Book Recommendations?

[Traveller]

Could any of you recommend any books that cover the basics of sailing. Are there some better than others, sort of like the "sailor's Bible".

I'm planning on spending some time on a friend's Kelt 7.6 as well as enrolling in the local club's sailing program.

A head start with terminology and the basics might prove helpful.

All advice and comments are welcome!

[jackdale]

The Handbook of Sailing by Bob Bond is a good basic resource. It covers dinghies, as well as cruising and race boats.
The Annapolis Book of Seamanship by John Rousmaniere is a more comprehensive at cruising boats.

Jack

[Pblais]

Annapolis Book of Seamanship

Chapmans Guide to Piloting

Are two heavy weight (as in big and thick) books you can keep through a lifetime of sailing or power boating. They cover most elementary and advanced topics as far as a one book does all type of thing. The details and references in them are thing I still go over.

The American Practical Navigator was originally by Nathaniel Bowditch is a available free as a PDF file from the NOAA web site Maritime Safety Information . It originates back to the early 1800's but has been updated over the years and includes a great discussion on Navigation. This PDF version is from 2002. it's a 40MB download and includes 882 pages. It has a full set of sight reduction tables and other references for navigation. You can also buy the printed version too.

[Pblais]

I would also agree with Jack I have Bond's book too. Another "one book" that has a lot in it. You don't need a trailer to carry it either.

[Traveller]

Thanks for the recommendations so far.

I have a question for Jack since he is a CYA instructor.

Up here, you need some kind of licence if the boat has a motor over a certain HP; 10 HP I think it is, which is why I assume I see so many sailboats with 9.9 HP or less.

If a sailboat has a diesel inboard with 30 hp for example, do you need...and if so, is the licence the same as a power boat operator's licence (or whatever the actual term is)?

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by Traveller

Thanks for the recommendations so far.

I have a question for Jack since he is a CYA instructor.

Up here, you need some kind of licence if the boat has a motor over a certain HP; 10 HP I think it is, which is why I assume I see so many sailboats with 9.9 HP or less.

If a sailboat has a diesel inboard with 30 hp for example, do you need...and if so, is the licence the same as a power boat operator's licence (or whatever the actual term is)?

There are actually two questions here:

1. Do you need an operator's card?
2. Do you need to register / license your boat?

Pleasure Craft Operator's Cards are currently required for power vessels under 4 meters and by persons born after April 1, 1983. All operators of power vessels will require cards after Sept 15, 2009.

Vessels over 15 gross tons (longer than 12 meters) must be registered. Smaller vessels fitted with 10 hp or more motors must be licensed or may be registered.

Jack

[Maren]

Originally Posted by Traveller

Could any of you recommend any books that cover the basics of sailing. Are there some better than others, sort of like the "sailor's Bible".

I'm planning on spending some time on a friend's Kelt 7.6 as well as enrolling in the local club's sailing program.

A head start with terminology and the basics might prove helpful.

All advice and comments are welcome!

I’d consider a video.

The reason I say this is you can spend a week reading Chapmans, Duttons, etc and you might know some useful stuff at the end, but you would not likely know the most consistently useful stuff. In part this is due to the mountain of data but also people learn better by using multiple modalities. Another option is since you intend to enroll in the local sailing club’s program, see what they book they are using and what the instructors think of it.

[Traveller]

Originally Posted by Maren

I’d consider a video.

Another option is since you intend to enroll in the local sailing club’s program, see what book they are using and what the instructors think of it.

Actually, while doing a search on Google for the Annapolis Book of Seamanship, I came across a series of short YouTube videos made by John Rousmaniere. I know they are just "shorts" of his video for sale, but it was informative just the same.

Amazon has a feature where you can view some of the pages within some books. The books mention above all seem to be well thought of.

And in the end, I will call my local club and see what they use and recommend before running off to buy anything.

I also downloaded "The Practical American Navigator" on Paul's recommendation. A lot of it is like looking at the back of my hand since I used to be a flight instructor who also taught ground school where navigation is one of the topics.

[Pblais]

I came across a series of short YouTube videos made by John Rousmaniere. I know they are just "shorts" of his video for sale, but it was informative just the same.

John Rousmaniere (Roo - man - ear) has several other books too. He writes quite well and is very outspoken about safety. Anything with his name on it worth the time to read.

A lot of it is like looking at the back of my hand since I used to be a flight instructor who also taught ground school where navigation is one of the topics.

Well those skill all pay off well. North is still where it used to be. The charts are bit different but not in ways you can't pick up quickly. Navigation involves math many never really understand.

Looking back all of the books suggested are rick solid standards 4 of which I have and keep on the boat and take home over the winter.

The other books to suggest include the text books used by US Sail and ASA schools here in the US. They cover many topics in a simple fashion but do get to the fundamentals in language that is easy to follow. Beginner books can often get you over the terminology hump so the more advanced books make sense.

[Traveller]

Originally Posted by Pblais

Well those skill all pay off well. North is still where it used to be. The charts are bit different but not in ways you can't pick up quickly. Navigation involves math many never really understand.

Paul, one thing I picked up on in one of John's video shorts about navigation was that the compass rose on the map was aligned to "magnetic" north. Maybe that was a mistake...it was different from what I am used to in aviation.

Edited to add: thinking about it, in sailing, you're not so much concerned with winds (except those to make you move), but with currents. And air and water are a medium that move across the surface of the earth. Since you don't have any landmarks in the middle of an ocean to confirm position, without radio/sat navigation, you'd have to take frequent position fixes. BTW, has Loran been phased out yet?

In aviation, all tracks on sectional (1:500 000) or WAC (1:1M) charts, are "true". Winds from the weather station are "true" providing a "true heading" and when the "variation" is taken into account, it then provides a "magnetic heading"...and finally, when "compass deviation" is taken into account, one arrives at a "compass heading" which of course is transferred to a stable heading indicator (a gyro).

The math is nothing more than some vector diagrams. In aviation, students learn to do both; the second is using an E6B computer which when used is just that...a vector diagram.

[Pblais]

The compass rose is more by tradition than in aviation. Nautical charts didn't know about true north. I tend to navigate by magnetic north though winds and currents are always expressed in true north. Always working in true north is the better approach.

I should think all your Nav tools would be welcome on your nav station on board. Computing vectors graphically on the paper chart is the classical approach. Parallel rulers for walking vectors across the chart work better on a ship than a small cockpit in an aircraft. Wind and water compute most similarly though computing standard elevation is mostly pointless on board ship.

It would be interesting to see how suited the E6B was for plotting and computing aboard. Given your familiarity I'm sure it would be better not left behind. You do have a lot more time to plot course. One of those things where you are sailing along watching the sunset thinking you'll need to plot a new course in the morning.

The Loran system was just updated for who knows what reason but it's not easy to find the receivers. I thought I heard it was going to be the last time. Now with SA turned off the GPS system, Loran is a bit old school given the range is not that great.

[Traveller]

I ended up buying the Annapolis Book of Seamanship from Amazon; well written although some of the diagrams could be a tad better.

While at a B&N & Borders in NY state last weekend, I had a chance to browse through Bob Bond's The Handbook of Sailing and Chapman's Guide to Piloting. Both appeared to be very good.