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books on basic sailing..

10K views 26 replies 18 participants last post by  dixiedawg 
#1 ·
Are there any books that I should start reading that would prepare me towards asa101 course ?

Thanks.
 
#2 · (Edited)
#7 ·
"Basic Sailing" by M.B. George (Hearst Marine Books, N.Y., 1984) is a great primer with beautiful photographs.

Take all the Coast Guard Auxiliary Courses you can in your area. In fact, if you can take the full U.S.C.G. "Boating Skills and Seamanship" course, you will learn all you need to know to get started.

Sailing itself is not that difficult to master. What gets folks into trouble is basic safe boating practices, navigation, seamanship, proper preparation, and decision-making, some of which you learn through experience and some of which you can acquire through study.
 
#10 ·
When I took ASA101 the instructor Fed Exed the course book as soon as I enrolled so I could read it prior to attending the weekend course.

...

Take all the Coast Guard Auxiliary Courses you can in your area. In fact, if you can take the full U.S.C.G. "Boating Skills and Seamanship" course, you will learn all you need to know to get started.
Twice a year I teach the USCGA Sailing Skills and Seamanship course. It includes all the chapters in BSS but with four chapters on sailing skills. Sailors would probably do better looking for that course in their area.

Sailing itself is not that difficult to master. What gets folks into trouble is basic safe boating practices, navigation, seamanship, proper preparation, and decision-making, some of which you learn through experience and some of which you can acquire through study.
Agree wholeheartedly.
 
#8 ·
ASA SAILING MADE EASY TEXTBOOK - 101

This is the textbook that ASA uses for 101. They should provide it to you along with a logbook with your registration. You can look on the ASA site, if you haven't already; it covers the knowledge needed to pass the 101 exam in the Standards: here:

Basic Keelboat Sailing - ASA 101 - Certification by American Sailing Association

Do a google search on ASA 101 test questions, there's a couple of power point review sessions posted by instructors.

Good Luck..Have Fun!
 
#16 · (Edited)
I don't think it makes much difference what sailing book you choose. all of them get the basics down right, more or less, and that's all you need. No one ever failed to learn how to sail because they read only the tenth-best book instead of the 'best-best'.

Simpler the better. Go sail lots, then you'll see "the book is right". This will stand most learners in better stead than, "got to read the whole book, and only then go sailing".

At least that's how I learn, and most of my students seem to learn, best. Actually, i lie. I didn't have a book when I learned. I was too young to read much then anyway.
 
#18 ·
#21 ·
#23 · (Edited)
Free books about sailing & seamanship & boats:

============================
I cannot recommend Project Gutenberg highly enough to do it justice. Books in several formats, some in audio, or download a .txt version & run it through a text-to-speech translator, all free:

Free ebooks - Project Gutenberg

============================

===== Sailing & Seamanship =====

"Sailing", by E. F. Knight. Millions of sailors got their start by reading this friendly little book:

HTML:
Sailing by E.F. Knight: complete HTML version

PDF :
E.F. Knight Sailing at Never Sea Land

"The Seaman's Friend" - Dana
The Seaman's Friend by Richard Henry Dana - Free Ebook

"Singlehanded Tips" - Andrew Evans
Singlehanded Tips Book

"Text-book of Seamanship" - Luce
Text-Book of Seamanship

"Practical Boat Sailing" - Frazar
Practical Boat-Sailing by Douglas Frazar - Free Ebook

===== Marlingspike Seamanship =====

Knots, Splices, Rope Work - Verrill
Knots, Splices and Rope Work by A. Hyatt Verrill - Free Ebook

Knots, Bends, Splices - Jutsum
Knots, Bends, Splices by Captain Jutsum - Free Ebook

===== Navigation & Piloting =====

"Step By Step Sextant User's Guide" - Andrew Evans
http://estarzinger.com/estarzinger/pdf/sextant.pdf -

"Celestial Navigation in a Teacup" - Rodger Farley
Celestial Navigation

"American Practical Navigator" - Bowditch
Maritime Safety Information

Coast Pilots & Charts from NOAA:
United States Coast Pilot®

===== Voyages, True Stories =====

"Sailing Alone Around the World" - Slocum
Sailing Alone Around the World by Joshua Slocum - Free Ebook

"Voyage of the Liberdade" - Joshua Slocum
Voyage of the Liberdade by Joshua Slocum - Free Ebook

"The Cruise of the Snark" - Jack London
The Cruise of the Snark by Jack London - Free Ebook

"Two Years Before the Mast" - Dana
Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana - Free Ebook

"To Cuba and Back" - Dana
To Cuba and Back by Richard Henry Dana - Free Ebook

"The Falcon on the Baltic" :
The Falcon on the Baltic by E.F. Knight: complete HTML version

"Cruise of the Alerte" :
Index of /files/38891

"Confessions of a Long Distance Sailor" - Paul Lutus
* Confessions Online

"Windjammers and Sea Tramps" - Runciman
Windjammers and Sea Tramps by Baron Walter Runciman Runciman - Free Ebook

........because not everyone goes upon the great salt sea,
or in a big boat:

"A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers" - Thoreau
A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers by Henry D. Thoreau

"Canoeing in the Wilderness" - Thoreau
Canoeing in the wilderness by Henry David Thoreau - Free Ebook

"Voyage of the Paper Canoe" - Bishop
Voyage of the Paper Canoe by Nathaniel H. Bishop - Free Ebook

"Voyage Alone in the Yawl 'Rob Roy'" - MacGregor
The Voyage Alone in the Yawl "Rob Roy" by John MacGregor - Free Ebook

===== Voyages, Fiction =====

"The Riddle of the Sands" - Childers
The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers - Free Ebook

"Stories of Ships & the Sea" - Jack London
Stories of Ships and the Sea by Jack London - Free Ebook

"South Sea Tales" - Jack London
South Sea Tales by Jack London - Free Ebook

"Westward Ho" - Kingsley
Westward Ho! Or, The Voyages and Adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, of - Free Ebook

"Treasure Island" - Stevenson
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - Free Ebook

===== For Munchkins =====

"Captains Courageous" - Kipling
"Captains Courageous": A Story of the Grand Banks by Rudyard Kipling - Free Ebook

"Yacht Voyage Round England" - Kingston
A Yacht Voyage Round England by William Henry Giles Kingston - Free Ebook

"Coral Island" - Ballantyne
The Coral Island: A Tale of the Pacific Ocean by R. M. Ballantyne - Free Ebook

"Wakulla" - Kirk Munroe
Wakulla: a story of adventure in Florida by Kirk Munroe - Free Ebook

A gentle introduction to Greek myths & hero-tales,
based on stories told by Henry David Thoreau to Nathaniel
Hawthorne's children:

"A Wonder Book" & "Tanglewood Tales" - Hawthorne
A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Free Ebook

===== Miscellania =====

National Geographic Sailing Simulator:
National Geographic | Volvo Ocean Race 2001-2002

"Migration of an American Boat Type" - Chapelle
The Migrations of an American Boat Type by Howard I. Chapelle - Free Ebook
 
#24 ·
I am a relative newcomer to sailing as well. My first book was the Dennis Conner and Michael Levitt book, Learn to Sail. It was an easy read for me and by that I am pointing out no prior sailing knowledge before reading the book.

Good Luck, fair winds, and following seas.
Dan
 
#25 ·
SAIL POWER by Wallace Ross has been my reference for over 20 years. It is loaded with good information. I was reviewing traveler and leech line settings this afternoon. It may seem overwhelming and a bit intimidating at first, but all the basics are there and the advanced too. This book shows me how much I still have to learn about boat handling.
-CH
 

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