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FOXBORO - When ships were a common mode of transportation, passengers often read books and told stories to pass the time.

A Foxboro resident's new book about whaling in the mid-19th century ended a seven-year journey for the author.

Marc Songini's "The Lost Fleet: A Yankee Whaler's Struggle Against the Confederate Navy and Arctic Disaster" was published by St. Martin's Press recently.

The more than 400-page book follows real-life whaling captain Thomas Williams and his wife and infant son and daughter on one voyage after another.

Songini describes the challenges they and others in the declining whaling industry faced from the sea, which was affected by the politics of the era. "Above all, it is a story. It's meant to be read as if I was telling the story, facing you," Songini said during a recent interview.

The book is based on Songini's research into whaling history, including ship logs, newspaper accounts, and trips to the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

"I found that the Americans of the 1800s were a much different bunch of people," said Songini, now a senior editor at Computer World.

"They were much tougher, and they would share and endure much easier than we could. They were an interesting people to study. They don't exist anymore."

Songini enjoys kayaking, and has visited Canada "to kayak as near whales as I could."

In college, Songini said, "I had read 'Moby Dick' and loved it."

However, "most whalemen didn't care for 'Moby Dick.' They didn't like the captain, for one thing," Songini said.

"They felt like Melville misrepresented what the whaling industry was all about."

Songini said he had a handful of experts review his book to ensure its accuracy.

"The Lost Fleet" is his fourth book. He said he is under contract to write another one for St. Martin's Press. But now, Songini is all whaled out.

"I'd rather just watch a whale from a boat right now from the water," he said.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0372 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.