[titustiger27]

There have been threads about best books, why magazines are boring... I am not sure there has been a request for good writing and/or writers.

My favorite writer is John Gierach, he writes about fly fishing, I love reading his collected stories even if I don't fly fish. (he is so good I try saving books to read in the future)

Who writes about sailing and can transcend to people who don't love sailing already...

and examples

 

[Classic30]

Who writes about sailing and can transcend to people who don't love sailing already...

and examples

TT, the number is countless - although I must admit that most of the really passionate sailing authors were writing last century, in the days when a voyage across the pacific, or even a sail across a lake, was seen as 'a grand adventure' worth writing about.

The authors I'm thinking of were those that got people interested in sailing primarily by their contributions for magazines and boys journals, starting with Lady Anne Brassey in ~1877 and continuing on from there. Others included (in no particular order): RH Dana, Nicholas Monserrat, CS Forester, Joseph Conrad, Alan Villiers, Rudyard Kipling, etc. etc.. although arguably the most relevant to sailing small boats as we know it would be the prominent British Naval Architect, author and magazine editor Maurice Griffiths:

I'm sure there are more modern authors writing exciting on-line blogs - but if they do exist, an ancient like me wouldn't know about them.

 

[titustiger27]

TT, the number is countless - although I must admit that most of the really passionate sailing authors were writing last century, in the days when a voyage across the pacific, or even a sail across a lake, was seen as 'a grand adventure' worth writing about.

The authors I'm thinking of were those that got people interested in sailing primarily by their contributions for magazines and journals, starting with Lady Anne Brassey in ~1877 and continuing on from there. Others included (in no particular order): RH Dana, Nicholas Monserrat, CS Forester, Joseph Conrad, Alan Villiers, Rudyard Kipling, etc. etc.. although arguably the most relevant to sailing small boats as we know it would be the prominent British Naval Architect, author and magazine editor Maurice Griffiths. If you have never read any of his books - really, you should!

Maurice Griffiths - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'm sure there are more modern authors writing exciting on-line blogs - but if they do exist, an ancient like me wouldn't know about them.

I guess I was thinking modern writers... I don't know of the ones you mentioned.

... I don't know about you, but there are writers that on the first paragraph you realize s/he has talent beyond understanding. I haven't really seen that with sailing.
This isn't to say I haven't enjoyed some writing, but not so much has been amazing.

Maybe I am picky

 

[Classic30]

I guess I was thinking modern writers... I don't know of the ones you mentioned.

... I don't know about you, but there are writers that on the first paragraph you realize s/he has talent beyond understanding. I haven't really seen that with sailing.
This isn't to say I haven't enjoyed some writing, but not so much has been amazing.

Maybe I am picky

Oh, I don't think so... It's my not so humble opinion that writing quality - especially nautical writing quality - has been going down hill for a few decades now.

Maurice Griffiths was definitely one of those writers you refer to. It's an old book now, but have a read of his Magic of the Swatchways (it's a collection of short stories) and I think you'll find what you're looking for after the first sentence.

 

[titustiger27]

Hopefully this isn't about me (that is to say, what I might or might not like, but an overall quality of writing for most)

but good writing..

 

[Classic30]

Sorry I can't find an extract on the web to show you... but any half-decent marine library should have a copy - of this or one of his other books.

 

[TomMaine]

There have been threads about best books, why magazines are boring... I am not sure there has been a request for good writing and/or writers.

Who writes about sailing and can transcend to people who don't love sailing already...

and examples

I'm working with a friend designing a used bookstore, and she is not a sailor, and no desire to be one.

The theme of her store is, "Simpy good writing". In reading a review of the book, 'Why Homer Matters', by Adam Nicholson, she couldn't resist sending me this quote:

""the canvas stirs, like a dog in a bed, begins to acquire a form, and the boat gains a sense of purpose, a coherence it had lacked as it slopped in the chop or swell. The wake slowly starts to bubble behind you, "the gleaming wake" that runs behind Homeric ships as a sign of life and excellence, the cockpit drains gurgle . . . and with tiller and sheet in hand you sit up and pick your course across the sea. That is the Odyssean moment, everything liquid but directed, everything mobile but related: the sea itself, your boat in it, the air and its winds, all the possibilities.""

