Boats and Sailing Message Board

I hope someone out there can come up with a good picture for this group, since I am technologically incompetent.

Has anyone read Come Wind, Come Weather by Clare Francis? When I look at the About the Author on some of her books she looks like quite the overachiever to me.

On the fiction side I like the "Dick Francis of sailing" Sam Llewellyn and bools like Blood Knot and Riptide

We already have some classics in the top 10 (Patrick O'Brian, C.S. Forester, The riddle of the sands), but Cadfael in the first place? *g* Well, interesting enough. I just did a city walk in Shrewsbury in his steps. Now, if they'd offer something like that for the Aubrey/Maturin books...

Just to throw out some more name out there: Yesterday, I got my bookbox with the stuff I bought in the UK. The best thing to find, next to the Patrick O'Brian volumes, was Frederick Marryat 's Mr. Midshipman Easy. I was speaking to my parents on the phone the other day and they were actually fighting over who owned the german copy of Masterman Ready. Obviously both of them have read it, back in the 1950's. I loved it, and when I spotted "Midshipman Easy" in a book shop, I jumped on it. Lovely edition with coloured illustrations, I think from the 1950's or even older. The copy of "Masterman Ready" they had was too battered, though...
I love the old-fashioned writing style of Marryat. It transports you right back to that time, and no German translator ever got it right...

I love a lot of the older books from the tall ship days like Two years before the mast or The way of the ship. The tough old salts who really knew saililng. One of my favorites is Joshua Slocum's Sailing Alone Around the World. I've heard other people say they don't like some of his more technical jargon, but as a sailor myself I kind of appreciate it (as well as getting a few tips from it now and again).

Slocum! It must be ages since I've read him (25 years, nearly). I have recently bought something fascinating: Wilfried Erdmann "Mein grenzenloses Seestück. Jollenfahrt durch Mecklenburg-Vorpommern" (sorry, it's only available in German). Erdmann has sailed around the world three times (once with wife and kid, twice alone). In this book, he describes a yawl-trip along the German Baltic coast (Flensburg to Swinouscie/Polish Border). He took an open boat of the "Zugvogel" class (http://www.bootswerft-beck.de/werft.html , search for Zugvogel). I know how to sail these boats, but I'd never cross a bight with them (i.e. 5 to 10 miles of open sea). Fascinating trip.

Two Years Before the Mast is definitely a classic, that had skipped my mind, I'll have to check out the Way of the Ship. Has anyone read The Cruise of the Kate? It is on my shelf but unread as yet.

I bought and read Two years before the mast by Dana in 1989 or 1990, in East Germany, in one of their well done hardcover versions. It's been sitting on the shelf ever since. After reading one of the reviews here I think I should re-read it. Let's see if I can reach the top of Mount To-Be-Read...

Hey, we've got the editing feature now! I put the missing touchstone in.

Ahhh! Thank you, quartzite, for the invitation to join your group. This is a subject near and dear to me.

I fell in love with the sea and boats (ships, rafts and other sea craft) when my fourth-grade teacher read out loud to the class Armstrong Sperry's Call It Courage. Closely following that were Kipling's Captains Courageous, London's The Sea Wolf, Stevenson's Treasure Island, and The Dark Frigate by Charles Hawes.

I went through the usual stages: Heyerdahl's Kon-Tiki, Childers's The Riddle of the Sands, Dana's Two Years Before the Mast, and every other seafaring book I could get my hands on.

Later I developed a fascination with the 1968-1969 Solo-Round-the-World race, and I have read all the published accounts by the participants plus Nicholas Tomalin's and Ron Hall's brilliant reconstruction of Crowhurst's meltdown: The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst. Robin Knox-Johnston's phlegmatic book, A World of My Own, may not be the most exciting, but it's still one of my all-time favorite nonfiction books.

Oh, I could go on and on, but I'll try to spread my effusions into more than this one posting. :-) I'm so happy you started this, quartzite!

Looking at the myriad touchstones which bring back so many wonderful memories makes my old heart ache for the nearly forgotten days of sunburnt toil under taut canvas and wind whipped challenge to keep steady, head up and hard a lee till snug harbour gives our line-calloused hands a satisfying wrap around the days end ale, cold and smooth and satisfying. Dana's TYBTM first led me to water - Slocum whetted my appetite all the more - Captain Voss and the Tilikum amazed me - Tim Severin's voyages (especially Brendan) convinced me - I AM IMMORTAL! I am the sea.
Well, I used to think that way, but now I'm old and tired and would prefer to just sit and read a book.

