What is your favorite Sailing book?

[Dobreski]

What is your favorite sailing book or books?
I'm looking for a good read.
Preferably a less common non-fiction.
Any suggestions?
Mike

[DavidHDennis]

I really enjoyed Blown Away by Herb Payson and the sequel.

It's about a family that threw off their land lifestyle and went to sea cruising.

Herb and crew have a great sense of humour and I laughed out loud in many places - particularly the account of how Herb gave in to his wife and bought a Propane stove after wrestling unsuccessfully with kerosene.

It is funny, not harrowing. If my memory serves (it's been a long time since I read it), it was never a tale of suffering like many of the genre. Just good clean fun.

Tough to beat as a light-hearted read.

Hope that helps.

D

[timangiel]

here is a link to some suggestions; http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-m...ked-books.html

[painkiller]

Here are some of my favorites under non-fiction:

• A Voyage For Madmen
• Two Years Before the Mast (by Richard Henry Dana)
• Flirting With Mermaids (by John Kretschmer)
• At the Mercy of the Sea (by John Kretschmer)
• Desperate Voyage (by Caldwell)
• North to the Night (by Alvah Simon)
• Dove (by Robin Lee Graham)
• Once is Enough (by Smeeton)
• Alone Through the Roaring Forties (by Dumas)
• Atlantic High (by William F. Buckley, Jr.)
• Fair Wind & Plenty of It (by Rigel Crockett)
• In the Heart of the Sea (by Nathaniel Philbrick)
• Sea of Glory (by Nathaniel Philbrick)
• Taking on the World (by Ellen MacArthur)
• Admiral of the Ocean Sea, A Life of Christopher Columbus (by Samuel Eliot Morison)
• Wooden Boats (by Michael Ruhlman)

[lshick]

Nonfiction: W.S. Kals "Practical Boating." Long out of print, but occasionally available thorough Amazon, etc. Favorite line: "Always have an alternate plan. In plain language, leave yourself an out."

Fiction: Erskine Childers, "The Riddle of the Sands." All time classic small-boat sailing.

Fiction, runners-up: Anything by Sam Llewellyn.

[kmartin16]

Based upon the thread linked above, which is a treasure trove of recommendations, I just finished "A Voyage For Madmen" by peter Nichols and Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around The World". Slocum's book is charming, a must read really, and an amazing achievement for a man who had only a third grade education. Voyage is a fascinating account that focuses on the 9 men who entered a race to circumnaviagte non stop. Very well written. On the fiction side it is hard to beat the Aubrey/Maturin books as I recently read The Far Side of the World.

[Bene505]

Originally Posted by DavidHDennis

I really enjoyed Blown Away by Herb Payson and the sequel.

It's about a family that threw off their land lifestyle and went to sea cruising.

Herb and crew have a great sense of humour and I laughed out loud in many places - particularly the account of how Herb gave in to his wife and bought a Propane stove after wrestling unsuccessfully with kerosene.

It is funny, not harrowing. If my memory serves (it's been a long time since I read it), it was never a tale of suffering like many of the genre. Just good clean fun.

Tough to beat as a light-hearted read.

Hope that helps.

D

Thanks David. Based on your recommendation, I just ordered both of them.

Regards,
Brad

[CBinRI]

The whole Patrick O'Brian series is terrific.

[Omatako]

The Practical Mariner's Book of Knowledge: 420 Sea-Tested Rules of Thumb for Almost Every Boating Situation by John Vigor


(picture copied from Amazon - my copy is on my boat).

Some of it is tongue-in-cheek, most is very relevant, all of it is interesting and good fun to read.

[mightyhorton]

Originally Posted by CBinRI

The whole Patrick O'Brian series is terrific.

I've got to agree with CBinRI. I lost months of productivity when I found the O'Brian series. They are so rich with character, with history, with the salty sea, with lessons on life, with action, with contemplation..... plus, as long as you can stand really really long sentences and bad puns, they are just so much fun to read.