Favorite Sailing Book

[Lou Ostendorff]

Hello to All;
While waiting for KARMA to have some cosmetic work done at the local boatyard, I was thumbing through one of my favorite sailing books. It is "On The Wind" by David Seidman, reprinted recently with a new title, "The Complete Sailor". If I could only recommend one book to someone wanting to learn the fundamentals of sailing, this would be it. Since I've learned so much from this bboard, I thought I would ask the question, 'What's your favorite sailing book', and see if I could learn a little bit more...thanks in advance.
Lou Ostendorff
CD25D "KARMA"
'82, #63



louosten@ipass.net

[Mike Wainfeld]

I agree-"The Complete Sailor" is a very nice book. The ones which got me started in my O'Day Widgeon were "Sailing for Beginners" by Moulton "Monk" Farnham and "Sailing Illustrated" by Royce. Two classics and probably my favorites. I still refer to both of them. Dennis Connor's two books "Learn to Sail" and "Sail Like a Champion" are both clear and informative and were a great help to me."Looking at Sails" by Banks and Kenny is another good book on sail trim. Two excellent books on design are Dave Gerr's "The Nature of Boats" and Ted Brewer's "Understanding Boat Design". And of course anything by Corad!
Mike Wainfeld
CD Typhoon "Regalo"




mwainfeld@erols.com

[Garrard Young]

Lou,
Once I discovered the pure joy and thrill of sailing, I wondered how I might change my life to accommodate this new passion. Sensible Cruising - by Casey and Hackler, has opened a new world of possibilities for me. This book is a fascinating read; about philosophy, perspective and purpose as achieved through sailing. A little West Wight Potter and this book have caused me to alter course to a much more promising, exciting and fulfilling life. I highly recommend this book with one caution; Not for those who actually "LIKE" the rat race.
Garrard Young
CD25D "Twocan"
'82, #21



gypsite@mindspring.com

[Larry DeMers]

Garrard,

Boy do I agree! The Thoreau Approach to sailing is the remainder of the title..and they weave Thoreau's philosophies into the chapters (for those familiar with his work).
Another author that I have read extensively is Lin and Larry Pardey. They have over 30 years of full time cruising experience together, in small boats..that are engineless. I met Lin and Larry just after they launched their scratch built (from the Lyle Hess design of the Bristol Channel Cutter with modifications) current boat, 'Taleisin', and the experience is still with me. They have so much knowledge and experience in their combined personna, that I was tongue tied (yeah..ME!). I am sure I stood out as that lout that could only mumble and smile! Their work at first interested me in the art of sailing, then fascinated me with their tales of cruising to the far off lands of this world. They are prolific writters with what..20 books to their credit? I have almost all of them, some of which I carry onboard for reference. Their tome on feeding the crusing crew is excellent by the way.
Another excellent classic are the Hiscocks..Eric and Susan. Both, when alive, were the epitomy of what a sailor has to strive for. Eric was knighted by the Queen of England for his work as a sailor, where such an endeavor was highly prized.Another good auther are the Roths..Hal and hmmm,..well, his wife. heh, sorry. 'After 50,000 Miles' is excellent.

If you are looking for something more meaty, the 'here's how to do it' fare, you cannot go wrong buying Nigel Calders Sailboat and Engine Maintenance books. He has several I believe, and they are usually accepted as the last word in all but electrical systems, where he is a tad weak. Diesel maintenance is his forte.

For something totally fun and hard to put down, try Farley Mowat's "The Boat That Wouldn't Float". It's a scream. It's about buying a wooden boat on a budget, after getting totally smashed in a foreign land. Then finding that the boat has not been wet for, well ages..and leaks so bad..but Farley is game, and has a mess of adventures in the process of trying to go south with the boat, that would not go south.
Read it..it's fun!

That should keep you busy for now..

Cheers!

