Blue Water Gold Rush and The Last Pearling Lugger

[covediver]

Two books about commercial dive operations in fisheries recently came to my attention. Blue Water Gold Rush: The Odyssey of a California Urchin Diver by Tom Kendrick (2007) and the Last Pearling Lugger: A Pearl Diver's Story by Mark Dodd (2011). Both books tell the story of two very different fisheries from the diver's point of view.

Blue Water Gold Rush examines the modern beginning of the California urchin fishery, its rapid expansion, and its ultimate maturation. Set in Santa Barbara and the north Coast, the book provides an inimate look at the fishery starting with Kendrick's life as a tender in the late 1970s, through his first employment as a diver, then as the owner of several boats, each larger than the previous. This progression is a sign of the maturation of the fishery which evolved from an easy entry-easy exit enterprise to a more highly regulated, limited entry, capital intensive enterprise. Kendrick explores the waterman's lifestyle starting with that on an itenerant diver/surfer to that of a "citizen". As he puts it, there are four requirements to being a citizen: must live in a house or apartment, not a car; must have a telephone and know the number; does not need to own a car, but if one is owned must know where it is 75 percent of the time; does not need to be married but does need to know the name of the last person he slept with.

Central to Kendrick story is the boat that made the fishery possible, the Goleta manufacutered Radon. Anyone who has ever been on a Radon knows what a Channel capable boat that it is. I actually had the opportunity to dive from a Radon on a couple of occassions and found it to be a great little boat.

Kendrick also describes the characters that gravitated to the fishery; both the divers and tenders and others who made the fisheries possible.

The story is set in the time that I was an active sport diver in Santa Barbara. While I knew a few urchin divers and boat owners, there is the inevitable barrier between those who use surface supplied air and wrestle a living from the ocean and those who use scuba to explore the ocean. Kendrick's has little to say about sport diivng. But from what I recall of the urchin diving enterprises in that era, his description is accurate.

Mark Dodd's book, the Last Pearling Lugger looks at pearl diving enterprises in Australia in approximately the same time frame as Kendrick's book. The story too examines the lifestyle of the diver, but unlike Kendrick, Dodd never quite makes it to the level of "citizen." Also, his book looks at the activity at the end of the pearl diving era in Australia; particularly that conducted from a sailing ship known as a lugger. Like Kendrick's book, the boat is the stage on which the story unfolds. He too examines the characters that make up the fishery and one concludes they are not much different than their American counterparts. The Oz divers gathering place is the Roebuck Bay Hotel; while the Santa Barbara divers is Brophy Brothers at the harbor. I think either set of divers would be quite at home in either. Each book also sketches some of the more profound, and perhaps profane, people in the fishery.

Both books examine the dangers of commercial dive fisheries; the long hours, weather, hostile marine creatures, and the sometimes tedious nature of the business which can lead to complacency. Kendrick mentions that if one could et into the thought process of an urchin diver on the bottom it would be the repetitive mantra "put the urchin in the bag, put the urchin in the bag."

Kendrick's book is illustrated with a number of line drawings that seem to capture the experiences in the narrative. Dodd's book relies on a number of color photos of the period. Dodd's book would be improved by inclusion of a map of the locations where the stories are set. Kendrick's book would similarly be improved. I was familiar with the locations described by Kendrick being a long-time resident of southern California. I did find myself pulling out a map of Oz to get the setting of Dodd's narrative. Local knowledge is a wonderful thing, but authors should not assume that all reader have such knowledge.

Bottom line: Both books are a great read for people who are interested in either the evolution of a diving fishery and the people that make it work. These are sea level and deep narratives, not an academic view from 10,000 feet.

[fisheater]

If only Mark Dodd's book were available on Kindle for readers in the U.S.

[aceupmysleeve777]

I loved Blue Water Gold Rush! The Last Pearling Lugger is now on my list, but it's not readily available.

[covediver]

I loved Blue Water Gold Rush! The Last Pearling Lugger is now on my list, but it's not readily available.

It can be ordered as there are individual book seller who will ship to the US and sometime odd copies end up on booksellers shelves. The service that I use is AddALL Used and Out of Print book search

I am told that books from overseas generally don't make the American market for a couple of reasons, the primary one being difference in copyright laws the other being market appeal differences.

The book is expensive for a paperback, a condition that I found as I visited bookstores in Queensland. For me, The Last Pearling Lugger was worth it as I am interested in local maritime history when I visit somewhere as my Fred Stonehouse books on Great Lakes shipping disasters may attest.