F W E

IN THE FIRST WATCH (334 pp.)--William McFee--Random House ($3).

"The fourth engineer scrawls F W E . . . on the log-board and we all sigh with relief. We have to work on, of course, but the voyage is over. 'Finished with the engines' about describes the effect intended by this book."

Author McFee's memoir of his youth waddles along like an old tramp steamer, picking up a memory here, unloading a prejudice there, sleepily reviving the log of McFee's "first watch" (1906-11) as ship's engineer and as author. In retrospect, McFee isn't sure which of his two callings has meant more to him; he seems equally grateful that during the period of this piece he wrote most of Casuals of the Sea, and got his chief engineer's certificate. He also seems amazed at what a fine, steady chap young Mac was.

First Watch exasperatingly keeps promising that McFee will soon swallow the anchor and embark on his great American adventure. Yet just as he finally does sail for the States (where he wrote most of his 23 books, and where he is still living and working, at 66, as a book reviewer for the New York Sun), McFee ends his story. When he daydreams of gimbal lamps and fiddley gratings, he illustrates his abiding fault: maundering. But when he describes a desperate journey on a sinking ship, he exemplifies his talent for hard factuality in a handsome style.

The only thing Author McFee thrills to remember is "the peace. It passes all understanding. . . . Going to sea has all the advantages of suicide without any of its inconveniences."

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