Non-Fiction Sailing Books

[thomm225]

In the Heart of the Sea.

https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Sea-Tra.../dp/0141001828

[Groupah]

Coming at the tail end of a 9 year old thread could there possibly be any more recommendations?

Here are three suggested that are not circumnavigations, but still bright stars over the waters:


Captain Bligh and Mr Christian by Richard Hough. Reads much better than the Mutiny on the Bounty Trilogy and covers all three.


Tranquility by Billy Sparrow. Young men and sailboats-what folly! Set in the pacific NW (and multiple sandbars along the way).


The Only Kayak by Kim Heathcox. 25 years exploring Glacier Bay Alaska and getting as close to the water as your hand to your hip.

[apozun]

I am an accomplished writer retd cop nurse CPR instructor have written many articles on sailing emergencies at sea sailing injuries' first aid books on travelling thw ICW 11v trips NY to Bahamas : smile: my e mail btpozun@optonline.net send me link ill send you my book I need some feedback tony

[Doubleplay]

" Fatal Storm" by Rob Mundle excellent story and tragedy of Sydney-Hobart Race

[MicHughV]

there was a time, when I thought I would pen my travels....trying to compress a 40 year life of travels could not be done in one book.....so I decided on a trilogy....after almost 2 years of blood, sweat and tears, the first few years was completed and published on Amazon, but sales were dismal to say the least, and any hopes of fame and fortune quickly faded into the sunset.......and the following books never materialized...nonetheless, if interested, PM me and I will forward you the relevant details for book #1.

[Acadia Traveler]

A few books I’ve read recently are
Bay of Spirits by Farley Mowat (sailing Labrador in the 50’s)
Phoenix from the Ashes by Justin Tyers (sailing England, Ireland, and Scotland) great humor too.

[gamayun]

Just saw this one about the first female circumnavigator, Jeanne Barret:

https://theconversation.com/friday-e...e-globe-146296

[yesthatsue]

Four Months in a Sneakbox always makes me want to go "green water" cruising:

Four Months in a Sneak-Box by Nathaniel H. Bishop - Free Ebook

[chriskilmer]

I can second “The Cruise of the Snark”. Jack London gets his sailboat built despite the S.F. earthquake. Sails with his adventurous wife, Charmian to the South Pacific and beyond. Tame by today’s standards, and yes, he had a captain, and a cook. However, he also introduced Americans to surfing. To Leper colonies. Different peoples. The tropical diseases. All pre WW I. A fascinating, easy read.

[thomm225]

Not a sailing book but a very good book about being at sea is :

The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger!

Very well written with tons of information.

https://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Storm.../dp/B002EF2ALQ

[CaribbeesYC]

"The Hard Way Around" is fantastic. About Joshua Slocum:

A masterful biographer now offers a thrilling, definitive portrait of one of history’s most legendary icons of adventure.

In 1860, sixteen-year-old Joshua Slocum escaped a hardscrabble childhood in Nova Scotia by signing on as an ordinary seaman to a merchant ship bound for Dublin. Despite having only a third-grade education, Slocum rose through the nautical ranks at a mercurial pace; just a decade later he was commander of his own ship. His subsequent journeys took him nearly everywhere: Liverpool, China, Japan, Cape Horn, the Dutch East Indies, Manila, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, San Francisco, and Australia—where he met and married his first wife, Virginia, who would sail along with him for the rest of her life, bearing and raising their children at sea. He commanded eight vessels and owned four, enduring hurricanes, shipwrecks, pirate attacks, cholera, smallpox, a mutiny, and the death of his wife and three of his children. Yet his ultimate adventure and crowning glory was still to come.

In 1895 Slocum set sail from Gloucester, Massachusetts—by himself—in the Spray, a small sloop of thirty-seven feet. More than three years and forty-six thousand miles later, he became the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo, a feat that wouldn’t be replicated until 1925. His account of that voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, soon made him internationally famous. He met President Theodore Roosevelt on several occasions and became a presence on the lecture circuit, selling his sea-saga books whenever and wherever he could. But scandal soon followed, and a decade later, with his finances failing, he set off alone once more—and was never seen again.

