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Old 01-03-2010, 18:00   #1
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Favorite Sailing / Travel Writing - Books & Blogs?

What are your favorite books and blogs that are must reads about people's experiences (not how-to) with live-aboarding and extended cruising ?
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Old 01-03-2010, 18:15   #2
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Sailing alone around the world by Joshua Slocum and Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Dana...others might consider them a little dated though.
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Old 01-03-2010, 18:20   #3
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I recently had a great time reading the entire story of Migrations Very inspiring.

Peter Smith's journal on Patagonia and Antarctica are amazing.

I posted 3 other favorites last month here.
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Old 01-03-2010, 18:40   #4
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ConradG, I don't think I'd categorize Dana's adventures as cruising. He was a merchant seaman. Great read, though.

I always recommend Eric Hiscock Wander series, especially his early adventures up the west coast of Britain, through the Scottish lochs, and across the Irish Sea. Enough technical talk, enough introspection, sprinkled colorful characters: a good balance.
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Old 01-03-2010, 18:53   #5
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Sailing the Dream: McGrady
500 Days; Serge Testa
My Old Man and the Sea: Hays & Hays
Sailing Promise: Alayne Main
The First Voyage of the Joshua: Moitessier
Sailing to the Reefs: Moitessier
Three Years in a 12-Foot Boat: Stephen Ladd
Maiden Voyage: Tania Aebi
Alone Against the Atlantic: Gerry Spiess
Tinkerbelle: Robert Manry
Cruising as a Way of Life: Tom Colvin
Sea Gypsy: Tangvald
Gipsy Moth Circles the World: Chichester

Etc…
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Old 02-03-2010, 05:04   #6
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Also: Furled Sails podcasts; entertaining listening... see: FurledSails - Worlds first sailing podcast
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Old 02-03-2010, 05:04   #7
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I was going to mention My Old Man And The Sea (I went to school with Danny). Great adventure.

Perhaps more about relationships but The Motion Of The Ocean is another very enjoyable read.
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Old 02-03-2010, 05:21   #8
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I was going to mention My Old Man And The Sea (I went to school with Danny)...
It took me a little while to get into My Old Man and the Sea, cuz I generally prefer a certain technical sterility and am not generally enamored by travelogue/logbook style of some tomes, but once I got into the rhythm I couldn’t put it down… It was written a little like Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis; where the flight is used as a platform to describe how he found himself on such a trip in the first place… As I digested My Old Man a week or so after I’d read it I realized that they’d not particularly dwelled on the either the size of their vessel or rounding the Cape either – the part that seem the most traumatic was when they lost their cat, and the frustration that the stand-in just didn’t do…

To me, My Old Man seemed a little more artsy than the typical nautical yarn, but every library needs a few of those and it was entirely enjoyable…
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Old 02-03-2010, 06:31   #9
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There is a book titled 'East is a Big Bird' It tells how south pacific islanders (Caroline islands) navigated over long distances without any real technology by using the stars and star courses passed down over generations. Tis a fascinating book especially in this day of GPS and integrated systems. However since I got hold of it 15-20 years ago I have no idea if its still in print
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Old 02-03-2010, 08:22   #10
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Desperate Voyage
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Old 02-03-2010, 09:11   #11
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"Airborne" by William F. Buckely about sailing transatlantic with his friends and family is very witty and entertaining.
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Old 02-03-2010, 09:47   #12
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There are so many but I really enjoyed Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before by Tony Horwitz for a travel interest.
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Old 02-03-2010, 10:57   #13
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It's not about cruising, and I'm sure this has been said before, but the Patrick O'Brien novels (the Aubrey/Maturin series) are simply unbelievably wonderful -- wonderful adventures at sea, and at the same time truly great literature.
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Old 03-03-2010, 04:58   #14
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Here's a list of some favorites. Not all about living aboard and cruising, but mostly about the sea, boats, ships, etc:

HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, POLITICS, WAR, HISTORICAL NOVELS

Dreadnought (19th cent. lead-up to WW I, development of battleships) Robert Massie
also: Castles of Steel (WW I battleships and battles)

The Caine Mutiny Herman Wouk

The Hunt for Red October Tom Clancy

The Riddle of the Sands (cruisers discover German pre WW II buildup) Erskine Childers

The Cruel Sea (true stories - escorting convoys during WWII) Nicholas Monsarrat

Sea of Thunder Evan Thomas

Sea of Glory Nathaniel Philbrick.

Alaska James Michener
also: Tales of the South Pacific

Empire of Blue Water Stephen Talty

Jack Aubrey series (Master and Commander, etc) Patrick O’Brian
also: The Golden Ocean & The Unknown Shore (prior to Aubrey series)

Cochrane (the real captain who was the model for Jack Aubrey) Robert Harvey


BOATS, CRUISING, FISHING, EXPLORATION, the SEA

The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway

The Sea Wolf Jack London

Alaska Blues, and others (travel and fishing in SE Alaska) Joe Upton

The Curve of Time (early small boat cruising on the BC coast) Wylie Blanchet

My Old Man and the Sea (Sailing around South America and Cape Horn) Hays & Hays

In the Heart of the Sea (Moby Dick was based on this true story) Nathaniel Philbrick

Over the Edge of the World (Magellan's Circumnavigation) Laurence Bergreen

Mutiny on the Bounty Charles Nordhoff

Endurance true story - Ernest Shackleton’s Incredible Antarctic Voyage Alfred Lansing

South: Memoir of the Endurance Voyage Ernest Shackleton

The Perfect Storm (sinking of the sword fishing boat Andrea Gail) Sebastian Junger

The Hungry Ocean (and others) Linda Greenlaw
(stories by the real female sword boat captain involved in the Perfect Storm)

Blues John Hersey

River Horse William Least Heat Moon

Grey Seas Under (Remarkable rescues on high seas of the north Atlantic) Farley Mowat
also: The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float

Adrift (True story of survival raft crossing the Atlantic) Steven Callahan

Cape Horn (scary true adventure, sailing the southern ocean) Hemingway-Douglass

Cod (the fish that helped inspire discovery and exploration of N. America) Mark Kurlansky

Longitude (revolutionary improvement in navigation - invention of Chronometer) Dava Sobel

Where the Sea Breaks its Back (discovery of Alaska by Bering and Stellar) Corey Ford

Working on the Edge, & others (King Crab fishing in the Bering Sea) Spike Walker

Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum

Travels in Alaska John Muir

Heart of the Raincoast (life on the BC Coast) Morton & Proctor

Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson

Sitka (historically-based Alaska adventure) Louis L’Amour

The Blue Bear Lynn Schooler
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Old 03-03-2010, 07:18   #15
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the last voyage of the Lucette by Douglas Robertson
I know the last part is "survive the savage sea" by the authors father but the first part is a great description of a family setting out and having some amazing adventures.
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