The Shipping News: Chapter 12: The Stern Wave Summary & Analysis

Eventually—and with difficulty—Quoyle gets the $50 boat in the water, mounts a motor in it, and starts practicing by driving it back and forth in the bay near the point. Surprisingly, he enjoys the sensation of flying over the water with the throttle fully open. But whenever he slows down, a stern wave sloshes over the back of the boat and floods the well around his feet. Later, Nutbeem explains that this happens because the transom (the back of the boat) is too low. Dennis concurs. He can try to add wood to make it higher, but Quoyle would be better off just buying a proper boat from Alvin Yark.

Bunny runs from the dock to the house with her finger and thumb pinched together. She tells Agnis that the biggest thing in the whole world is the sky and the smallest thing is what she’s got in her hand—a single grain of sand. Sunshine, anxious to see it too, accidentally blows it away, and Bunny pulls back a fist to strike her sister. Agnis grabs Bunny’s hand and points out that there’s enough sand in the world for everybody.