[Copacabana]

This is one of my favourites: "The Water in Between" by Kevin Patterson.

https://books.google.com.br/books/ab...AJ&redir_esc=y

[Joliba]

I have a few more good suggestions for books that I did not notice in this 10-year old thread. (I actually have a bookshelf more of them):

The 4 books by William Albert Robinson:
10,000 Leagues Over the Sea also called Deep Water and Shoal
Voyage to the Galapagos
To the Great Southern Sea
Return to the Sea

Robin Knox-Johnston-- A World of my Own

Irving and Exy Johnson---Anything from their library of books written about their vessels named Yankee including titles such as Yankee's Wander World and Yankee's People and Places

Earl Hinz-- Sail before Sunset

Harry Pidgeon-- Around the World Single Handed

[GordMay]

Two years around the world aboard a 35 ft yacht (1966-1968)*

50 years ago, the wooden 35ft French sailboat "Beligou" sailed around the world. The crew of three were amongst the first to make a round the world voyage in a small sailing boat.

One of the crew has finally published their story. A book of over 300 pages. We hope those who can't read French will enjoy looking at more than 400 vintage B&W and Kodachrome pictures, maps, drawings.

In addition more than 30 pages, beautifully hand-illustrated, are dedicated to the construction of the yacht.[1]

Also the full 160 pages scanned from the golden book where for example Beryl Smeeton ("Once is Enough"), Pat and Barry Cullen (on board Sandefjord) and many other famous sailors have written some interesting and amusing comments, lots of them in English.

Also included are some paper notebooks showing position calculations with sextant and old tables (not HO249), forecast maps received by Morse, etc.

The accounts book shows an incredible number of bottles of rum and red wine…to assist deals/barter at every harbour or haven along the way.

Beligou was built in 1964. In 2015, 50 years later, she is still in perfect sailing condition.

Welcome aboard for a world that doesn’t exist any more!

[1] ➥ La construction du voilier


* “Deux ans autour du monde sur un voilier de 11 mètres (1966-1968)” ~ by Guy Quiesse, author, and Claude Quiesse, photographer and painter
A book, written in French, and downloadable for free, recounting a circumnavigation in 1966-68.
Free ➥ Le récit


See also ➥

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayPWx9G3ASI

[Alexiswrocker]

Originally Posted by CaribbeesYC

"The Hard Way Around" is fantastic. About Joshua Slocum:

A masterful biographer now offers a thrilling, definitive portrait of one of history’s most legendary icons of adventure.

In 1860, sixteen-year-old Joshua Slocum escaped a hardscrabble childhood in Nova Scotia by signing on as an ordinary seaman to a merchant ship bound for Dublin. Despite having only a third-grade education, Slocum rose through the nautical ranks at a mercurial pace; just a decade later he was commander of his own ship. His subsequent journeys took him nearly everywhere: Liverpool, China, Japan, Cape Horn, the Dutch East Indies, Manila, Hong Kong, Saigon, Singapore, San Francisco, and Australia—where he met and married his first wife, Virginia, who would sail along with him for the rest of her life, bearing and raising their children at sea. He commanded eight vessels and owned four, enduring hurricanes, shipwrecks, pirate attacks, cholera, smallpox, a mutiny, and the death of his wife and three of his children. Yet his ultimate adventure and crowning glory was still to come.

In 1895 Slocum set sail from Gloucester, Massachusetts—by himself—in the Spray, a small sloop of thirty-seven feet. More than three years and forty-six thousand miles later, he became the first man to circumnavigate the globe solo, a feat that wouldn’t be replicated until 1925. His account of that voyage, Sailing Alone Around the World, soon made him internationally famous. He met President Theodore Roosevelt on several occasions and became a presence on the lecture circuit, selling his sea-saga books whenever and wherever he could. Another interesting short work, The Treasure of Lemon Brown, can be found at https://freebooksummary.com/category/the-treasure-of-lemon-brown with this. But scandal soon followed, and a decade later, with his finances failing, he set off alone once more—and was never seen again.

Judging by the description looks extremely interesting work with its unique prehistory, will have to read at your leisure.