Sailing books to help get through the winter

[AnchorageGuy]

We really liked Jimmy Buffett's Salty Piece Of Land. Chuck

[NewMoon]

Not all about sailing, but here are some variously about boats, cruising, fishing, warships, exploration, and whatnot:

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 I buildup) Erskine Childers

The Cruel Sea (escorting convoys during WW II) 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

As the Sailor Loves the Sea Ballard Hadman

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

The Boys in the Boat Daniel James Brown

[Dauntlessny]

H. W. Tilman: Eight Sailing/Mountain-Exploration Books

[Wulf]

Tristan Jones, especially his earlier books. Wonderful story teller, fun read. His homor will have you helplessly rolling on the floor at times. Grain of salt helps too....

[ztsf]

Just finished an enjoyable little book I got for Christmas, detailing the real cruising life:

"Sailing With Rhyme & Reason" by Robert E. Jack

Available on Amazon in print or electronically.

An excerpt from the back cover:

Do you have the "cruising dream"? - the one where you buy a boat, sever home ties, and sail over the horizon, relying on your resources and gut instinct? If so, let this book be your reality check. Know that sparkling seas, pleasant downwind sails, and sundowners on the deck can exist - but also be ready for unforgiving reefs, unpleasant dismastings, greedy officials, terrifying storms, sinkings, sickness, nervous and engine breakdowns, loneliness, deaths, and dog fights. If you're the reluctant sailing companion, this book contains your "I-told-you-so" ammunition. Written with honesty and humor, Captain Jack paints a true picture of the cruising lifestyle, overflowing with adventure and determination - and not for the faint of heart.

[bill352]

Sloan Wilson's "Ice Brothers".

[MIRELOS]

"Voyage" by Sterling Hayden, yes the actor, forgive me for calling you an actor as you did not respect the profession when you were alive..... But what a fantastic book.

[jldunn86]

Fiction: Stormchild - Bernard Cornwell
Any Cornwell is good.

[Julie Mor]

Originally Posted by strangertides

Any fiction books, sailors?

Back in the 70's I read a book called Leviathan. It was about a guy alone on a Swan taking on a large ship. They later changed the name to The Ship Killer. It was some really great reading!

During a pleasure cruise off the English coast, Peter and Carolyn Hardin's ketch is run down and sunk by the Ultra Large Crude Carrier ship _Leviathan._ Carolyn is lost to the sea, and Peter washes ashore, barely alive. After getting nowhere in his attempts to punish Ogilvy, the egocentric, tyranical captian of _Leviathan,_ Peter comes to see that his fight is not against Ogilvey, but _Leviathan_ herself.

In what can best be described as a grueling test of fortitude, stamina, and a relentless drive for revenge against the massive and unwieldy monster that killed his spouse, Peter Hardin vows to sink _Leviathan_ regardless of the costs. From enduring a unimaginably furious hurricane that nearly kills him,
to Iranian and Saudi Arabian patrol boats, from a broiling calm that drives him mad, to the horror of a furious attack by poisonous sea snakes in the Persian Gulf, Hardin keeps his resolve with the single-mindedness of a man driven by an unrelenting demon.

[Scout 30]

I recommend any of Linda Greenlaw's books, Joel Coomer's "Sailing in a Spoonful of Water" & Michael Ruhlman's "wooden boats".

[Elysium]

They've already been mentioned, but I think perhaps understated.
I honestly feel that the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian are some of the best nautical literary pieces ever written. Incredible descriptions of life at sea, superb character development and intricate subtleties that are revealed to me in different ways each time I read them. Those books will NEVER leave my bookshelf. (Except to be read)

Apart from those, I'd also strongly recommend a trip back to your childhood imagination through Swallows And Amazons. A wonderful story of the purity of childhood and the beauty of England's Lake District.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by strangertides

Any recommendations for good books with a sailing focus? Is your recommendation fiction or nonfiction?

Like many sailors in the north east, my boat is forlornly sitting on stands while winter winds blow. I could use a fix!


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

ý7
You may try the 'Aubrey - Maturin' series by Patrick O'Brian.
Start with the 1st: Master and Commender.
If you like it there 20 books altogether.
In my opinion - masterpiece of storytelling, humour, tragedy, adventure, etc.

[meirriba]

Originally Posted by Elysium

They've already been mentioned, but I think perhaps understated.
I honestly feel that the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian are some of the best nautical literary pieces ever written. Incredible descriptions of life at sea, superb character development and intricate subtleties that are revealed to me in different ways each time I read them. Those books will NEVER leave my bookshelf. (Except to be read)

Apart from those, I'd also strongly recommend a trip back to your childhood imagination through Swallows And Amazons. A wonderful story of the purity of childhood and the beauty of England's Lake District.

Sorry, I posted my praise of the series before seeing yours.
Anyway - full agreement!!!

[Suijin]

"In the Kingdom of Ice" by Hampton Sides. It's an amazing historical account of the voyage of the USS Jeannette to the arctic, and delivers a fascinating panorama of the cultural and scientific context of the late 1800's. The book-on-CD is also really really good.

Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels (Master and Commander). I read the first and promptly gobbled up the rest of the 20-some-odd books in the series.

Zane Grey's "Tales of Fishing Virgin Seas"

Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around the World"

[Suijin]

Originally Posted by MIRELOS

"Voyage" by Sterling Hayden, yes the actor, forgive me for calling you an actor as you did not respect the profession when you were alive..... But what a fantastic book.

Does he discuss the preservation of precious bodily fluids?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1KvgtEnABY