My friend added at the end:

"Almost makes me want to go to sea (her smiley face)" So there's some writing that's done exactly what you asked.

I plan to read the book just from that quote. I find sailing lacking in modern writing-even by today's most popular sailing writers. Sometimes I think it's me but it's just not there..

A current favorite of mine(I've mentioned here before) is David Bruckman who writes a regular column in Points East, a free online and print magazine. His small monthly column, "Fetching Along" is too short but nearly always puts me on the water, sailing.

I hope to see more "good writing" when it comes to sailing, posted here.

 

[Pamlicotraveler]

I like writers that don't rely on stereotypical cruising topics (Admiral vs Captain, Potty humor etc) and hee-haw type one-liners (ie Fatty Goodlander). Some of the worst books ever written have been about sailing and cruising, so I too am interested in this topic.

 

[SVAuspicious]

I think there is a difference between good technical writing that makes subjects approachable and understandable like that of Nigel Calder and Beth Leonard and engaging, thoughtful narratives like that of Richard Bode in First You Have to Row a Little Boat.

 

[titustiger27]

I like writers that don't rely on stereotypical cruising topics (Admiral vs Captain, Potty humor etc) and hee-haw type one-liners (ie Fatty Goodlander). Some of the worst books ever written have been about sailing and cruising, so I too am interested in this topic.

This is how I feel.

I know a few hold Fatty up as a great writer... as a reader I need a writer to tell me why this is a great port or why someone is 'good people'

 

[titustiger27]

{snip}
""the canvas stirs, like a dog in a bed, begins to acquire a form, and the boat gains a sense of purpose, a coherence it had lacked as it slopped in the chop or swell. The wake slowly starts to bubble behind you, "the gleaming wake" that runs behind Homeric ships as a sign of life and excellence, the cockpit drains gurgle . . . and with tiller and sheet in hand you sit up and pick your course across the sea. That is the Odyssean moment, everything liquid but directed, everything mobile but related: the sea itself, your boat in it, the air and its winds, all the possibilities.""

{snip}.

Thanks that is to the point, thanks for the author suggestion as well.

I do say, often there are glimmers of good writing, where a novelist writes a stunning first paragraph, then goes rote. That is often why essays can be so compelling, for 800 words or so, good authors can tantalize the readers.

 

[miatapaul]

This is how I feel.

I know a few hold Fatty up as a great writer... as a reader I need a writer to tell me why this is a great port or why someone is 'good people'

While I don't think he is a great writer, I do enjoy reading him. I think he will make you think about chucking it all and just going out cruising. I don't think he woudl say he is a good writer, but he certainly is better than many. I like that he lets you into a lot of the not so pretty parts of the cruising lifestyle.

 

[titustiger27]

While I don't think he is a great writer, I do enjoy reading him. I think he will make you think about chucking it all and just going out cruising. I don't think he woudl say he is a good writer, but he certainly is better than many. I like that he lets you into a lot of the not so pretty parts of the cruising lifestyle.

I probably was suffering from a couple or more scenarios

I read a collection of essays he wrote for a magazine. Sometimes that is better for me... but in a night reading about six essays that had a joke that was lamer than a pirate flag on frying pan... just got kind of old

People had touted him as a great writer... or I inferred that... so I was expecting more.

and sometimes I sensed his stories might be better than what he wrote --- but was protecting the innocent

 

[Erindipity]

Well, three:
"We Didn't Mean To Go To Sea"
"The Riddle Of the Sands"
"Voyage"

That covers a Century or so, and all three of the writers, Ransome, Childers, and Hayden, led incredibly interesting lives, lives that on occasion involved Treason, Espionage, Murder, and Avoiding Income Tax.
I also like what "Max Ebb" has been writing in "Latitude 38" for the last few decades. I wonder what his story really is...

¬Erindipity

(Oh, that "the canvas stirs, like a dog in a bed..." piece quoted above: Just Dreadful. The three writers that I mentioned earlier, as well as Peter Heaton, loathed pretension.)

 

[TomMaine]

and sometimes I sensed his stories might be better than what he wrote --- but was protecting the innocent

Editing? On the one hand, a cruising author has his or her vibe while the editors have a magazine style or reputation they want to maintain.

Books aside(another universe of writing), articles-essays about sailing-cruising are more prolific on the internet today than in print.

