Wansworth
Well-known member
What advice would the forum have given him?
Agree about The Master Mariner. I bought a Sadler 26 (Samphire) in about 1989 in West Mersea and The Master Mariner was left on board by the owner and a most wonderful read (a good few times) - a book which has moved from boat to boat with us. I believe based loosely on the legend/story of the Wandering JewThe Voyage of the Cap Pilar; Adrian Seligman. How - on a whim - he buys and teaches himself to sail & voyage a full sized square rigger.
No Stars to Guide, Seligman. A WW2 novel (but is it?) of smuggling a coastal tanker out of the Dardanelles and geting it to Egypt. A particular delight to anyone who knows the Turkish and esp. the Carian coast & Marmaris area well it's almost too realistic not to be at least semi true.
War In The Islands; Seligman again. Compendium of true covert SBS operations supporting the Greeks in sailing caiques in the Dodecanese in WW2. Real life swashbuckling stuff.
More Seligman, The Song of the Sirens. His Sirens were the 17 boats that he owned and adored, or in some cases owned him.
The Last Great Grain Race; Eric Newby
The Cruise of the Kate; E E Middleton. A mid-Victorian solo round Britain voyage.
The Master Mariner; Nicholas Monserrat. His Masterpiece; seldom has the life of a sailor been described with such accuracy and detail, all wrapped up in a most imaginative and unusual format. There are few better Sea books than this.
Monserrat again, The Cruel Sea. About the most classical of the classic sea-books.
Follow that with Walker RN to learn the true story of Capt FJ 'Johnnie' Walker, sub-killer and leader extraordinaire upon whose dazzling exploits the above is based.
And of course Tristam Jones produced a number of beautifully written tales though sadly some seem to like criticising him for publishing faction that they had imagined was biographical. Most of them are a damn fine read.
Song of the Sirens was by Ernest K Gann, and yes its a lovely book. I've ordered the voyage of the cap pilar, and slope of the wind, by seligman.The Voyage of the Cap Pilar; Adrian Seligman. How - on a whim - he buys and teaches himself to sail & voyage a full sized square rigger.
No Stars to Guide, Seligman. A WW2 novel (but is it?) of smuggling a coastal tanker out of the Dardanelles and geting it to Egypt. A particular delight to anyone who knows the Turkish and esp. the Carian coast & Marmaris area well it's almost too realistic not to be at least semi true.
War In The Islands; Seligman again. Compendium of true covert SBS operations supporting the Greeks in sailing caiques in the Dodecanese in WW2. Real life swashbuckling stuff.
More Seligman, The Song of the Sirens. His Sirens were the 17 boats that he owned and adored, or in some cases owned him.
The Last Great Grain Race; Eric Newby
The Cruise of the Kate; E E Middleton. A mid-Victorian solo round Britain voyage.
The Master Mariner; Nicholas Monserrat. His Masterpiece; seldom has the life of a sailor been described with such accuracy and detail, all wrapped up in a most imaginative and unusual format. There are few better Sea books than this.
Monserrat again, The Cruel Sea. About the most classical of the classic sea-books.
Follow that with Walker RN to learn the true story of Capt FJ 'Johnnie' Walker, sub-killer and leader extraordinaire upon whose dazzling exploits the above is based.
And of course Tristam Jones produced a number of beautifully written tales though sadly some seem to like criticising him for publishing faction that they had imagined was biographical. Most of them are a damn fine read.
There have been some great books already mentioned. I'll add Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling; The Shadow Line by Joseph Conrad; The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby (ploddy Gustav!); The Riddle of the Sands by Erskine Childers; Farthest North by Fridjof Nansen (original title Fram over Polhavet. Den norske polarfærd 1893–1896) though the story of the Fram expedition is not really about sailing; anything by Alan Villiers (Falmouth for Orders about his time on the Herzogin Cecile, By Way of Cape Horn about his time on the Grace Harwar, and many others)
Good list! I would agree with most of them. I would definitely add ‘Voyage for Madmen’
Of course someone has listed the great Bernard Moitessier but the best read about his adventures and life is “Moitessier – A Sailing Legend” by his friend Jean-Michel Barrault. It does away with much of the cod philosophy Bernard loved to write.
And what about our own east coast legend Frank Mulville? Any of his books are good but try “Single-Handed Sailing” if that is what you do.
And how come Slocum isn’t on this list?
Just read this, thank you. Thoroughly enjoyed, a superb read indeed, and he could really write.Could i recommend"Sea Peace" by Lord Stanley of Alderley. A lovely read when stuck below in the rain with the heater going. It captures sailing in the UK and Europe just before the last war.
If you liked jim moore, you will like Ernle K Bradford's The Journeying Moon and The Wind off the Island, both beautifully written.
Couldn't agree more, love the passage where he has a dig at Admiralty xenophobes and charting.Could i recommend"Sea Peace" by Lord Stanley of Alderley. A lovely read when stuck below in the rain with the heater going. It captures sailing in the UK and Europe just before the last war.