''The Cruise of the Dazzler'' is an early novel by

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

, set in his home city of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. It is considered a boy's adventure novel. In the novel, Joe Bronson, dissatisfied with his dull life at school, runs away and joins the crew of a

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

he sees in

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...

. He finds the captain is involved in criminal activities. The nautical activities on board a sailing boat are authentically described, and there are convincing descriptions of boats enduring stormy weather at sea.

Background

London, in his autobiographical novel

John Barleycorn "John Barleycorn" is an English and Scottish folk song listed as number 164 in the Roud Folk Song Index. John Barleycorn, the song's protagonist, is a personification of barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it: beer and whisky. ...

, describes how in his youth he bought a sloop called the ''Razzle Dazzle'' from an

oyster pirate 300px, Oyster pirates on the Chesapeake Bay in 1884 Oyster pirate is a name given to persons who engage in the poaching of oysters. It was a term that became popular on both the West Coast of the United States and the East Coast of the United St ...

called French Frank. In ''The Cruise of the Dazzler'', the captain of the ''Dazzler'' is known as French Pete, who, like French Frank, drinks to the success of business ventures. London himself became an oyster pirate.

Story summary

Joe Bronson, instead of studying for a school exam, goes to buy kites with his friends; on their way back he gets involved in fights with gang members in a poor part of the city. After he fails the exam the next day, he walks out of school and takes a ferry across the bay to

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

. Looking at the boats on the wharf, he imagines the exciting life on a boat. His father, a businessman, has a liberal attitude to his son; but, critical of his recent behavior and a poor school report, tells him that he might send him to a military academy. Joe later leaves a farewell note for his family; returning to Oakland, he joins the crew of a

, the ''Dazzler''. The captain Pete Le Maire is known as "French Pete", and the one other crew member is 'Frisco Kid, a boy of about Joe's age. He soon realizes that French Pete is involved in criminal activity. They take scrap iron from a factory; the job is abandoned when shots are fired. Later, they work as

s. Joe, not wanting to be involved in crime, tries to escape, but each time is thwarted. French Pete tolerates Joe's opinion of him that he is a criminal. 'Frisco Kid tells Joe that he hates his life at sea; he had no family, and once worked for Red Nelson on another sloop, the ''Reindeer'', but ran away. Arrested as a

tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...

, he was sent to a "boy's refuge", where conditions were intolerable; he escaped and joined French Pete. Joe resolves to leave and take 'Frisco Kid with him. French Pete and his associate Red Nelson steal a safe. Joe sees that it belongs to his father's company. The ''Dazzler'' and ''Reindeer'' sail into the Pacific, pursued for a time by a yacht; they intend to sail to Mexico. There is soon a storm and the ''Dazzlers mast breaks. The ''Reindeer'' gets close enough for French Pete to jump onto it but, before the boys can follow, the ''Reindeer'' disappears under the waves. The ''Dazzler'' drifts ashore at Santa Cruz, finding a small wharf on the lower

San Lorenzo River The San Lorenzo River is a long river whose headwaters originate in Castle Rock State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains and flow south by southeast through the San Lorenzo Valley before passing through Santa Cruz and emptying into Monterey Ba ...

. Joe goes to his father's office. His father makes him "feel at once as if not the slightest thing uncommon had occurred. It seemed as if he had just returned from a vacation, or, man-grown, had come back from some business trip."Chapter 21. His father, after hearing his story, says that the $5000 reward for the return of the safe would be shared, 'Frisco Kid's half being held in trust for his future.

References

External links

''The Cruise of the Dazzler'' at Project Gutenberg
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cruise of the Dazzler, The 1902 American novels Novels by Jack London American adventure novels Sailing books Novels set on ships Novels set in San Francisco American children's novels 1902 children's books