FWIW, in August 1974, Harper's Magazine used the song (words and music) to illustrate a Wraparound feature on books about the sea and fishing. A thumbnail of the article is here . The article does not include any other information about the women who collaborated and published the song. It's interesting to me that, even though the song is not traditional, we have made it almost so by remembering it as we do folk songs by their lyrics (Baby's Boat, Sail Baby Sail).