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any ideas of good sailing novels???

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77Gypsy
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USA
356 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/14/2003 : 15:12:32

i've run out of sailing novels. any recommendations?

Steven de Filippis
78 catalina 25 - Gypsy

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Bill Sloane
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Response Posted - 04/14/2003 : 16:17:34

Steven:

The book "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" by Farley Mowat is about the funniest novel about sailing I have ever read. If you ever feel like swearing at your boat for any reason, this book will make you realize just how fortunate you are.

Bill

C-25 SR/SK No. 496 "Suede Shoes"
Hammersley Inlet, Washington
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Kirk McKay
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Response Posted - 04/14/2003 : 16:41:49

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
i've run out of sailing novels. any recommendations?

Steven de Filippis
78 catalina 25 - Gypsy
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>

Have you read
Muskrat: A Surprise Bid for the America's Cup?

It's kind of a local Chesapeake tail, but good for all.

Kirk

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John Mason
Admiral

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Response Posted - 04/14/2003 : 18:53:26

They're not fiction, they're better.

Cochrane: Britannia's Sea Wolf by Donald Thomas. Cochrane is the person that inspired the Horatio Hornblower fictional character.

Two Years Before the Mast: A Personal Narrative of Life at Sea by Richard Henry Dana, Jr.

Maiden Voyage by Tania Aebi. A teenage girl solos around the world.

Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl

Barrow's Boys by Fergus Fleming. After the Napoleonic war, England had large navy doing virtually nothing. John Barrow ,the Second Secretary at the Admiralty decided to use it for exploring all the blank areas on the charts.

Grey Seas Under by Farley Mowat. It's not sailing, but it's definitely a good read.

John Mason
<img src="http://www.users.qwest.net/~jamason/ali.jpg" border=0>
pronounced "Ali Paroosa"
1982 - FK/SR #3290

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frankr
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Response Posted - 04/14/2003 : 19:37:20

"You can't blow home again" - Herb Payson
"Blown away" - Herb Payson
"If the Shoe fits" -Rae Ellen Lee
"A year in Paradise: How We lived our Dream" -Stephen W. Watterson
"Two on a Big Ocean" - Hal Roth
"Once Around" - Ward & Judy LeHardy
"Maiden Voyage" - Tania Aebi
"Honey Let's get a Boat" - Ron & Eva Stob
"Changing Course" - Debra A Cantrell (Great for the Admiral)
"Three Years in a 12 foot Boat" - Stephen G. Ladd
"Endurance: Shackelton's Incredible Voyage" - Alfred Lansing

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Bill Sloane
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Response Posted - 04/14/2003 : 19:49:17

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>They're not fiction, they're better. <hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>
Come to think of it,"The Boat Who Wouldn't Float" is non-fiction too.

Bill.

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RichardG
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Response Posted - 04/14/2003 : 20:48:23

I really enjoyed the Patrick O'Brian series (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/series/-/90/ref=pd_sr_ec_ser_b/002-8967640-9176013). I've read about a dozen of them. I think there's about twenty in total. They'll keep you busy for a while. One is being made into a feature film (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0311113) -- not sure when it's due out.

RichardG 81 C25 SR/FK "Sanity"

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John G-
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Response Posted - 04/14/2003 : 20:56:10

The mysteries written by [url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Llewellyn%2C%20Sam/104-0518024-8632727"] Sam LLewellyn[/url] are allot of fun. They are written in England and usually have descriptions of very hardcore open ocean racing. They read like the Dick Frances books but about sailing instead of horse racing.
Then there are the [url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books&field-author=Obrian%2C%20Patrick/103-9568440-4627051"] Patrick O’Brian[/url] books which take place in Nelson’s navy aboard Men O War. His research is terrific as are the stories.

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ssteakley
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Response Posted - 04/14/2003 : 22:48:44

What suggestions do you have for the Admiral..(please no I almost died or I lived but the admiral died stories)
Steve

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John V.
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Response Posted - 04/14/2003 : 22:53:13

Steve, I'm a big fan of Jonathan Raban and reccommend "Passage to Juneau" and "Coasting" and ditto on "The Boat That wouldn't Float" and if you like Mowat you'll love "Never Cry Wolf"

I can't remember the author's name But "Sailing in a Spoonful of Water" is also a good read. William F Buckley has written some outstanding sailing books. There is the classic "Gypsy Moth Circles the World" by Sir Francis Chichester (a bit reportarial and dry but a great account of a fantastic adventure) My favorite since I was a kid is "Tinkerbell" by Robert Manry. The tale of a Cleveland Plain Dealer copy editor's Atlantic crossing in a 13 ft sailboat. I believe it's out of print but you could probably find it on the internet.

hope you find some nice additions to your library.

