If you’re interested in life on commercial sailing ships (hauling cargo for trade), I highly recommend “Two Years Before the Mast”. The reference in the title d

If you’re interested in life on commercial sailing ships (hauling cargo for trade), I highly recommend “Two Years Before the Mast”. The reference in the title defines the book - a well educated young person signs on as a common sailor and writes about the experience. Not an officer, not a passenger, the author sleeps “before the mast” and tells about that life in glorious detail.