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30

Lou,
Once I discovered the pure joy and thrill of sailing, I wondered how I might change my life to accommodate this new passion. Sensible Cruising - by Casey and Hackler, has opened a new world of possibilities for me. This book is a fascinating read; about philosophy, perspective and purpose as achieved through sailing. A little West Wight Potter and this book have caused me to alter course to a much more promising, exciting and fulfilling life. I highly recommend this book with one caution; Not for those who actually "LIKE" the rat race.
Garrard Young
CD25D "Twocan"
'82, #21

demers@sgi.com

[Warren Kaplan]

Hello to All;
While waiting for KARMA to have some cosmetic work done at the local boatyard, I was thumbing through one of my favorite sailing books. It is "On The Wind" by David Seidman, reprinted recently with a new title, "The Complete Sailor". If I could only recommend one book to someone wanting to learn the fundamentals of sailing, this would be it. Since I've learned so much from this bboard, I thought I would ask the question, 'What's your favorite sailing book', and see if I could learn a little bit more...thanks in advance.
Lou Ostendorff
CD25D "KARMA"
'82, #63

I've read many of the books already mentioned but the books written by Webb Chiles were "real grabbers" for me. The first one I read was "Open Boat-Across the Pacific". He was the first person to sail across the Pacific in an open boat! He did it in a 18 foot Drascombe Lugger. Anyone who can be rolling around the Pacific in a storm with a tarp pulled over his head has just got to be read! Then he wrote, "The Ocean Waits" which is a continuation of this voyage and was the longest voyage in such a boat (if memory serves) until he got to Saudi Arabia, where "political events" shall we say ended his voyage. He also wrote "Storm Passage" about an attempt to go around Cape Horn in a much larger traditional cruising boat. Remarkably, Mr Chiles is still alive! Some of these books are out of print as I believe they were written back in the 1970s so you may have to try the library or the "out of print" sections of Amazon.com etc.
Warren



Setsail728@aol.com

[Ron Musk]

Garrard,

Boy do I agree! The Thoreau Approach to sailing is the remainder of the title..and they weave Thoreau's philosophies into the chapters (for those familiar with his work).
Another author that I have read extensively is Lin and Larry Pardey. They have over 30 years of full time cruising experience together, in small boats..that are engineless. I met Lin and Larry just after they launched their scratch built (from the Lyle Hess design of the Bristol Channel Cutter with modifications) current boat, 'Taleisin', and the experience is still with me. They have so much knowledge and experience in their combined personna, that I was tongue tied (yeah..ME!). I am sure I stood out as that lout that could only mumble and smile! Their work at first interested me in the art of sailing, then fascinated me with their tales of cruising to the far off lands of this world. They are prolific writters with what..20 books to their credit? I have almost all of them, some of which I carry onboard for reference. Their tome on feeding the crusing crew is excellent by the way.
Another excellent classic are the Hiscocks..Eric and Susan. Both, when alive, were the epitomy of what a sailor has to strive for. Eric was knighted by the Queen of England for his work as a sailor, where such an endeavor was highly prized.Another good auther are the Roths..Hal and hmmm,..well, his wife. heh, sorry. 'After 50,000 Miles' is excellent.

If you are looking for something more meaty, the 'here's how to do it' fare, you cannot go wrong buying Nigel Calders Sailboat and Engine Maintenance books. He has several I believe, and they are usually accepted as the last word in all but electrical systems, where he is a tad weak. Diesel maintenance is his forte.

For something totally fun and hard to put down, try Farley Mowat's "The Boat That Wouldn't Float". It's a scream. It's about buying a wooden boat on a budget, after getting totally smashed in a foreign land. Then finding that the boat has not been wet for, well ages..and leaks so bad..but Farley is game, and has a mess of adventures in the process of trying to go south with the boat, that would not go south.
Read it..it's fun!

That should keep you busy for now..

Cheers!

Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30

Lou,
Once I discovered the pure joy and thrill of sailing, I wondered how I might change my life to accommodate this new passion. Sensible Cruising - by Casey and Hackler, has opened a new world of possibilities for me. This book is a fascinating read; about philosophy, perspective and purpose as achieved through sailing. A little West Wight Potter and this book have caused me to alter course to a much more promising, exciting and fulfilling life. I highly recommend this book with one caution; Not for those who actually "LIKE" the rat race.
Garrard Young
CD25D "Twocan"
'82, #21

I have totally enjoyed any book by Farley Mowat,what a great storyteller.

Ron Musk
s/v"R&R"
CD30



ccerre@massed.net

[Olli Wendelin]

My personal favorite is "Sailing Technique" by H.A. Calahan, written in the 1930s.

Olli Wendelin
BLUE MOON
Charleston, SC



wendelin@spawar.navy.mil

[Geoff Safron]

Aside from Mr. Mowat, anyone know of some good hit-n-run humor books on sailing: cartoons, jokes, comical definitions, or even just "huh, I never knew that" origins of sailing terms? I've recently been arm-twisted into the job of Log Officer for my two-bit yacht club, and I'm hungry for fluff and filler...

Geoff



brainstorm@unidial.com