John V. Nin Bimash II
77 C25 sk/sr #153

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RL
1st Mate

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Response Posted - 04/15/2003 : 10:44:26

Steve,
Any of Hal Roth's books are great reading. Tania Aebi's story is also a book worth your time. Every fall I head to my local Border's book store and load up on winter sailing reading. Try their web site. Also a quick Google.com search of nautical book stores will yield you plenty nights of sailing dreams. Good luck
RL

Free Spirit

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77Gypsy
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356 Posts

Response Posted - 04/15/2003 : 12:01:38

I'll check those out. in case you may be interested my favorites are:
Slocum - Sailing Alone Around the World
Nichols - A Journey for Madmen
Fatal Storm (about the 98 sydney to Hobart)not sure the author
Moitessier - Sailing to the Reefs
Moitessier - The Long Way
Chichester - Gypsy Moth Circles the world
Goss - Close to the wind
Knox-Johnston - A World all my Own

Steven de Filippis
78 catalina 25 - Gypsy

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Oscar
Master Marine Consultant

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Response Posted - 04/15/2003 : 13:15:39

Godforsaken Sea

Derek Lundy/Anchor Books-Random House

The story of the 1996-1997 Vendee Globe alone around the world race.......I read everything except the part where Pete Goss, one thousand miles west of Cape Horn, in fifteen foor seas, after calling a doctor on the sat phone for some helpful hints,straps a flashlight to his head and a mirror to his knee and then picks up a scalpel and operates on his own arm........

Oscar
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Lady Kay 250 WB #618
In the driveway in Behtlehem, PA ready to go anytime.

Edited by - Oscar on 04/15/2003 13:18:25

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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Response Posted - 04/15/2003 : 14:06:30

I can't resist giving my own favorite sailing book list:

Bernard Moitessier: Sailing to the Reefs, Tamata and the Alliance, The Long Way (I have Cape Horn - the Logical Route on order).
Tristan Jones : Incredible Voyage, Ice, Heart of Oak, A Steady Trade.
Peter Nichols: Sea Change.
Jim Moore: By Way of the Wind, Swan, the Second Voyage.
Herb Payson: Blown Away, You Can't Blow Home Again
Erskin Childers: The Riddle of the Sands (original sailing and spy novel)
Tom Neal: An Island to Oneself
I liked the early Patrick O'Brien novels but they became more about politics and people and less about sailing as they went on. I am up to "Treason's Harbor"

I am currently reading this fascinating book:

Robert Dean Frisbie: The Book of Puka-Puka (no sailing - it's about primitive South Pacific Island living)

If anyone has Frisbie's book "Island of Desire" I would do anything to borrow it.

Indiscipline 1978 FK #398

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jm
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290 Posts

Response Posted - 04/15/2003 : 20:41:04

1. The Nautical Chart - Arturo Perez-Reverte - an adventure/mystery that relies on navigational expertise. Leave the GPS off.

2. My Old Man and the Sea - D.Hays and D.Hays - Father and Son circumnavigate. One way to bridge the communication gap..

3.All in the Same Boat
4. Still in the Same Boat - Fiona McCall and Paul Howard

Toronto natives sail around the world with their two school age children. The best education someone can get.

5. Wind, Whiskey and Whales - Silver Donald Cameron

Silver sails around East Coast Canada (Newfoundland) with plenty of good stories about weather, wildlife and the local hospitality.

Edited by - jm on 04/16/2003 09:13:29

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ddlyle
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Response Posted - 04/15/2003 : 22:10:39

It's not a novel, but it was very good.
"Dove" (forgot the author) was written by a fellow who solo-circumnavigated in a 26 footer in the late 60's. He was 16 or 17 when he left California in a boat named Dove
Took him 5 years 'cause he took a few detours. Good read.

