ABSTRACT
If the history of the Baltic and North Seas throughout the centuries has shown any one thing, undoubtedly it is the enormous variety of human experiences along the shorelines and on the seas themselves. Since the maritime experiences cannot be divorced from the wider context of shoreside societies and nations at large, the diversity of experiences on account of gender, class, marital status or age – or for the more maritime-specific reasons such as the various types of fishing or sailing trades – will have come as no surprise.
