HALIBUT SCHOONER

This is a straightforward but not inspired account of fishing for ""long line bottom"" fish in the waters around Alaska. The author is an ex G.I. who found Iowa dirt farming not to his liking and decided to try a new frontier. His conclusions are that ""it takes men out where we're going"" and that a young fisherman will worry less if he is unmarried. Signed on in risky Fall weather by a hard-bitten Norwegian captain, Ellsworth learns the intricacies of deep sea fishing, nasty storms and the perils of port. There are pleasant interludes of cooking for the crew, seeing a school of phosphorescent dolphins; there are details of catching a shark. All in all, somewhat pedestrian reading.