Author Steven Dahill remembers his grandmother in Mattapoisett threatening to make misbehaving children disappear like the Mary Celeste crew.
The often-uttered threat would later serve as a source of inspiration for Dahill, who became an author and a sailor.
“It’s a story I have heard for a long time,” Dahill said.
Dahill lives in Boston but owns a home in Marion. He has many ties to the south coast and last summer released his first book in a trilogy about the 1872 disappearance of the Mary Celeste ship.
“The Secrets of Mary Celeste” can be purchased on Amazon.com and directly from the publisher at Jumpmasterpress.com.
Dahill and his editor Ghia Truesdale characterize the mystery as one of the greatest unsolved ones of all time – and a quick Google search would corroborate that claim.
Both Dahill and Truesdale say this seafaring mystery was the talk of towns all over the world until the Titanic crashed into an iceberg several decades later. It still endures as an intriguing mystery, spurring theories from extraterrestrial abduction, a giant squid attack, rogue tidal wave to a Bermuda-Triangle-like disappearance.
Dahill said it even inspired a 19th century surgeon to change careers. That surgeon, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is known for his character Sherlock Holmes.
The ship set sail for the Azores from New York in 1872 and was bound for Italy. It was found just around 400 miles off the coast of Azores. The approximate 10 passengers, including the captain, were missing. All cargo – including around 1,700 barrels of alcohol – were still present.
The sails were tattered and the lower levels of the ship were filling up with more than 2 feet of water, evidence that the Mary Celeste had become a ghost ship for several days before it was found by the Dei Gratia.
Dahill said ship piracy was prevalent during the time period, but there were no signs of struggle and no items stolen.
“If pirates had come aboard, they would have taken everything they could,” Dahill said.
Dahill said a British Admiralty court conducted a short investigation and ruled out foul play, but the captain of the Dei Gatia collected a portion of the insurance money.
“Was the captain of the Mary Celeste in cahoots somehow?” Dahill asked. “You really can’t rule anything out.”
Dahill’s book looks to terrestrial causes, rather than piracy or supernatural elements, and his sailing experience also plays a role in the narrative. In fact, Dahill says he derived inspiration from Sherlock Holmes’ approach to mysteries, believing that the most impossible mystery can be solved.
Truesdale says that although Dahill’s sailing experience plays a pivotal role in his writing, the content is still accessible for those without much seafaring vocabulary. She recommends the book for middle school and high school students, as well as mystery lovers of all ages.
It’s filled with a strong female character and a coming-of-age story, Truesdale says. Readers so far say it’s a “page turner,” according to Truesdale, who says she has “had the honor of reading the book 100 times over.”
“The quality is wonderful for sailors and nonsailors, “according to Truesdale.” (Dahill) knows his stuff and uses the sailor vernacular. But for a nonsailor, it is a wonderful way to learn about sailing.”
Dahill said that despite the unhappy ending for the crew, the book has a positive outlook on life, unlike many dystopian stories today.
The book recently sold out three times at the Sippican Historical Society.
It also further enhanced the Dahill name. His family has strong roots in the south coast. His great uncle was fire chief in New Bedford, and his great grandfather was a fire captain. Fire Chief Edward F. Dahill invented the first ladder hoist, which became known in 1902 as the Dahill hoist.
Meanwhile, Steve Dahill has made his name a popular one outside of writing and off land. He has been known to race boats along Buzzards Bay.
By Jeffrey D. Wagner