Need a Gift Idea for a Sailor

[thinksinpictures]

One of my close friends is an avid sailor and new owner of a 26 foot sailboat. He's also a writer and enjoys good nature and adventure writing. I want to get him something sailing-related for the holidays, but I am woefully ignorant about sailing and boats. I was initially thinking of a magazine subscription, but I'm also open to considering books or other accessories.

From what I've found online there are two major sailing mags - Sailing Magazine and Latitudes & Attitudes - but I don't have a good sense of what experience level these are geared for, or whether they're particularly good (as a rock climber I know that most of the major climbing mags are pretty uninteresting to most but the youngest practitioners of my sport). I like the idea behind the book Full and By, but because it's a collection of essays from a magazine, I have the same concern as to whether the essays are actually any good.

Anyway, this seemed like a good place to look for ideas about whether I'm on the right track, or other suggestions. My price range is probably in the ballpark of a couple books, or a book and a magazine subscription, but I would be willing to spend more for a really inspired suggestion.

Thanks in advance!

[Freesail99]

If you are thinking of a magazine, and since your friend is a new owner, who most likely will be doing some work on his boat, may I suggest, Good old boat.

http://www.goodoldboat.com/sub-on-line.html

A very good magazine, that he can either use the tips inside or just enjoy the read.

[sailingdog]

Good Old Boat is an excellent choice of magazines... and one of my favorites.

Don Casey's This Old Boat is a good book to get him, and would give him a lot of information regarding maintaining the boat.

Don Casey's Complete Illustrated Sailboat Maintenance Manual is also an excellent book for you to get him.

If you want to get him something for the boat itself... a boat bell or weatherglass would be a good gift.

[camaraderie]

May I suggest a book: The Annapolis Book of Seamanship...it will never expire like a subscription!

http://www.amazon.com/Annapolis-Book...375915&sr=8-13

[shadypark]

I could be described like your friend. I have been getting this mag called Practical Sailor for about a year now. It is very light in advertising and has quite a few articles for a variety if skill levels.
Good luck,
Ken

[JohnRPollard]

If you want to get him a modest gadget, this is the sort of item any sailor would like to have:

http://www.night-gear.com/p/Illumina...nceton-Tec.htm

It is a headlamp/flashlight that has a red filter so that you don't lose your night vision. Headlamps are handy aboard boats, but few of them have the red filter to preserve night vision. The one above has the added advantage of being waterprooof. This one is not waterproof, but still has the red filter:

http://en.petzl.com/petzl/LampesProduits?Produit=482

I wish I had one....

Edit: Modified the links. I do not endorse any of the vendors above, the links are strictly to illustrate the product.

[SailorMitch]

Two book suggestions:

Heart of Glass by Dan Spurr -- history of fiberglass boats. An excellent read about all the characters involved in the industry, and also an excellent source of information about boats. I have a copy and refer to it often.

Yacht Design According to Perry by Robert H. Perry. This is a brand new book by one of the premier boat designers of our day. The book tels the stories behind his many designs. I just got a copy for my birthday and have yet to read it, but I put it on top of my reading stack. You mentioned Sailing magazine -- Perry writes design reviews every month for that magazine.

Both can be had from Amazon, and Perry's book also is in such stores as Borders and Barnes and Noble (get online coupons if you are going to buy at one of them.)

[sailaway21]

Hands down, Good Old Boat magazine delivers, month after month. Sailing magazine is nice in and of itself but GOB is the one that get's read cover to cover.
If you want to splurge a bit, throw in the Annapolis book of Seamanship, it belongs on every sailor's shelf and as the sailnet mom above said, it won't get used up.
I'd agree with every one of the above suggestions, with the possible exception of practical sailor (but that's just me), there's not a one that wouldn't be well appreciated.
but for learnin' as well as ooh and aahin', it's GOB.

[Moonfish]

There is a DVD titled "Project Bluesphere" which is about a guy named Alex Dorsey who quits his job in Hollywood, sells everything he has and drives across the country to New England to buy a boat to sail around the world. He ends up buying a 28-foot sailboat. He refurbishes it through the winter, and sails down the east coast eventually ending up in Colombia. Along the way he survives a hurricane, which provides some intense scenes. All in all, I think it's well written, shot, and edited, and would make a nice gift for a sailor.

[Slipkiller2]

Because your friend is new to sailing and I would suspect boating, I would recommend Chapman Piloting & Seamanship.

http://www.amazon.com/Chapman-Piloti...8384197&sr=1-5