what books would you suggest for a novice cruiser and what type of
books do you all keep on your boats? i have only a few as of yet but
barns&noble is just down the street. any suggestions?

chris

On 11 Jun 2004 12:17:29 -0700, something compelled
(Phracktal), to say:

what books would you suggest for a novice cruiser

_Chapman's Piloting & Small Boat Seamanship_.

and what type of
books do you all keep on your boats? i have only a few as of yet but
barns&noble is just down the street. any suggestions?

The same books I like to read off of the boat.

Phracktal wrote:
what books would you suggest for a novice cruiser and what type of
books do you all keep on your boats? i have only a few as of yet but
barns&noble is just down the street. any suggestions?

chris

Small (and I'm just barely kidding). I have built up a collection of small
reference books that "fit" the shelves and take up as little space as
possible. There are books on birds, shells, coral reefs, fishing,
seamanship, and so on. There are quite a few larger books that I cannot
avoid, and these fall mostly into the category of cruising guides. When you
start adding in the pleasure reading, the boat fills up pretty quickly.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/

Phracktal wrote:

what books would you suggest for a novice cruiser and what type of
books do you all keep on your boats? i have only a few as of yet but
barns&noble is just down the street. any suggestions?

chris
Books of short stories by favorite authors, like Mark Twain. Nautical
theme books (time to re-read Aubrey?). Avoiding deep ponderous stuff,
or stuff "you just can't put down". You may have to put it down
reallyreally fast.


--
The SPAM finally got to me. Remove "-sorry-" from my address to reply
directly.

Where you at?

If your in or around Long Island Sound, New York, Connecticut, or Jersey,
I would recommend "A Crusing Guide to The New England Coast" It's probably
out
of print but you may be able to get a copy on eBay.

But if you only want to carry just one book, it should be Chapman.

Tony



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"Tony Van" wrote:

Where you at?

If your in or around Long Island Sound, New York, Connecticut, or Jersey,
I would recommend "A Crusing Guide to The New England Coast" It's probably
out
of print but you may be able to get a copy on eBay.

But if you only want to carry just one book, it should be Chapman.

Tony



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Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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I would highly recommend " Boat Navigation for the Rest of Us" by
Captain Bill Brogdon, Published by International Marine, Camden, ME.
It is much better for basic practical small boat navigation than
Chapman's in my view although Chapman's is certainly worth reading and
is still a valuable reference.

Chapman's is the best basic seamanship book; Nigel Calder's Boatowner's
Mechanical and Electrical Manual will help you keep the boat running. Add a
local cruising guide.

Farley Mowat's "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" is the funniest boating story
written - the perfect "read aloud" book!


"Phracktal" wrote in message
om...
what books would you suggest for a novice cruiser and what type of
books do you all keep on your boats? i have only a few as of yet but
barns&noble is just down the street. any suggestions?

chris

On Sat, 12 Jun 2004 17:35:59 GMT, "Tony Van"
wrote:

Where you at?

If your in or around Long Island Sound, New York, Connecticut, or Jersey,
I would recommend "A Crusing Guide to The New England Coast" It's probably
out
of print but you may be able to get a copy on eBay.

But if you only want to carry just one book, it should be Chapman.

Chapman's fine, but I find Rousmaniere's "Annapolis Book of
Seamanship" better because new crew can read it and "get" it thanks to
the clear diagrams and whatnot.

Personally, I refer most often to "Heavy Weather Sailing" and Wally
Ross's "Sail Power", which despite being 30 years old, has taught me a
great deal about my boat.

For sheer reading pleasure, anything by Ferenc Mate "The Finely Fitted
Yacht" and "From a Bare Hull" and others. Mate sounds like a slightly
more pompous and erudite version of every old salt I've met,
equivalent to a double espresso of sarcasm mixed with solid boat tips
and techniques, as opposed to the local "coffee, black"

For literary tales of the sea, I like Conrad, O'Brien (of course), the
Smeatons, the Hiscocks and Monteisser and the recently dead David
Lewis (Ice Bird).

And for "music to sail by" (keeping well clear of other boats, of
course), I favour Wagner, Beethoven, Bartok, Orff, Debussy and
Mahler...but it's hard to beat "The Moldau" by Smetana...even though
it's a short orchestral piece about a river, it is entirely suitable
for a full hoist beam reach in 12-15 knots.

Try it: you'll agree. G

R.

"Tony Van" wrote in message
news:3aHyc.24988$0y.9038@attbi_s03...
Where you at?

If your in or around Long Island Sound, New York, Connecticut, or Jersey,
I would recommend "A Crusing Guide to The New England Coast" It's probably
out
of print but you may be able to get a copy on eBay.

But if you only want to carry just one book, it should be Chapman.

Chapman has gotten so much larger (larger type and more white space, I
think) it's going to be hard to carry. The Cruising Guide is in print in
its 12th Edition. I agree with another poster that the Annapolis Book of
Seamanship is an easier read than Chapman, and I like it more now than when
I first bought it. Nigel Calder's Cruising Guide is not for dummies, it's
dense and detailed, and I trust his information and opinions. (His favorite
anchor is a Delta, and that's one of the reasons I got one.) I'm a
bookworm, so one book on a subject would never satisfy me.

The Morrow Guide to Knots is the best little knot book I've seen.

I just read an excellent survival at sea story, In the Heart of the Sea,
about the sinking of a Nantucket whaling boat, but it could give you some
distasteful ideas...

i much appreciate all the info and i think i know what to get from the book store.


chris