Book excerpt: Chatham Sea Captains in the Age of Sail chronicles the lives and adventures of twenty-five men who traveled the seas from the eighteenth through the twentieth century. These were extraordinary menmasters of navigation who charted paths from the Cape to the Far East with their regal clipper ships; deep-sea fishermen whose fearless spirit drove them to the Grand Banks and Newfoundland in the quest for their catch; and coastal captains who skirted Americas eastern seaboard in pursuit of trade. Spurred on by the Industrial Revolutions demands, these mariners continued their pelagic exploration while pirates, privateers and Confederate raiders tested their mettle. The sea was both foe and ally. To meet the foe was the challenge; to sail her waters and return home as true masters was the force that drove these men to excellence.