Rise of the Cajun Mariner: The Race for Big Oil

Rise of the Cajun Mariner carries the reader into a unique, previously unexplored realm- the old wild and wooly oilfield boat business. This international industry was born in Louisiana's bayou country and pioneered by Cajuns. The book follows four of these French-speaking trailblazers as the scrape to buy and build their first boats and struggle toward success, but this is about more that an inspirational pursuit of the American dream. It's a candid account of a colorful time in a vital business.

The story evolves from the awkward launch of the inland marine oilfield in the late 1930s and early 1940s, through the alternating boom and doom years of the 1950s and 1960s, up into the roaring 1970s, down into the 1980s' bust and back up toward a more realistic present.

As the boatmen race against the competetion and time, many of them take a global journey. In the 1960s, Nolty Theriot helps bring the oilfield to the virgin, turbulent waters of the North Sea, setting the stage for an unforgettable culture clash between the Cajuns and the Europeans. In the 1970s, Bobby Orgeron sails his supply boats into Central America and discovers a land full of rich tropical opportunity and zany banana backwardness. As Bobby, Nolty, and the others navigate from Nicaragua to Norway, from Columbia to California, and from Africa to the Artic Circle, they spread their Cajun ingenuity across the globe.