The Young Man and the Sea

Back in the boat, Skiff puts his life jacket on. He no longer sees the tuna, but the keg is bobbing nearby. He starts coiling the keg line, and it jerks: The tuna is still attached to it, under the skiff. The fish starts pulling the skiff behind it. Skiff feels a bit guilty, as the fish saved his life. Taking his father’s advice, he wraps rope around the thrashing fish’s tail to control it. As the fish can’t fit in the boat, he drags it. Skiff finds west on his compass, then starts the 30-mile journey home.

Skiff’s boat wasn’t built to haul something as heavy as a bluefin tuna. The journey is slow, but he hopes to return home before Mr. Nagahachi leaves for the evening and the tuna loses its freshness for sushi. Soon, the tide will change, and allow the boat to move faster. However, Skiff runs out of gas and has to row the remaining 20 miles. To motivate himself, he says each mile will earn him $1,000. He briefly considers cutting the tuna loose so he can make it home faster, but then eats some leftover sandwiches to distract himself and stave off hunger.

Skiff remembers a story about a man tying his hands to his oars, so he wouldn’t accidentally let go of them. He does the same thing, and keeps rowing. He also remembers his dying mother asking him to take care of his father. Skiff keeps rowing until he sees what appears to be a giant, then an angel: It’s his father on Jack’s boat. He picks Skiff up, and Skiff falls asleep.

At 900 pounds, Skiff’s bluefin tuna is the largest caught in Maine that summer, and is reported in the local newspaper; its selling price also sets a new record. Skiff rowed for about 25 miles before his father picked him up. He was admitted to a hospital for exhaustion and dehydration but is expected to recover. In the present, Skiff’s father has vacuumed to prepare for dinner with Mr. Woodwell. Skiff’s father plans to teach Skiff to make a harpoon to replace Mr. Woodwell’s lost one. Skiff also repents for his theft of the harpoon by helping the older man make boats, which he enjoys.

Skiff has plenty of money to fix the Mary Rose, and his father is attending sobriety meetings. Jack took the Boston Whaler away from Tyler for a year, as punishment for cutting Skiff’s lobster traps; he and Skiff’s father are friends again. Skiff’s bluefin tuna was sent to Japan and made into sushi, except the tail, which he keeps nailed above the door of the outhouse. His father offered to tear it down, but Skiff wants to keep it up for now.