Cap'n Dave
Sailing The Blues
1986 C25 sr/sk #5413

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John G-
Admiral

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793 Posts

Response Posted - 04/15/2003 : 23:08:55

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
It's not a novel, but it was very good.
"Dove" (forgot the author) was written by a fellow who solo-circumnavigated in a 26 footer in the late 60's. He was 16 or 17 when he left California in a boat named Dove
Took him 5 years 'cause he took a few detours. Good read.
<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote>
[url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060920475/ref=pd_sxp_elt_l1/104-5266207-1424756"] Dove by Robin L. Graham [/url] is a good read. The movie was a bit sappy but not bad.
Have you read [url="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0618257322/qid=1050462090/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/104-5266207-1424756"] “Adrift: Seventy Six Days Lost at Sea” by Steven Callahan?[/url] This guy lost his 22’ boat off the Azores and drifted in a life raft to the Caribbean. How he survived is amazing.

Underlined words are a HOT link.
Click on the “Peregrine” icon.
 

[url="http://www.peregrinefund.org/"]<img src="http://www.peregrinefund.org/images/intro_mid_image.GIF" border=0>[/url]
[url="http://www.catalina25-250.org/photo/peregrine2.jpg"]"Peregrine"[/url] C25-#4762 FK

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MattL
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990 Posts

Response Posted - 04/16/2003 : 01:14:47

Fiona and Paul added "My Old Man and the Sea" before I could. This is one of my favorite sailing books get it. Martin Cruz Smith's "Polar Star" is not about sailing, but has a great deal of time on a Russian fishing trawler. It is a continuation of the characters of "Gorky Park". I forget the name of one of his latest books, it carries the character to Cuba and has quite a bit about life in Cuban sea ports.

Matt/Brigitte Loeffler
E.C. Rider
Cat 25 86'
FK/SR _/)

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77Gypsy
Captain

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356 Posts

Response Posted - 04/16/2003 : 11:24:23

i just ordered "My Old Man and the Sea" and "Dove" thanks guys!

Steven de Filippis
78 catalina 25 - Gypsy

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jwilliams
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USA
357 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2003 : 14:23:54

Hi 77Gypsy,

For the Admiral, Susan Hitchcock's "Coming About", true story about cruising the Carribean with a 34footer and two kids to save a marriage.

"The Greatest Sailing Stories Ever Told", Caswell.

The Bolitho series, Alexander Kent.

The Ramage series, Dudley Pope.

The Aubrey-Maturin series, Patrick O'Brien, is still the best.

Jim Williams
Hey Jude C25fk 2958
Half Moon Bay, CA

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triley
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251 Posts

Response Posted - 04/20/2003 : 17:59:17

Wow! You guys really read!

I have a couiple that are great fun.

Fot nonfiction

The Peking Battles Cape Horn Capt. Irving Johnson

Terschelling Sands Frank Mulville,

Log Book for Grace Robert Murphy

The Sailing Spirit John Hughes

The Black Ship ? Story of the mutiny on HMS Hermione, Capt Hugh Piggett. Fascinating if you are sailing the Drake Channel in the BVI.

Fiction

The Sea Lord Bernard Cornwell
any of John Masefield's novels
Boon Island, Lydai Bailey and Arundel by Kenneth Roberts
Captain Blood Raphael Sabatini
The Sea Wolf Jack London

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triley
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Response Posted - 04/20/2003 : 17:59:26

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BCain
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Response Posted - 04/21/2003 : 10:17:58

Two new ones from Robert Macomber, At the Edge of Honor and Point of Honor. Both novels of the naval Civil War as seen from a young lt. in the Union Blockading fleet based out of Key West. Both books take place on sloops sailing the SW Florida coast with lots of sailing, chasing blackade runners and battles both at sea and on land.

Both are good reads.

Bruce Cat25, WindShadow, Central Fl. Lakes

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Stu Jackson C34
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Response Posted - 04/25/2003 : 18:45:04

The Magic of the Swatchways - Maurice Griffith

Superb short stories about sailing off the east coast of England between the wars.

Reminds me of many of our own daysails and overnighters.

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albertfinn
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Response Posted - 04/25/2003 : 20:37:23

Just finished "Blue Latitudes" by David Horwitz. Excellent combo history of Captain James Cooks voyages and travelogue describing what has become of the places he "discovered" in modern times. A must read.

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MattL
Admiral

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990 Posts

Response Posted - 04/26/2003 : 01:16:44

OH, I forgot to add Steinbeck's "Log book of the Sea of Cortez".

Matt/Brigitte Loeffler
E.C. Rider
Cat 25 86'
FK/SR _/)

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