Most motivating fiction for sailing?

[RichMartin]

Anyone have books that motivate them to get on the water?
I’ve got 2. One for the vibe: Children of the Neon Bamboo.
One for the technicalities of sailing, the craftsmanship and intelligence it takes: Hornblower and the Atropos.
What are yours?

[Fore and Aft]

The Shoestring sailors by Ross Norgrove. Two 17-year-olds purchase and restore a yacht all with the idea of getting laid. There's a whole series of mishaps that comes from that idea.
Ross Norgrove the author is a sailor, and the book reads like a good kiwi yarn. No doubt Ross has woven anecdotes he has heard into a good story.
Having purchased my own project sailboat at 19 I could well identify with some of the scrapes they got themselves into.
Cheers

[Shanachie]

Tristan Jones!

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by Shanachie

Tristan Jones!

Haha, Touchè.
“Riddle of the sands” is a good old fashioned read, and Jack Londons “Sea Wolf” is worth reading, listening to or watching.

[RichMartin]

Thanks for the recs. I'll check them out!

[Jim Cate]

Most motivating fiction in yachting? found in most any yacht brokers listings!

Jim

[skipperpete]

“The spirit of Rose Nöelle” is a good read if you want to learn how to stay alive and mentally intact while adrift for 119 days on an inverted multihull.

[Jim Cate]

^^^
The OP is looking for inspirational FICTION, not true life adventure. There is a vast literature of such activities, not so much good fiction. I'm interested in what folks come up with.

The shipkiller (IIRC) was a good sailing based thriller. Don't remember the author.

Jim

[barnakiel]

Coast Guard accident investigation reports.


b.

[thomm225]

Before the Wind by Jim Lynch is quite good.

The Johannssens are a sailing family: adventurous, fanatical, and, for now, a complete and total mess. Ruby, a prodigiously talented skipper, has taken off for Africa. Bernard is god-knows-where at sea. And at thirty-one years old, Josh Johannssen, the middle child, is fixing up an old family boat and trying to figure out where it all went wrong. When Josh’s father coaxes his children home for one last yacht race, the Johannssens find themselves reunited under thrilling circumstances that will change the course of their lives. Before the Wind is a funny, tender, and big-hearted novel about a gifted, volatile family whose love for the sea rivals their love for each other.”

He gets into all the crazy dock folk, those that want to sail RTW on a beat up old Catalina after fixing it up, racing and all the rest many of us have witnessed during our time on the water and at various marinas over many years.

If you are young, Ship Killer is always good. I read it as a 22 year old while in the desert in Arizona.

It was the largest moving object on the face of the earth, but for Carolyn and Peter Hardin it was a towering wall of steel bursting out of a squall at full speed, bearing down on their ketch Siren. In a few dramatic moments, Siren was shattered by the indifferent juggernaut. Struggling for his life, Peter Hardin felt the hand of his wife being torn from his grip as the huge white letters on the supertanker’s stern–Leviathan―steamed away.Thus begins an odyssey of revenge that embraces the distant waters of the world, from the titanic storms of the South Atlantic to the oil-slicked reaches of the Persian Gulf. Selected as one of the best thrillers ever published by The Thriller Writers of America―and now back in print for the first time in twenty-five years―The Shipkiler is the story of one man determined to win at sea the justice he has been denied on land.

https://www.amazon.com/Before-Wind-N.../dp/0307949354

https://www.amazon.com/Shipkiller-No.../dp/1605984655

[skipperpete]

If you sail with pets aboard, “The life of Pi” is informative should you all end up in a lifeboat.

[J. Kavanaugh]

Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin series is pretty hard to beat.

[psk125]

Swallows and Amazons is fun, quick reading and not scary.
"Poor Jack", first published in 1840, is a bit longer and more involved. https://www.amazon.com/Poor-Jack-Ele.../dp/1935585118 The 19th century class stereotypes and writing style reflect the period well in a sort of salty Horatio Alger story.

[HopCar]

Rich Martin, Hornblower and the Atropos for me as well. Actually I grew up with boats. I was already hooked on boats by the time I read Hornblower and the Atropos but it hooked me on nautical fiction. C.S. Forester is my favorite author by far. I was about 12 when I read Atropos. Didn’t take me long to finish the whole series. I’m sure I’ve read everything Forester wrote several times.

[shrspeedblade]

James Clavell's novels, my favorites of which are "Shogun" (do yourself a life favor and read the book BEFORE watching any series) and "Tai Pan". Not specifically about sailing, but plenty of it and inspiring to me! The name of my current boat is right out of one of his novels.