Chapter 2 Summary

It is a rainy October day1991 in Gloucester, Massachusetts, a quaint town dominated by the fishing industry. Gloucester has been a fishing village since colonial days.

Bobby Shatford comes from a family of fisherman. Today he is getting ready to go on a sword fishing trip aboard the Andrea Gail. The trip will last a month. Bobby is separated from his wife, has two children and a new lover named Christine Cotter. His ex-wife is suing him for child support that his mother recently paid to keep him out of court. Bobby hopes that this latest trip will yield at least five thousand dollars - enough to pay for his divorce and remarriage.

Bobby's mother is a bartender at "The Crow's Nest." Gloucester is full of bars like "The Crow's Nest," The Irish Mariner," "The Green Tavern,"" Bill's," and others. The taverns are...