Working Boats: Safety, Salvage, and Rescue, An Inside Look at Eight Adventurous Watercraft, by Tom Crestodina, 2026 Sasquatch Books, Seattle WA, USA

Farley Mowat’s 1958 account of the steam-powered, salvage tug Foundation Franklin introduced many readers to the dangers and fortitude of early salvage work. Technology has brought the still dangerous salvage work a long way since then. Modern self-righting surf boats, helicopters, and powerful diesel tugs all contribute to the modern safety and rescue work. In his new, profusely illustrated book, Working Boats: Safety, Salvage & Rescue, Tom Crestodina takes the reader to a wide range of working boats; both salvage and salvaged, as well as explaining much of the modern safety onboard modern vessels.

As an Alaskan fishing skipper, Tom knows his field. Unlike most mariners who observe the exterior of vessels, Tom has taken the time to crawl around inside many. This allowed him to do detailed cutaway illustrations of many. Readers of Tom’s earlier work on Alaskan fish boats, will be familiar to so many who love his colourful and technically detailed style.

In his lavishly illustrated new book, Tom delights us with 50 pages of technically detailed but entertaining drawings of eight “adventurous watercraft”. These range from the technically advanced US Coast Guard’s new 47-foot Motor Lifeboat to legendary “Salvage Chief” converted from a World War II landing ship in 1947. Crestodina’s detailed drawings show the complex of specialized anchors that are employed by this remarkable vessel to haul much larger ships off the shore and back to safe depths.

As with other boats, including a hopper dredge, a Dungeness crab boat, the retired Columbia Bar pilot boat Peacock, the Voith-drive escort tug Lindsey Foss, a dive support boat with decompression chamber, and the legendary steam crane Foss 300.

The detailed cut away images of these vessels are interspersed with more detailed working illustrations of tools and challenges of the trade. The Orville Hook for retrieving drifting barges, life rafts and survival suits, prevention of flooding, hardhat diving. Causes of the tumultuous seas that can occur at the mouth of the Columbia River are illustrated. A US Jayhawk Coast Guard, again in cut away, is explained.

These are some of the highlights of the entertaining and info-packed book that will do much to add to Tom Crestodina’s well earned praise for his unique artistic renderings and technical detail. Young and old mariners and dreamers will love this one. Salvage technology has come a long way in the generation since the Foundation Franklin, but the sea continues to threaten.