Before the Wind
Subtitle: The Memoir of an American Sea Captain, 1808-1833
Contributors: Thomas Philbrick (Afterword); Susan Fels (Editor); William La Moy (Preface)
Publisher: Viking Adult
Published: June 1, 1999
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 256
ISBN-13: 9780670886326
Subjects: Biography: general; Naval forces & warfare; Merchant mariners; Biography / Autobiography; United States; Biography & Autobiography; Merchant Marine; Biography/Autobiography; Historical - U.S.; Adventurers & Explorers; Biography & Autobiography / General; Ship captains; Historical - General; Biography
First sentence: MY MOTHER HAVING PASSED AWAY when I was 7 years old, I was left in a measure to shift for myself amongs my relations, sometimes staying in one place, and then at another, and finally found a home at my Grandmother Atkins's in Newbury, and there went to school at the academy in Belleville.
Description: From mermaids to mutinies, shipwrecks to cholera, the life of Charles Tyng was a nonstop voyage of adventure. His quarter century under sail took him around the world half a dozen times. Fortunately, he proved to be as natural a storyteller as he was a sailor.

He battles the forces of nature (and other men), surviving shipwrecks, squalls, and pirates. He makes and loses fortunes in tea, sugar, and cotton. He meets Lord Byron as well as King Kamehameha of Hawaii and the British princess (later queen) Victoria.