Describes the people of the Chesapeake Bay region, discussing their history as English colonists to the current population, the different types of jobs they perform, and their impact on the viability of the bay.

Describes the daily life and habitat of two ospreys that come to live at the end of the author's pier on a platform built just for them. Janie watches as the two birds build their nest, raise three babies, defend themselves against predators, and as each baby bird grows and learns at its own pace within the family.

"This is the true story of a young teenage girl living and working on the Chesapeake Bay in the 1970's. Emily Lambert was a licensed merchant mariner and with her father as Captain and mother as first mate - the first woman licensed as a tugboat operator in the United States - Emily and her older sisters worked on their non-union family tugboat. Strength and courage held the Lambert family together with the only girls crewing on a commercial ship...