The works of Howard Pease, shipboard thrillers featuring a young sailor look like fun, but they are out of print and used versions are pretty expensive. Given the renewed interest in the genre, they seem ripe for reprinting. Has anyone read some of these? Would it be worth doing?

My 2006 reads included Unknown Shore, which combines the search for the Franklin expedition with the story of England's 16th century attempt to plant an Arctic colony, The Custom of the Sea, a griping account of the first prosecution of British sailors for cannibalism, and Batavia's Graveyard, an incredible true story of shipwreck, mutiny, and a killing spree on Dutch East India Company ship. Fiction pales next to those.

And speaking of mutiny, there's the Nordoff and Hall trilogy, and Bligh's account of the mutiny, and Mr. Bligh's Bad Language.

There's also John Masefield: And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by :-)

Has anybody come across Conor O'Brien, I have a super book by him - The Casterways, a sort of up market Arthur Ransom about 3 lads shipwrecked during the war into a lifeboat. They sail it to an uninhabited (just) island and behave precociously (spelled right?) by working out their latitude, mapping the island and blowing up some mines. He also wrote a number of sailing books and some other boys yarns. The boys are wrecked with hardly any clothes and the illustrations (Brigid Ganley) would not get passed the censor these days!
I've googled him but cant find much out about him!

I don't know Conor O'Brien, Bookeel, but his books sound like a great read for boys (and girls) of all ages!

Thought I'd mention a couple of interesting accounts of round-the-worlders and would-be-round-the-worlders that I have read fairly recently:

The Long Way by Bernard Moitessier, The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst by Nicholas Hall and Ron Tomalin and Jesse Martin's account.

Comparing the state of mind of poor Crowhurst with that of Moitessier and then of the very young Jesse Martin in Lionheart: A Journey of the Human Spirit was fascinating (to me at least). Food for thought.

Is this an appropriate group for pratical books on cruising such as authors Nigel Calder and Jimmy Cornell ?

Thanks

>14 emagin: emagin

This looks like an appropriate group to me. As you can see it's been pretty quiet here for a year or so.

It would be interesting to hear from 'cruisers' on their various voyages - past and present, and I'm sure they'd be interested in hearing of new books on the practical side of cruising. I wonder what they're reading now (practical or otherwise).

i was wondering if anyone had good advice on a good book for a novice sailor about learning more technical things. especially the open sea. im afraid to get anything yet if its just way above my head in terminology, but maybe thats not so bad either if its an excellent book.
thanks

>16 clayton.anderson: clayton.anderson

I think they must be too busy sailing. Yours looked like an interesting request to me; maybe someone will call into port soon.

Meanwhile (but not what you're after clayton): Someone's begun a thread on true sea adventures, etc., in the non-fiction readers group. Looks like some interesting reading being suggested there.

http://www.librarything.com/topic/74433

Is anyone interested in following Jessica Watson's attempt to become the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world? She's only 16 and publicity for her adventure is at a minimum - presumably so as not to encourage too many other not-so-experienced young sailors
to jump into their vessels to try to emulate her.

Jessica has recently rounded Cape Horn. I wish her well.

Here's a link (if you're interested).....

http://www.jessicawatson.com.au/the-latest-news

Sorry I have not been on here for a bit. If I remember Montessier was the one who survived a survival storm by learning to surf a 40ft steel boat. he has lost his sea anchor and anything else that he could use to slow him down and just went with the storm. He got too tired to carry on eventually and taught his wife how to do it.

I like Slocum's - Sailing alone around the world. Like Crowhurst he hallucinates, but still keeps going. If you want a voyage that will keep you up all night then go for - Last Voyage - Ann Davison.

The must haves are Peter Heaton - Sailing - and Cruising - they taught me to sail, easy language and lots of pics. I also have Sailing made Easy - E F Knight, Selincourt - Sailing - a guide for everyman, and Sailing made easy - Housley (mainly about Norfolk Broads) If you can get it the Lonsdale Library volXV Cruising and Ocean Racing tell you everything from fitting out to navigation - the real thing, not this gps nonsense.

Jessica Watson is within coo-ee of her final destination, Sydney I think. She'll be facing some tough weather in the Southern Ocean meantime.

What do you think about such young sailors undertaking these hazardous voyages (in Watson's case around the world, solo and unassisted)? Quite apart from the obvious dangers, I've seen some discussion of the 'exploitation' side of things: Companies/Sponsors making money out of the youngsters' attempts.