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Recommended Reading

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by JWY, May 7, 2009.

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  1. Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    If you've ever been offshore in a small boat in weather that ebbs and surges between slightly frightening and merely uncomfortable--and that this took place back when you were tougher & dumber--it is a real treat to relive that kind of foolishness through someone else's eyes.
    Adlard Coles Heavy Weather Sailing recounts what the English sailboat racing scene was all about in the post WWII era.
  2. 61c40

    61c40 Member

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    Gray Sea Under Farley Mowatt (I think thats how you spell Mowatt)
  3. revdcs

    revdcs Senior Member

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    The BBC did a TV series to go with it. If you can get hold of it, it's excellent - and 'The Long Way Round'!
  4. Marmot

    Marmot Senior Member

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    Maybe tending to the heavy iron but still can't be beat on a long passage:


    Death Ship: B Traven
    Gray Seas Under: Farley Mowat
    The Serpent’s Coil: Farley Mowat
    The Left Handed Monkey Wrench: Richard McKenna
    Sons of Martha: Richard McKenna
    Looking for a Ship: John McPhee
    Steaming to Bamboola: Christopher Buckley
    Rats, Rust and Two Old Ladies: David Creamer
    Freighter Captain: Max Hardberger
    Woody, Cisco, and Me: Seamen Three in the Merchant Marine: Jim Longhi

    So many books, such a short time to read them ... sigh.
  5. CaptEvan

    CaptEvan Senior Member

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    What a great idea Judy ... thanks for creating a must-read list (except of course for Chapman's, which "my deceased relatives" read and I can only imagine their true deaths were self-inflicted ;) ).

    My offerings would be 2:

    Enchanted Vagabonds by Dana Lamb
    Virginia Lamb will make most guys look like pansies as the couple takes a 16' covered sail/canoe from San Diego to the Panama Canal in the early 30's. You keep asking yourself, "Could I do that?"

    next is

    Ship Of Gold by Gary Kinder
    A dual history look at the wreck and salvage of the Central America. The treasure is alluring but the logistics of recovery are incredible.

    Evan
  6. kapnd

    kapnd New Member

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    good reads

    I'm surprised no one has mentioned Jack London, The Sea Wolf was the first of his stories that popped into my head, but just about everything I've read from the man has been intrigueing.
  7. Antonio Torres

    Antonio Torres Member

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    Amyr Klink
    "100 Days Between Sea and Sky"
    "Between Two Poles "

    Amyr has several other books, but with only portuguese editions.
  8. JWY

    JWY Senior Member

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    I am reviving this old thread because I have a great new recommendation. Background story: I was invited aboard a yacht that recently concluded a cruise from Turkey through the South Pacific and had just arrived to So. Fl. This 78' "Dashew style" boat was fascinating as was the 2 hours spent with her owners who each on their own had been accomplished long-distance sailors. It was seeing the massive paperback book collection in the guest cabin that led me to the discovery of my new favorite author.

    Christine King wrote numerous nautical suspense novels before commissioning their newly built M/V Mobius. I was handed two of her books before disembarking. I just finished reading Wreckers' Key. What a great read! And it is so much fun reading about all of the favorite Ft. Lauderdale spots visited by local boaters. An easy, can't-put-it-down book that seems to have all the technical details accurately depicted, but then you would expect that from a mariner who had been a charter captain, live-aboard single-handed sailor, and tugboat captain.

    Am on to the next one Christine gave me: Bitter End.

    Great boat, fun books, excellent writing - what a find!
    gr8trn likes this.
  9. Kafue

    Kafue Senior Member

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    Hey Judy!
    What a wonderful Thread, thank you for posting. I am a bit late to this party, so here goes:
    As a kid growing up a LONG way from the sea, but in love with everything t o do with the ocean, my favourites were:
    Cape of Storms by John Gordon Davis (try find this as it is not so common. Written by a person who lived the experience as he was still at University in the Cape.)
    Tai Pan James Clavell (as previously mentioned in this thread).
    Anything on skin diving by Hans Haas (showing my age here!)
    The classics from Hornblower onwards to Master & Commander (cannot beat these!)
    Custom of the Sea (Neil Hanson)
    Last edited: May 14, 2023
    gr8trn likes this.
  10. gr8trn

    gr8trn Senior Member

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    In agreement with @Kafue . Wonderful thread. Is it because I have a suggestion that has not been made? Well sure:)

