Set along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, this first novel tells the story of Clay Wakeman, who spent his boyhood on the water and finds he can't leave it. When his father is lost in a storm off the Eastern Shore, Clay drops out of college to take possession of his father's boat and his work as a waterman, that is, as an independent commercial fisherman.
Since the old boat constitutes his sole inheritance, Clay starts out small. He recruits his oldest friend, Byron, a traumatized Vietnam vet, to join him in a crabbing business. Just as they're breaking even, Hurricane Agnes roars in to ruin the salinity of the eastern Bay waters. Agnes forces them across the Bay to set their crab traps along the Virginia shoreline and to move in with Matt and Kate, Clay's uppercrust friends from college.
It's in these unfamiliar waters that their real troubles begin. Clay falls irrevocably in love with the spoken-for Kate; Byron's demons pursue him with even greater vengeance; and out in the Bay the partners stumble onto a drug running operation. Lines are drawn by the dealers. And, at the very end, in a riveting boat chase, Clay comes very close to losing the battle . . . forever.
The Waterman is the story of Clay Wakeman, born and raised on the Chesapeake Bay. When his father is lost in a storm off the Eastern Shore, Clay drops out of college to take possession of his father's boat and of his work as a waterman--that is, as an independent commercial fisherman.
Since the old boat constitutes his sole inheritance, it means everything to Clay. He renames it the "Miss Sara" after his mother and recruits his oldest friend, Byron, to join him in a start-up crabbing business. From here on in, he must rely on his sense of the water--through the twists and turns of weather, the unpredictability of his tormented partner, the guilt of forbidden love, and the very bad luck of pulling up more from the water than just eelgrass, jellyfish, and crabs.
For just as Clay and Byron are breaking even, Hurricane Agnes roars in to ruin the salinity of the eastern Bay waters, forcing them across the Bay to crab along the Virginia shoreline. It's in those unfamiliar waters that their real troubles begin. Clay falls irrevocably in love with the already spoken for Kate; Byron's post-traumatic stress kicks in with even greater vengeance; and, out in the Bay, the partners stumble onto a drug ring. Lines are drawn on all fronts. And, at the very end, in a riveting boat chase, Clay comes too close to losing the battle...forever.
In The Waterman, souls are on the line--the soul of the mighty Bay, its way of life as fragile as its ecology, and the soul of an appealing young hero.