Just like paper, good editing has a cost and has all but disappeared in this ocean of text on the web. I'm not talking about forums-blogs, but emerging web magazines, local digital 'papers', Points East, etc.

This whole area of writing is a work in progress, somebody has to figure out a working model.

To get back to the OP, more sources, less(none) editing, are making it harder to find new, 'good writing'.

 

[titustiger27]

Editing? On the one hand, a cruising author has his or her vibe while the editors have a magazine style or reputation they want to maintain.

Books aside(another universe of writing), articles-essays about sailing-cruising are more prolific on the internet today than in print.

Just like paper, good editing has a cost and has all but disappeared in this ocean of text on the web. I'm not talking about forums-blogs, but emerging web magazines, local digital 'papers', Points East, etc.

This whole area of writing is a work in progress, somebody has to figure out a working model.

To get back to the OP, more sources, less(none) editing, are making it harder to find new, 'good writing'.

I don't know if you could say there isn't enough writers to use a lot of them, so magazines use the same people over and over (I don't believe it, but could be true), but if that is the case, there is a reason for the limit.

But I think your point of less edit can be troublesome, though --- at times --- I suspect the opposite is true, that someone publications (online and print) edit to what they believe the publication is, to the point of editing the life out of the writer.....

Points East, is a subscription, but lots of features on line

https://www.pointseast.com/features.shtml

I enjoyed this one: Points East, the New England Cruising Magazine
about the institution wisdom that hang out at marinas entertaining...

 

[TomMaine]

I enjoyed reading that article, thanks. Good writing.

Pointeast is free if you live on the New England coast and can find the printed version(you do need to subscribe for post delivered).

In season it's available at marinas, harbormasters, boat yards, marine supplies. A little scarce in winter yet still available in a few spots in our area.

But you can read the entire magazine and older versions, free online. I'm not writing for them, I just think it's fun to read.

https://issuu.com/pointseast/docs/midwinter2015-issuu/29?e=1115423/11016199

 

[hellosailor]

Tom-
FWIW all the issuu.com publications require the Adobe Flash Player to be active. I mention this because Flash is a persistent security problem, so many people keep it disabled. And if you are using the MSIE browser, with Flash disabled, the ISSUU publications do not generate any error message, they simply display one page, with no navigation tools, no page change tools, etc.

Very sophomoric programming, requiring reduced security for no good reason. Nice when it runs--but badly flawed if you do run it.

 

[tdw]

Two from Britain .... Des Sleightholme and Tom Cunliffe. Both wrote for (and edited ?) Yachting Monthly. Cunliffe also wrote a number of instruction manuals for Day Skipper and Yachtmaster, both of which are excellent reads in their own right. Des (JD) Sleightolme's "Old Harry" is an absolute gem and something of a legendary character. JDS dies in 2003, TC survives to this day.

Spread my ashes on the beach
Let grockles take one granule each
And ask each other grimly frowning
"Is it JDS or gravy browning?"

Don't spread them though upon the strand
Lest children mistake them for golden sand
I can do without the hassle
Of ending up a sand bloody castle' JDS.

Farley Mowett (Canadian ?) wrote well.
Ransome and Childers have already been mentioned. I've never got into any of Ransome's kid's books. Didn't know them as a child and not having sprogs of my own have not had much reason to go there but his writing skill comes through in his other work such as "Racundra's First Cruise".

Anywho, going back too far. Next I'll start rabbitting on about Hilaire Belloch and you don't need that.

 

[titustiger27]

I enjoyed reading that article, thanks. Good writing.

Pointeast is free if you live on the New England coast and can find the printed version(you do need to subscribe for post delivered).

In season it's available at marinas, harbormasters, boat yards, marine supplies. A little scarce in winter yet still available in a few spots in our area.

But you can read the entire magazine and older versions, free online. I'm not writing for them, I just think it's fun to read.

https://issuu.com/pointseast/docs/midwinter2015-issuu/29?e=1115423/11016199

I don't know if I would classify that article as great writing, but I would say it is highly entertaining. It fits into my enjoyment of characters... the writer doesn't get in the way of letting us : a) 'meet' several interesting folks and b) makes sure we understand we should appreciate similar folks around us.

ps -- thanks for the link