Hi Pelrad;
I was gonna suggest what Barry did; and he is THE MAN when it comes to sea shanties! So check out his workshop at NEFFA, and even better, join us some night in Paddy Burke's on a Wednesday (tonight!!!) for the Boston Traditional Singers' Club...depending on who is there you may hear a great many songs of the type you like...
re: getting a band together, I am trying to do the same. I am a singer who does not really play well enough to accompany myself and anyway I like the fuller sound of more instruments. I have been wanting to place an ad but have not really found many venues for that that would turn up what I am looking for.
I was in a group not long ago but we parted ways rather bitterly. We had become friends (or so I thought)as a result of doing the music but that ended when the band did. Most of the band situations I know of that have lasted a long time or have the fewest problems are often groups of people who started as friends, or who met through other friends, as opposed to just coming together through music...but ya never know. I also know of one duo who simply answered gig ads and ended up not only collaborating but engaged...musicians can be an egotistical lot and only when there is mutual respect for everyone's abilities and proclivities can things progress...but the one constant in the music industry is the ever-changing roster of a band's drummers or singers or what have you...

good luck to you in any case.

peg