You’re going to like Jack Becker. He doesn’t match the stereotypical sailor profile. He’ll leave you wondering why he’s made the choices he has. And when he succeeds against th...
By the early 1900s the U.S. and Canadian Grand Banks fishing schooners were among the last all-sail commercial fleets left in the western world. The lives of these fishermen were hard, cold, and dange...
L. Francis Herreshoff, in his introduction to The Compleat Cruiser, holds that there is no better way of instructing than “carrying on a narrative.” Parker’s story revisits 1970̵...
Why is it that men predominate among sailors? Sailing a boat doesn’t take superior strength. It doesn’t demand a uniquely male skill. Having a Y chromosome is not required. Sailing isn...
Mark and Diana Doyle, authors of Managing the Waterway: Biscayne Bay, FL to Dry Tortugas, FL, point out that no less than 882 islands make up the Florida Keys. There have probably been just as many cr...
This is the one book that should be aboard every cruising sailboat. When the first edition came out, I read it cover-to-cover. When the second edition came out, a flip through the pages showed some up...
Ferenc Máté is perhaps best-known to good old sailors for his “best boats” books, in which he describes classic designs as eloquently as he might describe living beings. In Ghost Sea, he t...
When one hears Ted Hood’s name, the first connection is quite likely to Hood Sails, the loft he founded back in the 1960s and which remains a force in that industry, though Ted has had no connec...
Upgrading a good old sailboat can be a game of cat and mouse. As you wriggle into seldom visited corners of your boat, it’s hard to keep up with all the little unforeseen projects that present t...
Here is a little book with an assortment of sixty or so light stories from the nautical world. There is history, both sublime and ridiculous, modern and not; stories of steam and sail, and wonderful n...
“Ice blink” is a name given to a white light seen on the horizon, especially on the underside of low clouds, due to reflection from a distant field of ice. This phenomenon has been used hi...
As is true with many books, the last page of Up the Creek is devoted to a brief biography of author Tony James. From this we learn that Tony James is a freelance journalist and writer . . . author of ...
As a contributing editor with Good Old Boat, Gregg Nestor continues to impress us with the breadth of his sailing skills and the depth of his knowledge. Now he has shown us another impressive quality:...
The first watercraft were probably rafts made from fallen logs tied together with primitive rope and knots. This early quote in the United States Power Squadrons’ (USPS) new book on marlinespike...
The west coast of Vancouver Island is a grand, lightly visited cruising ground. Most sailors cruise this coast by doing a circumnavigation, going up the inside, and then sailing down the outside with...
Catalina Island is 20 Miles from Long Beach, 70 miles from San Diego, and 31 miles from Marina Del Ray, California. If you have considered taking a sojourn there, this video is well worth your money. ...
The most important thing in life is to know what is important. Likewise, the most important thing in reading an instruction book on sailing is to know what is important to understand. The first hurdle...
BY PAT MCMANUS (SHERIDAN HOUSE, 2005; 106 PAGES; $10.95) REVIEWED BY ERIC NELSON The subtitle of this book could be, Larry, Moe and Curly go sailing with a friend, except there is precious little sail...
Breathes there a sailor with soul so dead, That he has not at one time said, “Gosh, I’d like to own a Herreshoff.”, (With apologies to The Man Without a Country.) Ask any knowledgeab...
This is really six books in one. Five of them represent Don Casey’s considerable expertise in inspecting, maintaining and enhancing the mechanical and electrical systems of a sailboat. The sixth...
A DVD BY PAUL AND SHERYL SHARD (SHARD MULTIMEDIA, 2005; 4 HOURS; $19.95 U.S., $24.95 CAN) REVIEWED BY KAREN LARSON Paul and Sheryl Shard are professional videographers who tour the world by sailboat. ...
Some books are written for money; some are written for love. This book was not written for money. It is a cruising guide, but far more than that. More, because the North Channel is more than a place t...
This book, originally published in 1916, is Captain Bob Bartlett’s story of the loss of the sailing vessel Karluk during an arctic expedition that had begun in 1913. It is a gripping tale of bei...
Wrestling sheets while wrestling the cancer that killed him, he’d won the international 5.5-Meter dinghy championship. He’d been a beloved force in the legendary New York Yacht Club, and a...
What would you like to be when you grow up? Annabel knows that she wants to be a sailor. Any kid who is attracted to the sea will love to read Captain Annabel. It’s an excellent book for childre...
Even if you are one of those who know nothing about sailing, or think of sailing as “the fine art of getting wet and becoming ill while going nowhere at great expense,” you will be absolut...
The fifth edition of The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction is a comprehensive reference book that should be added to your boatbuilding library, whether you are just starting to work on your dreamb...
After 11 years cruising with her husband aboard their Bayfield 36, Canadian singer/songwriter Eileen Quinn is still having fun…or so one hopes, despite the litany of inconveniences and troubles cited ...
Here is my choice for a textbook to use in a boating safety class, because other boaters have made mistakes and we can learn from them. Seaworthy is subtitled Essential lessons from BoatU.S.’s 2...
Good Old Boat author Brian Gilbert has just written the sailboat restoration book for Everyman. You may not recall him, but Everyman awoke one day after having a dream of sailing a boat of his own. Hi...
