reading list for the landlocked sailor

[unbusted67]

I just finished Time on Ice by Debora Shapiro and Rolf Bjelke. The story of a couple who winters in Antarctica by getting there 40 Joshua lodged in the ice (intentionally). Very cool story, lots of fun extreme environmentalist rhetoric, lots of penguins, what more could you ask for?

[SkiprJohn]

You've all recommended good books but for thrill about sailing you can't beat "Shipkiller." Can't remember the author but it'll keep you on the edge of your seat.
JohnL

[northerncat]

there this really greast story about this couple who just went and did it check it out at bumfuzzle.com 8-0 hehe, sorry but i couldnt resist when i sawe the title
sean

Not to my taste, but if you like fantasy, Robin Hobbs trilogy The Live Ship Traders. My wife rates it a 10+. Along the same lines the Zanth novels by Pierce Anthony are her favorites. King Fractos Cumulus says YOU WILL LIKE THESE STORIES!

[Amgine]

Heh... I'm sitting a few steps from my library of about 500 maritime texts... most of which aren't "fun reading" I guess.

Some authors and titles I haven't seen mentioned:

Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons series and related. (English school children have sailing adventures in Britain of George V (post WWI)
Dana's "The Seaman's Friend" and "Two Years Before the Mast"
Most anything by Dave Gerr, but especially "The Nature of Boats" and his propeller book.
At least one good sailing glossary other than the one in "The Seaman's Friend".
Everything by the Hiscocks, by Tom Cunliffe (taken with a grain of salt), and Donald Street (ditto.)
Earl Hinz's "The Complete book of Anchoring and Mooring"
Stuart Walker's "A Manual of Sail Trim"
Emiliano Marino's "The Sail Maker's Apprentice"
David Seidman's "The Complete Sailor" <- Best. Manual. Ever. (for teaching new sailors, at least.)
Shirley Herd's "The Cruising Cook"

Oh, I have too many books to suggest...

(Just collected a new book, "The Sailor's Word-Book", Admiral W.H. Smyth, 1867... rapture!)

[unbusted67]

Ummmm 500 maritime texts? I'm jealous. I know it sounds like I like "fun reading" because its just a lazy read but ts actually where I get most of my info. Sometimes it gets a little hard to digest information when it comes in textbook format. I learn a lot from so called fun readings and its well...fun. I did just get a copy of "Chapman's piloting and seamanship" which I can't wait to sink my teeth into.

[Amgine]

So I include ephemeris, collections of magazine articles, ancient yacht-care texts, catalogs of plans, and old admiralty/HO pubs to be maritime texts. About half of my collection has been printed since, oh, 1975 or so. Quite a bit is junk. (Turns out I have two copies of Glen-L's boat trailer book...)

But... slowly I'm adding stuff to my wiki, sorting and sifting things from the piles.

[unbusted67]

Indeed, Amgine, some of that stuff sounds way more interesting than my Sunday armchair reads. When you say Wiki does that mean you are compiling a library list somewhere online? I would love to have a peek.

[Lodesman]

Can't believe no-one has mentioned Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around the World". For the planners and dreamers, there are a number of books by those that have done it:
anything by Lin and Larry Pardey;
"Just Cruising", "Still Cruising", Cruising for Cowards" etc by Liza Copeland;
"The Voyage of the Northern Magic" by Diane Stuemer; and
"The Sailing Promise" Alana Mayne (iirc).

Strangely they all have a Canadian connection.

[Amgine]

Unbusted67: No, it means I'm compiling a plethora of maritime-related junk online at my wiki, especially nautical terms but also brief articles about ships, people, places, etc. The latest focus is transcribing the sailing routes of the British Admiralty's Ocean Passages for the World (index), after which I'll start updating them with modern data and linking them to related articles such as hydrography, ports, marinas, etc. Even though this is a wiki (and anyone can contribute) so far I'm the only one working on it (though a few of the articles have been copied and posted to other sites.)

Lodesman: Nice! I only have some of those titles, alas...

[unbusted67]

Amgine, I just checked that out and am bummed because I will have to kiss even more of my social life goodbye reading your Wiki.
Lodesman, loving Slokum goes without saying. I used to hang out with these hippy kids when I was growing up and we used to smoke a lot of pot and practice in our band in Joshua Slocum's basement. Funny stuff. I had no idea who the guy was and why it was called the Slocum house until 6 years later I quit smoking and started reading and came across a little book called "Sailing Alone Around the World". He was of course not alive and the house is now owned by a different family.

[sailorm]

I thoroughly enjoyed every one of Parick O'brian's books but I like historical stuff which his books are. Also those books are partially what started the romance between myself and my beloved husband. I'll also offer the book I wrote: MIGHTY MERRY TOO. An easy short read of non fiction single handed sailing.
Mary the Antique Sailor

[Ex-Calif]

I don't know if it has been mentinoed but I just got a copy of "Left For Dead" by Nick Ward.

It's the story of his experience on Grimalkin during the 1979 Fastnet Race. He was the last person rescued from the race. Gripping story.

The book is now circulating among our members at the club. Excellent story about really big weather...

[rebel heart]

It's not really about sailing, but if anyone is interested in a great fantasy book, I'd check out Amber. Amazon.com: The Great Book of Amber: The Complete Amber Chronicles, 1-10 (Chronicles of Amber): Books: Roger Zelazny

[Hud3]

An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude by Ann Vanderhoof
My wife and I read this book before our first sojourn to the Caribbean. It's a great read, and it was fun to compare our own experiences in the islands with theirs.

Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before by Tony Horwitz
This one is a rather off-beat account of Captain Cook's Pacific voyages, interspersed with the author's own travel experiences as he follows Cook's path. Interesting and entertaining.