memorable, engaging, highly recommended account of the schooner Sarah Abbot, her crew of high school students studying marine biology, and Captain Randall S. Peffer.

For anyone interested in Buzzard's Bay, Massachuesetts, whether a cruiser or landlubber, this is a must read. Peffer, and his crew explore the bay of today and yesteryear aboard a traditional sailing schooner. The historical perspectives of the bay were interesting, but even more engaging were his tales of the daily life of he and his crew of "dead pirates"(actually high school students seeing the bay for the first time), and the characters they meet on their adventures. In the final chapter Peffer manages to draw together beautifully his personal and historical exploration with the lives of his student crew. Stir it up!