Read a good book lately?

[jssailem]

I was reading Scott T-Birds, post about "Two Years Before the Mast" and it got me thinking,what books might you sailors be reading. Here are a couple of my recent favorites.

1. "Dangerous Waters". Will give you a new understanding about Pirates and current day piracy. The author paint a pretty clear picture. The idea that pirates are boarding cargo ships in the confined channels of major water ways raises the hair on my neck.
   
2. "Passage to Juneau". Great authors story of taking a small boat and cruising the inside passage of the Pacific Northwest.
3. "The Circle". If sailing gives you relief from the tech world, then this book will give you pause and then hurry your actions to go sailing.

Share your best.

 

[shemandr]

Not Two Years.... My fav is The Blind Horn's Hate. There are some other great ones. Webb Chiles is solidly good.

 

[Joetech]

William F. Buckley Atlantic High Your political point of view won't matter. This an apolitical tome. A brilliance writer about crossing the Atlantic and the friendships it forges.

 

[rgranger]

I read the entire Horn Blower series as a kid... and Slocum's book recently. Loved them all.

 

[Mikem]

"Endurance". Tells the story of Ernest Shackleton and his sailing to Antarctic in 1914, the loss of the ship in the ice, ensuing struggle for survival and an epic 800 mile transit of the southern ocean in a 30' boat and more heroic stuff

 

[Kings Gambit]

The Long Way, Moitessier

At the Mercy of the Sea, Kretschmer

 

[Gene Neill]

"Endurance". Tells the story of Ernest Shackleton and his sailing to Antarctic in 1914, the loss of the ship in the ice, ensuing struggle for survival and an epic 800 mile transit of the southern ocean in a 30' boat and more heroic stuff

For sure! I was going to say "South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition". Written by Sir Ernest himself. The most amazing story of human endurance ever written. It even beats "The Bounty Mutiny" in my opinion - which is pretty incredible in it's own right.

So there's my two.

 

[Stu Jackson]

"Passage to Juneau". Great authors story of taking a small boat and cruising the inside passage of the Pacific Northwest.

Superb book. Was talking about it today with my son. Anything by Jonathan is worth reading.

 

[jeepbluetj]

I am also currently reading The Long Way. Since I've got it on the boat it'll be awhile (I gotta go to that silly job)

Read Atlantic High, and Racing Through Paradise quite awhile back. Enjoyed both but Atlantic is a better yarn. Was amazed at the wine provisioning. Sheesh, I've read so dang many sailing books I couldn't even begin to remember them all.

 

[dscribner]

Jim Nelson (James L Nelson) just released Full Fathom Five, about a security guy that comes back to his roots as a lobster-man in Maine. Then he finds a dead guy on his trawl and the trouble starts. If you sail Casco Bay, it's fun to check the charts to see where the action is taking place. And if you like Viking stuff, he has number five in his Thromgim series out. Check out his website jameslnelson.com.

 

[jssailem]

Superb book

Yes Stu. Discovered Jonathan Raban when my cousin loaned me his copy of "Passage..." the spring of 2013. Could not put it down. I was trying to figure out how to get back into sailing bigger waters. Going through a personal passage having just buried my parents. The story fulled the impetus to buy a big boat. Have read "Coasting" and "Holy War". Both have kept me reading in the V-Berth long after I should have gotten up and started the coffee. He has a great way with words.

 

[Richard19068]

While not a sailing book, "The Curve of Time" by Blanchet is a great book to read if you boat around the PNW ( Southern British Columbia) area. Lots of interesting history and stories of coastal cruising in the 1920's and 30's.

 

[justsomeguy]

Also not exactly a sailing book is The Martian, recently turned into a movie.

Hard (not fantasy) science fiction, heavy on life support systems, math, etc.. Much better than the movie.

 

[centerline]

I was reading Scott T-Birds, post about "Two Years Before the Mast" and it got me thinking,what books might you sailors be reading. Here are a couple of my recent favorites.

1. "Dangerous Waters". Will give you a new understanding about Pirates and current day piracy. The author paint a pretty clear picture. The idea that pirates are boarding cargo ships in the confined channels of major water ways raises the hair on my neck.
   
2. "Passage to Juneau". Great authors story of taking a small boat and cruising the inside passage of the Pacific Northwest.
3. "The Circle". If sailing gives you relief from the tech world, then this book will give you pause and then hurry your actions to go sailing.

Share your best.

John, I went to look for the book you mentioned "The Circle" and there are so many books with that title , or very similar to that title that I didnt even bother looking after the second page... who is the author? Thanks...

 

[MitchM]

"Total Loss." - a collection of british boat disaster stories organized by cause of loss. the one about all the bilge pumps failing because oatmeal got sucked in and clogged them up, thus leading to sinking of boat, never fails to terrify untidy guests.

 

[jssailem]

who is the author

Sure Centerline.
The Circle – April 2014 by Dave Eggers
I found it online at our Library. Or you can find it at Amazon.

 

[freeheelbillie]

Excellent thread for a sailor in Michigan...in January. Thanks!

 

[PaulK]

Over the summer I read Menzies' "1491" about how Chinese fleets explored and mapped the world so that Columbus and Magellan had reference material to use on their trips. Written by a retired Royal Navy Submarine Captain who seems to have done some good research, it provides good food for thought.
A bit more current, "The Nagel Journal" recounts the travails of John Nagel, who served at the Battle of Brandywine in the American Revolution and then went off Privateering. Then it gets interesting. He gets captured by the British and Impressed into the Royal Navy for about 20 years. He ends up being coxwain in the ship's boat that determines where Sydney, Australia will be built, and retires on a pension granted by Congress because of his Army service . Fascinating and detailed view of history from the gun deck, not the poop. This is NOT fiction - it is essentially his diary, found in an attic well after his death.
A third book, written by an accomplished Maine author, is "Atlantic Circle", by Kathryn Lasky Knight. Like the passage itself, her succinct descriptions of the events involved with sailing Transatlantic with her husband range from hilarious to profound understatement. Beautifully written and more true to life than the swashbuckling stories so often considered standard yachty fare.

 

[shemandr]

William F. Buckley Atlantic High ...

My favorite part of that book was a passage in which the youngsters were steering the boat at night and Mr. Buckley was sleeping below. The kids, who seemed to have an endless supply of beer, enjoyed trying play the waves to get the tail of a wave to go down the companionway and wake up the "Old Man" with snorting from water on his face. What teenager wouldn't love that?

 

[srust58]

Two sailing classics
Blown Away by Herb Payson
Always a Distant Anchorage by Hal Roth
non sailing
Not so Wild a Dream by Eric Severeid. A brilliant writer chronicles his adventurous life as a youth and then as a radio correspondent in Europe leading up to WWII, the fall of Paris, the Battle of Britain, and Burma and China.