Beckets and Hinges

About the Book

Maine’s Yarmouth born and bred Captain Charles C. Oakes and Abbie B. Oakes teamed up in 1888 and embarked on a seafaring course through life. In 1933, these two mariners self-published their personal journals and memoirs. Now, in Beckets and Hinges, descendant Arnold H. Sturtevant updates, edits, and illustrates their work, adding expansive related stories of other family seafaring experiences.

Before feminism’s time, heroic Abbie Oakes dared to venture into a man’s world, sailing on long, deep-water voyages to faraway lands. In addition to sailing, she also found time for more traditional roles such as knitting mittens for trade with East Indian bumboaters, bearing a child in Dutch Java, and offering entertaining firsthand commentary on such current events as the battle of Manila.

Meanwhile, Abbie’s husband, Captain Charles, details stirring accounts of storms, shipwrecks, and murder at sea—demonstrating his ability to cope with the advent of the steam age and make a successful transition from commands of square-riggers to propeller-driven steamships of the industrial revolution.

With photos and illustrations, Beckets and Hinges captures the essence of Charles and Abbie’s unique life. This memoir provides a sea chest full of valued memories and tales to pass onto succeeding generations.

About the Author

Arnold H. Sturtevant resides in Fayette, Maine, where he operates a country inn, home to nine generations of his family. Author of a number of histories, he is founding president and past chairman of Washburn/Norlands Living History Museum and past chairman of the Maine State Museum Commission.