Having capitulated, here’s how to raise the waterl...
September 25, 2026
Armchair sailors and northerners who anticipate a winter lay-up take heart. While enjoying a cup of something hot, you can hear the percussive smack of wave on rock, see bananas in the rigging, and sm...
“Sailing a replica of Spray isn’t as simple as it might seem, ” writes Guy Bernardin. “I had to very quickly forget completely my years of racing, learning everything over agai...
BY PETER H. SPECTRE (SHERIDAN HOUSE INC., 2003; 112 PAGES; $12.95.) REVIEWED BY ERIC V. NELSON Trying to capture the essence of The Mariner’s Book Of Days 2004 in a short review is like trying t...
If you currently have a dog or cat or are considering getting one as a pet on board, this book is an insightful, well-organized collection of short stories and useful information to help you make the ...
Was Shakespeare a sailor? Editor Tom McCarty has put together a collection of 15 classic sailing stories written by such famous authors as Aaron Smith, Joseph Conrad, Erskine Childers, Joshua Slocum, ...
Not every songwriter can pull off lyrics about Nigel Calder books, duct tape, and WD-40. Canadian singer-songwriter Eileen Quinn can and does, in her fourth CD, Not to be Used For Navigation. Her lyri...
A MUSIC CD BY HOOLIE (PIRATE WEASEL RECORDS; 2003; $15.00) REVIEWED BY MICHAEL HEWITT I don’t even know what some of Hoolie’s instruments are . . . bodrhan and bazouki, for instance, but a...
Anthony Dalton’s book on the mysterious Tristan Jones reads, more times than not, like a detective novel – one in which the author is clearly and logically explaining that Tristan Jones...
Armchair sailors and northerners who anticipate a winter lay-up take heart. While enjoying a cup of something hot, you can hear the percussive smack of wave on rock, see bananas in the rigging, and sm...
“Aft the more honour Forward the better man” –Horatio Nelson As Dave Olson put it when reviewing Kydd, by Julian Stockwin (Scribner, 2001; 256 pages) in the September 2001 issue of ...
I may have to hide Robert Smith’s books from my husband. While I enjoy visiting maritime museums, I’m not sure I enjoy visiting them with Jerry. He doesn’t do anything unless he can ...
Marianne Scott’s personal warmth and natural interest in others shines through her new book, Naturally Salty: Coastal Characters of the Pacific Northwest. In her work as a journalist, she has di...
Why do people sail, climb mountains, or backpack? According to Elliot Merrick, “Perhaps it is that we have gone and must go full circle. From primitive hunger needs, bark shacks, and skin clothe...
Jack Lagan has written a delightful nautical dictionary (or sorts) best described in his own words as a ” loose-footed lexicon: a foot-loose, fancy-free and fore-and-aft alphabetic list of all t...
Eric and Susan Hiscock’s cruising books are manuals for aspirations and ideals as much as technical manuals for world cruising. Whether we splice our own wire rope, repair our own sails, or navi...
Paradise Cay has just released Chart No. 1: USA Nautical Chart Symbols Abbreviations and Terms as a replacement for the government version of Chart 1, which was discontinued by NOAA (The National Ocea...
In the 1950s, just before the widespread production of fiberglass boats triggered the developments that have made boating accessible to anyone, Patrick and June Ellam delivered yachts along the Atlant...
“Life holds a lot of treasure.” This advice, given to Ellen MacArthur by her much-loved Nan characterizes Ellen’s driving spirit. From the time she was a young girl of 10, drawing pi...
Having Corinne Kanter’s latest cookbook, The Cruising KISS Cookbook II, aboard is like having a pocket expert you can take on your cruise. It’s a substitute for the cooking class you never...
There’s no doubt about it: like sex, hyperbole sells. Magazines and books push it ’round the calendar: The best doctors in Dallas. The best chai in Berkeley. The best beaches in Rhode Isla...
I had anchored for the night at Chesapeake City after a long solo-sail up the Delaware from Cape May. The next morning, I raised the anchor and swung Temujin, my Tartan 34C, back out into the C&D ...
Natives murdered Captain Howes Norris on the whaleship Sharon, and people assumed that the reason was because of their savage ways. Author Joan Druett searched for the real story behind the murder in ...
I am glad then, as gales blow and jar the house, and horizontal snows fly by, that my father with his typical creative, extravagant imagination, took his children out to sea to learn how to live.̶...
(SEAWORTHY PUBLICATIONS, 2003; CD AND BOOK; $59.95.) REVIEWED BY S. MERRILL HALL The ultimate guide to the collision regulations” — “Memorable learning tool.” This is supposedl...
For those of us who sail yachts designed by the firm of Sparkman & Stephens, the publication of Lines by Olin Stephens, the most influential yacht designer of the 20th century, is a momentous even...
Did you read the title and decide you were not interested? Already got your boat? Nothing here for you — wrong!This well-written paperback offers good insights into what boat might be right for ...
The Greatest Sailing Stories Ever Told, edited by Chris Caswell, consists of 27 stories (fiction and non-fiction) written by sailors. I felt more at home with this book, as the sailing mentality perva...
How can a boat sail faster than the wind? What is the most efficient hull shape? Why does a tall, skinny Marconi point better than an old gaffer? The aptly titled Evolution of Modern Sailboat Design e...
Have you ever wondered what life on a square-rigger was like . . . not as Horatio Hornblower, but as a sickly apprentice seaman crossing the Atlantic on your first voyage? How would you stand up to th...
Using GPS and a chart plotter for detailed navigation, I have become over-confident. Jerry and I refer to our boat’s system as “Nintendo navigation.” We can go to a small lump protru...