    I am on book 14 "Signal - Close Action: of 30 from the pen name Alexander Kent.
    I call it the Bolitho series. Fictional character Richard Bolitho is of character, decency and a skilled leader. His love for country, family and crew make for a wonderful adventure on the high seas.
  11. gr8trn

    gr8trn Senior Member

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    My Dad just sent me home from my latest visit with Hornblower!
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  12. chesapeake46

    chesapeake46 Senior Member

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    Blind mans bluff is a pretty good book if you are interested in submarines.
  13. Ward

    Ward Senior Member

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    Some of these are repeats of books in previous posts, I thought I'd mention some of my favourites that are available as free eBooks and a couple of book I like that haven't been mentioned:

    Fiction

    The Sea Wolf - by Jack London

    Free eBook from Project Gutenberg:

    https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1074

    The Bedford Incident - by Mark Raskovich

    Cold war thriller.

    https://www.amazon.ca/Bedford-Incident-Mark-Rascovich/dp/0689000251


    Non-fiction

    Two Years Before the Mast - by Richard Henry Dana

    This has been mentioned a couple of times, I wanted to point out that the free version at Project Gutenberg is an edition that has an account of Dana's return to San Francisco 24 years later, and a fascinating picture of how much California had changed in that time.

    https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4277

    Details of Classic Boat Construction - by Larry Pardey

    An excellent book on how to build a classic carvel-planked boat in a shed, lots of pictures.

    https://www.amazon.ca/Details-Classic-Boat-Construction-Anniversary/dp/1929214448

    Steve and Linda Dashew's comprehensive cruising books. I'm glad I happened to see the "last chance to buy a printed copy" of their books and got a set, but the PDFs are also great.

    https://setsail.com/free-books/

    Exploring Puget Sound and BC Chart Atlas - by Steven Hilson

    When I was kid in the 70s and our family was cruising the BC coast, this book had just come out and we had a copy on board. Given the date, I'm sure Hilson literally cut and pasted notes on history, place names, and local knowledge onto charts to create this.

    https://www.waggonerguidebooks.com/store/p109/exppsbcchart.html

    Ocean Steamships - multiple authors

    Another Project Gutenberg free eBook. I've only read the 3rd chapter about building a steamship, that one is fascinating, and there are certainly parts of the rest of the book that look equally interesting.

    https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54136

    The Innocents Abroad - by Mark Twain

    https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3176
  14. JWY

    JWY Senior Member

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    I thought Blind Man's Bluff was a great book! I was inspired to read it when I found out that one of my clients (I sold his Cape Horn 63) was the nuclear engineer on one of the submarines in the book. This book was a NY Times best seller and is the true story of submarine espionage during the Cold War.
  15. Seasmaster

    Seasmaster Senior Member

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    Men against the sea. I thought this was better than its two cousins from the bounty trilogy.
  16. rtrafford

    rtrafford Senior Member

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    Hemingway's Boat was a terrific read as well.
  17. unsinker

    unsinker Member

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    Hello Judy, last time I wrote about a misspelling in this forum, the OP wrote: " You re right but at this point I was hoping for useful information instead of zpaileen lessons.".

    Risking a similar response I believe the correct spelling of the author´s last name is Kling, not King, thank you for all your informative writings.

    Kindest regards.
    Last edited: Jun 3, 2023
  18. YachtForums

    YachtForums Administrator

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    Unsinker, we welcome spelling and factual corrections. Please don’t be dismayed by someone having a bad day.
    unsinker likes this.
  19. JWY

    JWY Senior Member

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    Thank you so much! And my apologies to Ms. Kling! I hope your familiarity with her means that you have read her books. I recently read Bitter End and was that great! All the old Ft. Lauderdale watering holes, literally and figuratively. A page turner that feels like home.

    Thanks, Unsinker!

    Judy
    unsinker likes this.
  20. Ken Bracewell

    Ken Bracewell Senior Member

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    Downloaded this and read it while crossing the Atlantic and Med over the past few weeks. Now I've downloaded more of the series. Thanks Judy!