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For anyone who has ever gone to sea, there is an understanding that that you either fall in love with the ocean and the life it offers, or "swallow the anchor" and come ashore. As you spend time at sea, taking both the best and the worst that the ocean gives you, there comes a time when you realize how close a bond you share with your shipmates, and that there are few loves stronger than those one has for their ship. Young vividly captures this truth in "A Ship's Tale," and I can empathize with those men who love that ship - for I, too have loved and lost (a ship). Compelling, true to life, and hitting straight in the heart, I encourage anyone with a love of the sea, as well as those of you who are either married to or are in a relationship with one of us "ship loving" types and need to understand "why" to read this book.

This is a great book and would make a good film.

Congratulations on your book. First of all the achievement of writing it, then getting it published, then its beautiful packaging with those terrific reviews. I am enormously impressed with what you have accomplished.

When you see a glorious picture of a sailing ship, it is assumed that the vessel is a smooth running operation. Ships and sailors have amazing stories often camouflaged by the beauty and grace of the boat.

A Conspiracy of Sailors

The old square-rigger Bonnie Clyde, a derelict ship, was slated to be scrapped. Or so the British Admiralty thought. How she ended up in a gale with an unlikely crew is the focus of N. Jay Young's delightful novel, A Ship's Tale. The reader is treated to the antics of a group of men brought together in 1946 by their love of the sea and the desire to preserve a piece of their country's maritime heritage. And so, the salvage work begins in earnest, and in secret, to spirit Bonnie Clyde to Scotland from her present home on the Thames.

When Flynn, a former Royal Navy Officer, comes upon the ship and throws in his lot with Bowman, Harris, Edward and Boris, little does he realize that the next few weeks will be a challenge to all and will permanently alter their lives. Yet, in spite of such obstacles as government officials, Flynn's regular job, and the persistent shortages in England after the war, they manage to hatch a very clever scheme. Each participant in this "piracy" has specific jobs that usually require intrigue and more than a little bending of the law. Little by little, though, they come together to form a cohesive crew.

And what a crew it is. Besides the old seafarers, there are 20 untested crewmen, an unlikely stowaway and a very surprising cook. How they join talents to make the plan work is the treat. We find ourselves willing accomplices in their ruses, admiring their cleverness and cheering them along.

Seamen are like a fraternity and a number of them-including a U.S. Navy submarine become co-conspirators who use their boats to help the ship evade detection and surrender once spotter planes, MTB's (motor torpedo boats) and the Coast Patrol get into the act. A reporter, sympathetic to the mission of Bonnie Clyde and aware of a rollicking good story when he sees one, manages to get the British public on the side of the crew as well. That certainly gives the Admiralty something to think about.

Friends on land, with the help of ham radio operators, are able to keep the crew abreast of what's being published in the papers and how far the investigation by Scotland Yard has proceeded.

The first half of A Ship's Tale pulls the reader into the plotting by the crew, not only revealing what's being done to prepare the square-rigger for her rescue from the scrap heap, but also giving us very defined characters. Young weaves together the various subplots very deftly, so that, even though you want to know what ultimately happens to the ship, you can savor the time the author takes in setting the scene and building the background. You don't want to rush through this part; there are revelations and laughs when you least expect them.

The rest of the book, of course, covers the journey to Dumbarton, Scotland. At this point, you've gotten to know the characters really well, and Young puts the 'reader right next to them' wherever the action on the ship takes place. This is good, clear writing that lets even the landlubber understand what's going on. Young also does a neat job wrapping up the crew's individual stories. All of which makes A Ship's Tale a satisfying, highly enjoyable read.

An Old Girl's Escape

A Ship's Tale is one of the most refreshing sea adventures I have read in a very long time. This is the story of the rescue of a wonderful old sailing ship from an inglorious end, planned by unthinking and uncaring bureaucrats.

The story is told in a manner that is reminiscent of times long past, full of humor, suspense and romance. This is the kind of story that puts the "sail" back in sailor.

The story unfolds with the introduction of a cast of characters that would be familiar to anyone who has ever hung about the waterfront of a bustling seaport.

A Ship's Tale is told from the perspective of a former Royal Navy Officer, Lieutenant Flynn, who becomes the newest, and rather accidental, member of a group that is set on saving one of the last surviving relics from the age of sail.

The rescuers include the former master of the sailing ship - a barque, actually - called Bonnie Clyde, his first mate, Harris, an Irish navigator named Edward, and Boris, a rigger from Russia.

The story is set just after the close of the World War II, and gives a clear and unvarnished idea of what life was like after all the years of the terrible ordeal.

Young writes with great humor, and describes the lengths sailors will go to save a beloved ship. This determined crew's preparations are thorough, their strategy sound, and their methods unconventional, to say the least. Beg, borrow or steal, shanghai, kidnap, or downright just make something disappear is all within their realm.

It takes a lot of everything to turn their plan into reality, making off with a full rigged sailing ship - including, stores, canvas, and a crew, whether experienced or not!

This is a highly recommended and charming story, with a happy ending, in some ways, and a sad one in others.

Find a favored reading spot, relax and enjoy. This is a book difficult to put down, leaving one anxious to turn page after page. And surprises, eliciting grins, greet readers with each chapter.

My advice? Simply crack open the book, set sail, and learn what a circus, a dancing bear, a boy's orphanage, a duck-stalking cat, and a three masted barque have in common!

