Challenge of the Sea

Is it possible for me, asks the author, a fisherman all my working life, to tell and capture the excitement of so many wonderful, dangerous, exciting, funny, and most unlikely happenings over fifty years connected with the sea and fishing?

It most certainly isand heres the memoir to prove it.

Often working several times round the clock as tide dictated, these fisherman families set out in their small boats to bring in the catch at times all Great Britain depended: plaice, turbot, skate, cod, soleeven shrimp and lobster. They cheerfully face bad weather, mechanical emergencies, a displaced circus sea lion, and close encounters in the English Channel with the massive skeletons of sunken ships from World War II, their cargo of missiles as yet un-exploded.

Yocky Lol Gilson has spent all of his seventy-seven years in Southend On Sea, Essex. Englandand most of it as a fisherman. He has also been a Salvation Army bandsman, footballer, and sportsman for almost as long. And he loves reading and telling stories.

Friends told me I should write a book, writes Yocky Lol Gilson. My wife told me I should write a book. I still have my doubts but I could never resist a challenge. So I tried.

The result, Challenge of the Sea, is a remarkable fishermans life story, from sail to motor power. And theres at least one more book on the way.