A night for salty stories at Seattle's Highliner Pub

The contest is called "Stories of the Sea." And the top prize is $300 — a serious chunk of change in these cash-poor times.

But the way to win that money may not be so serious.

Take the case of Dan Quinn — or "Dano," as he calls himself when he's telling his rhyming tales onstage. His winning entry last year, "The Captain's Lament," was set aboard a commercial freighter "where one little miscommunication turns into a mishap that ... blows out of all proportion."

Quinn's rhymes are droll, his style conversational, his charm considerable. Still, the 51-year-old Rainier Beach resident was taken aback last year when his humorous doggerel won out over a more serious entry by a fisherwoman that took the form of a heartfelt letter to her boyfriend.

"She just knocked my socks off," he says. "It was really emotional. I thought: She's going to blow the judges away. She's got first place — and she deserves it. And she didn't place at all! All three that won that year were funny stories. So I think that's the thing they look for."

Quinn moved to Seattle from Mystic, Conn., 20 years ago to help build the Tole Mour, a three-masted schooner used to deliver medical services and education to the Marshall Islands in Micronesia (Tole Mour means "gift of life and health" in Marshallese). While he's never been a commercial fisherman, the fishing lore in his poems is apparently convincing to the guys who do it.

"I actually had a fisherman come up to me and say, 'Where've you done your fishing? Cause you've really got it down — the banter, the camaraderie.' It's not that I fish. It's just that I've been on boats long enough."

Entries for "Stories of the Sea," which is part of the Seattle Maritime Festival, run the gamut from "harrowing, true-life experiences to funny stories and songs," Quinn says. The time-limit is 10 minutes, and the material is supposed to be original (no recitals of "Yellow Submarine," please). The draw of the event now extends coast to coast. Quinn even has a friend from Rhode Island who's coming to take part.

Is booze a factor in loosening up people's inhibitions?

"Well, it's in a pub," Quinn points out. "And it's sailors."

Still, those who register for the event ahead of time are pretty serious about it — and not likely to be roaring drunk when presenting their material before a large crowd.

Emcee John Van Amerongen, contacted by e-mail this week, described Quinn as "a master of the ironic trap or twist. He lures you into a tale with his imagery and you get lost in the moment ... as he spins his yarn. Then, blamo, he drops the net on you and you get the point."

Quinn plans to compete again Thursday but won't say much about his entry — except that it's on a highly topical subject: "Pirates."

Michael Upchurch: mupchurch@seattletimes.com