The Best Australian Sea Stories

How many people know that the Fenian Brotherhood hired an American whaling ship to take Irish convicts from under the noses of British authorities to freedom and succeeded on Perth Regatta Day 1876? Or that Japanese submarines patroled the east coast all through WW2 and sank over 50 ships? The deep blue sea has always been an endless source of inspiration, wonder, and imagination to explorers and writers alike. Here, veteran writer Jim Haynes rounds up his favorite tales of the great blue beyond. Here are stories full of fascinating anecdotes, drama, surprises, human interest, and maritime history. Combining fact and fiction, first-hand accounts of voyages in the 19th century, along with modern accounts of refugee ＂boat people,＂ the book is a dazzling compendium of the famous and obscure, the brave and the jinxed, ships of war and salvation, and much, much more. From the mystery of the mahogany ship and the Dieppe map, which point to Portuguese discovery of Australia’s entire east coast in 1522, to the amazing story of early explorer Matthew Flinders’ wife waiting nine years while he charted the coast of the land he named ＂Australia,＂ survived shipwrecks and became a political prisoner of the French, this book is filled with amazing stories of bravery and endeavor, survival and catastrophe. Great Australian Stories of the Sea celebrates the amazing relationship of the land with the oceans that surround it.

Jim Haynes has traveled far and wide to meet and interview the people whose stories make up this book. Before becoming a professional entertainer, songwriter, verse writer. and singer in 1988, Jim Haynes taught writing, literature, history, and drama in schools and universities from outback NSW to Britain. While teaching he gained two masters’ degrees in literature, from New England University and the University of Wales. Jim Haynes is the author of many Great Australian titles including books on Railways, Aviation, Horse Racing and Trucking.