Merchant shipping, especially in the age of tall ships

I'm in Sturgeon Bay, WI and the Tall Ship Festival starts tomorrow. I'd love to read something about the age of sail and the business of shipping, especially in the age of tall ships. Similar to Master and Commander, but not war related (some war ok, just not the main focus.) Nonfiction or fiction, as long as the fiction hews closely to fact.

For further clarification, the thought that sparked this post was, "In the Count of Monte Cristo Dumas writes about ships being 'overdue' at their port of call. How long past expected does a ship become overdue? What if everyone goes down with the ship? How would anyone ever find out what happened, or does it remain a mystery and the owner just never knows?"