Bonnie Clyde's escape and ensuing voyage are an experience in daring seamanship. Not the modern version of the turn of a wheel, a turbine driving screws, and the use of a GPS Navigation system, but the age-old ritual of climbing of masts, fisting sails, plotting a course, and tacking and wearing a ship in all weathers. The fear and exhilaration of working high above the deck in the rigging, while the wind tries it's best to batter sailors off the yards, and the sheer violence of waves on a hull, drive this unlikely adventure that readers who love the sea and ships will enjoy.

A Ship's Tale

As an ex mariner this book moved me deeply. Not only is it a darn good story in itself, but it touches something quite fundamental the lengths a sailor will go to save his ship, and the bond that ties a seaman to a vessel that has carried him through fair weather and foul, calm seas and tempests.

A Ship’s Tale by N. Jay Young is a novel set in post war England, a period that we hear little about with its grave shortages and the despair of a world recovering from conflict. The book takes us away from the glistening chrome and stainless steel of modern super ships to an age when men placed their lives in danger on the sea with nothing but the wind to drive them.

The elements of Young’s tale are revealed tantalizingly, like the peeling back of layers of an onion. Basically, it is the story of a conspiracy to save the weathered square rigger Bonnie Clyde, moored together with some other cast-offs on the banks of the Thames and slated to be scuttled. Frustrated by repeated rejection of their pleas to save the vessel, a group of men decide to take matters into their own hands and return her to Dumbarton, Scotland, where she was built, to let her live out her life as a dockside attraction and l iving memorial to the age of sail.

Thus her former master, Captain William "Uncle Billy" Bowman and his small band of dedicated friends – Harris, the bull of the deck first mate; Ned, the Irish navigator; Boris, the mad Russian rigger who can work marvels with rope and wire; and the newest member of the crew and the narrator of the tale, Flynn, a war time Navy officer just fresh on the beach – set to work.

Their planning and organization are meticulous though unconventional; they risk all on methods that would make an angel weep, but hurt your sides from laughing. It takes a great deal of stores to get a three masted sailing ship to sea and maintain her crew, and to accomplish this Bowman and the others are prepared to resort to all manner of methods: they will beg, borrow and steal, shanghai, kidnap or just downright make something disappear. The execution of their plan is even more spectacular as they gain assistance from the most unlikely quarters ranging from former shipmates, friends and reporters to an American submariner who just happened along.

You will have to read this charming book to discover the joy and sorrow in the conclusion and to find out what a circus, a dancing bear, a boy’s orphanage, a duck-stalking cat and a barque, have in common. And as you turn the pages of this delightful little tome, you will feel you are there with the crew on wind swept decks or fighting cold, wet flogging canvas high up on wildly swaying yards as you endure the suspense of a nail-biting pursuit. But most of all, be prepared to share the tenderness of love and laughter found in the most unusual of situations.

World War II veteran Flynn has settled into a life of postwar drudgery in the Kentish village of St. Mary's Hoo, working for Mrs. Beasley, a crusty and comical war widow who owns an inn and a tavern. His only solace is the old-fashioned ships docked nearby. When Flynn learns that the ships are soon to be destroyed, he bands together with a group of sailors to sail one of them, the Bonnie Clyde, to Dumbarton, Scotland, where she was built. Though the ship is seaworthy, she needs some repairs, and because of postwar shortages the crew must make creative substitutions (using circus tents as sails, for example). Both the journey and the preparation for the journey are full of excitement, mystery, and adventure.

A Ship's Tale is a well-researched, exciting adventure with a healthy dose of humor. The author's passion for his subject is evident in the extraordinary descriptions of the ships and the seafaring life. Naval buffs will especially appreciate the accuracy and the level of detail, but A Ship's Tale is accessible to general audiences as well. Though there are times when the pacing is somewhat slow, the story is highly enjoyable overall. Part naval adventure and part comic novel, A Ship's Tale will please a variety of readers.

Well written and easy to read, A Ship's Tale has it all: Bungling bureaucrats, a sweet romance, the draw of the sea, and salty characters from around the UK and their interactions with each other found me laughing out loud. Set in England, the reader catches a glimpse of pub life from the back room and the resilience of the British people who turn bomb craters into duck ponds or drag their foot to stop their brakeless car.

The first half of the book finds the characters we learn to love preparing the Bonnie Clyde, a square-rigger soon to be scuttled, for escape and a final voyage unknown to the powers that be.
In the second half, the Admiralty, and Scotland Yard, tries to apprehend the Bonnie Clyde and its crew. Storms, clever diversions, and public opinion give our heroes a chance to outwit the entire British Admiralty, astonish its government, and made modern technology nearly obsolete in this effort. The ending was a complete surprise which brought tears through the cheering.

Anyone who enjoys the twists and turns of a good adventure story, cheers for the underdog, or routinely gets lost in a book full of loveable characters, will find much to enjoy in A Ship's Tale.

In his remarkable first novel, this is a tale of a tall ship doomed to be scuttled off England in 1946. What a read! You'll root for the ship and those striving to save her. You'll root for the book, and finishing this prose puts N. Jay Young in lofty company, tall as the ship he describes.

This is one of the best books I've read in some time. As a sailor I can say this story will intrigue you from the beginning till the end. The dialogue and the humor are some of the best.

I recommend this to anybody that loves a rollicking great tale. It's the best book I've read since I was a wee boy and reading Treasure Island.

A Ship's Tale is a great read! I hope you're very proud of it and that it sells a zillion copies.

I got about three quarters of the way through it then put it down for several weeks because I didn't want it to end. I want to have a pint with those people, sail aboard that ship, and scritch the bear on the top of his head.

You wrung me out. I alternately had a smile on my face, sweaty palms and wet eyes. Great style, just great.

Anyhow, I guess you get the point that I think it's a hell of a book. I hope we can look forward to many more from you.