Recommended Reading

Hi,

One we had to read at school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rime_of_the_Ancient_Mariner

Chapman's Piloting & Seamanship; cover-to-cover, repeatedly, and until you get it right... newbie!

Ok, If that's the style how about:

Lambs Questions and Answers on the Marine Diesel Engine?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/reader/0852643071/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

The Boy, Me , and The Cat
Voyage of the Mascot 1912-1913 by Henry Plummer

No barfights, wimmen chasing, hardly any drinking...but an extremely entertaining tale of a father and teenaged son (plus the family kittycat) who ran a small catboat from New Bedford to Miami & back. Written in wry style and with keen observations of the boating lifestyle a century ago.

Sailing Around the World Alone by Joshua Slocum

A king-hell adventure story and further KISS-evidence that a sextant + an old tin clock will get you where you want to go in fine fettle. That, along with some thumbtacks.

Thanks JWY. Great idea. I’ve never read The Pearl, although I grew up in Steinbeck country. I’ll have to put it on my list. As a young man I read and loved Two Years Before the Mast

I pulled this off Wikipedia:

In White-Jacket, Herman Melville wrote, "But if you want the best idea of Cape Horn, get my friend Dana's unmatchable Two Years Before the Mast. But you can read, and so you must have read it. His chapters describing Cape Horn must have been written with an icicle."

Lol...

I'll recommend "Around Alone" by Emma Richards - a circumnavigation of the globe, 30,000 miles in 132 days, alone on a sail boat. There are very few endeavors to compare to that, IMHO.

Also, two of my favorite books of all time are "The Sea Hunters" (1st and 2nd volume) by Clive Cussler. They are recountings of historical ship wrecks (and the occasional airplane or dirigible) along with Cussler's own tales of the searches to find what's left of them.

Hey. I might resemble that comment....

That's a reference book not a novel. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Scan it, then go back to it when you have questions.

The first novel I ever read cover to cover

The Boat Who Wouldn't Float
http://www.mostlyfiction.com/humor/mowat.htm
Great story (as much truth as you'll likely find in sea stories) about the author's trip from the Maritime Provinces of Canada back to the Great Lakes.

"Crooked boats are stronger"

An article written by one of my old high school teachers;


http://www.greecetravel.com/marlowe/woodenboats.html

'Survive the Savage Sea' and others.
You never know when someone else's experience might save your life!

Hi,

The Bounty Trilogy- I was doing a delivery from Auckland to Panama and this was one of the few English Books onboard, I read it more than once especially as we stopped at Pitcairn Island on the way.

I'll nominate Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin tales... perhaps better known as the "Master & Commander" series. The movie "Master & Commander - The Far Side of the World" was based on the tenth book in the series, with a fair amount taken from a couple of the other books as well.

I'd recommend this series to anyone who has any interest in what life at sea was like in the early 1800s. The books are seeped in history, and I'm fairly certain they cover - at one point or another - just about every corner of the British Empire at the height of it's power.

I'm 19 books into the 20 book series and my only disappointment is that I'm nearly finished. They form a nice collection on my library though, so one day I shall read them again.

"Captains Courageous" by Rudyard Kipling

"Racundra's First Cruise" by Arthur Ransome

"Sailing Alone Around the World" by Joshua Slocum

"Typhoon" by Joseph Conrad

Okay, lots of classics to read..f

or fun try Rascals in Paradise; James Michener.
For education try Ocean Almanac

Here is one that I wish more people have read.
UNITED STATES COAST GUARD - NAVIGATION RULES

Amen!

Not at all nautical-related, but...

Long Way Down - by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman.

I started reading this book recently and I have to say I've never had so much fun reading non-fiction as I'm having with the story. After riding from London to New York (The Long Way Around) these two decided to spend a couple of months riding their motorcycles from Scotland to Capetown, South Africa. Just a couple of chapters in to the story and already they had me wishing I had a bike to set out on a cross-country voyage of my own. Definitely an inspiration to take big steps and push one's own boundaries.

I recommend reading ALL books written by: James Clavell & Colleen McCullough.
_______________

Come to think of it, I haven't read a book in over 10 years.