Sailing Adventure Book Recommendation?

[Brick]

Hi. Are there any books from the great age of sailing exploration that people would recommend? I'm particularly interested in first person accounts by the actual sailers.

I've recently read both "Across the Pacific on a Raft" by Thor Heyerdal, and "The Epic Voyage of the Seven Little Sisters" by William Willis. I enjoyed both, but would prefer something different next time.

I'm most after first person accounts, fact, and if someone could recommend a book where the parrot actually lives through the journey that would be nice too.

Something older than the previous two books would be interesting. Maybe from the voyages of Cook, Tasman, Magellan, anything like that?

I've recently read "Sea, Ice, and Rock" by Chris Bonington and Robin Knox-Johnson. But, while there was a mixture of sailing and mountaineering, perhaps both of them weren't quite as epic as other things I've read. But, I'm curious about Robin Knox-Johnson's other books about his solo around the world adventures. How are they?

I'll probably read Heyerdahl's "The Ra Expeditions" at some point, but once I've finished this pile of mountaineering books in front of me, I'mlooking for something different for my next sailing book.

Any recommendations?

Edit: After reading through this forum a bit, I bought "Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost At Sea" by Callahan. (It was only £2.30 includin p&p on ebay.) But, I'd still like recommendations of good first person accounts of great voyages.

 

[Poignard]

Captain Bligh's account of his 3,000 mile voyage in an open boat after he was turned off his ship following the mutiny.

 

[Brick]

Thanks. The Gutenberg version is here, but I'll keep an eye out for a cheap book version as I find them easier to read.

 

[Poignard]

Thanks. The Gutenberg version is here, but I'll keep an eye out for a cheap book version as I find them easier to read.

I never realised it was available on Gutenberg. I have just downloaded it onto my Kindle.
Thank you for the tip off

 

[semisimple]

Francis Chichester's 'Lonely sea and the sky' is great (and popular on the forum). I love it. It's out of print but I picked one up on amazon for a pound. I'm sure there are more copies out there.

I think Seajet/Lady C were discussing it here...(hope they don't mind me linking to their posts)

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2909483&postcount=22
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2909566&postcount=25

 

[chinita]

Plenty of Adventure books but none I can readily think of linked with 'exploration' other that any of the Shakelton or Scott variety such as 'Shakelton's Boat' by Frank Worsely (excellent).

f you want to feel humbled try anything by Bernard Moitessier, Miles Smeeton, David Lewis, Val Howells, Humphrey Barton or Bill Tilman.

For something more contemporary try reading Ming Ming by Roger Taylor - a great man in the wrong era if ever there was one!

 

[Brick]

I never realised it was available on Gutenberg. I have just downloaded it onto my Kindle.
Thank you for the tip off

I was thinking that Gutenberg would be my main motivation for buying a Kindle or similar gizmo. Maybe when it gets down a little bit more. I'm not sure I have faith in the e-reader that Amazon sells for £50 or so.

 

[Mark-1]

Thanks. The Gutenberg version is here

Thanks Brick, I owe you one.

 

[Spuddy]

Tim Severins books about his voyages are good - especially The Brendan Voyage.

 

[Brick]

Tim Severins books about his voyages are good - especially The Brendan Voyage.

Thanks. Just ordered it for £0.01 + £2.80 p&p on Amazon.

I'll look into the books I couldn't buy for £0.01 a bit later. But, with other types of adventure books as well, the ones I've ordered here will bump up my list of books to be read to a fair height. And there are still some other recommendations here (including any subsequent ones) that I can come back later for more choices.

I think it's a great idea to have a "Book" subforum here. Usually if I want to read more about X, then I have to ask questions in general or beginners subforums, which doesn't seem such a good fit of topic to forum.

 

[SAWDOC]

Plenty of Adventure books but none I can readily think of linked with 'exploration' other that any of the Shakelton or Scott variety such as 'Shakelton's Boat' by Frank Worsely (excellent).

QUOTE]

I agree with your recommendation great tale of brave exploits, well written, with the small clarification that the book is called "Shackelton's boat journey". My version has a jaw dropping illustration on the cover which sets the tone for the entire read.

 

[Brick]

I agree with your recommendation great tale of brave exploits, well written, with the small clarification that the book is called "Shackelton's boat journey". My version has a jaw dropping illustration on the cover which sets the tone for the entire read.

Thanks.

Oh, and I've just been notified that the online DVD rental thing "Lovefilm" is sending me Kon Ichikawa's "Alone Across The Pacific", presumably to arrive tomorrow. So, with the books I've ordered, I'm going to have a fair chunk of sailing adventure to enjoy over the next while.

 

[chinita]

Plenty of Adventure books but none I can readily think of linked with 'exploration' other that any of the Shakelton or Scott variety such as 'Shakelton's Boat' by Frank Worsely (excellent).

QUOTE]

I agree with your recommendation great tale of brave exploits, well written, with the small clarification that the book is called "Shackelton's boat journey". My version has a jaw dropping illustration on the cover which sets the tone for the entire read.

Thanks for that; I was in a bit of a hurry when posting. I even mis-spelled Shackleton and Worsley!

Should know better - I even named my son 'Frederick Worsley' in honour of Frank.

 

[SAWDOC]

Thanks for that; I was in a bit of a hurry when posting. I even mis-spelled Shackleton and Worsley!

Should know better - I even named my son 'Frederick Worsley' in honour of Frank.

Worsley was the real sailor wasn't he and the man whose navigation skills got them to their destination - a fantastic feat of seamanship. How they managed it is one of the great adventures of any age.

 

[chinita]

Worsley was the real sailor wasn't he and the man whose navigation skills got them to their destination - a fantastic feat of seamanship. How they managed it is one of the great adventures of any age.

Worsley, IMHO, was the greatest sailor who ever lived.

The combination of his skill, loyalty and humility coupled with the extraordinary leadership qualities of Shakleton made a partnership unlikely to be seen again.

I gave my son his name as I pray he will one day (he is only seven!) question why and make his own judgment.

 

[Brick]

Thanks for that; I was in a bit of a hurry when posting. I even mis-spelled Shackleton and Worsley!

Should know better - I even named my son 'Frederick Worsley' in honour of Frank.

You may know this already, or not be in the UK. But, just in case, this BBC program shows an expedition to the south pole by descendants of Shackleton and his men. Including Henry Worsley. There's almost nothing about sailing or sea voyage however. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jsz94/Timewatch_20082009_In_Shackletons_Footsteps/

I now have "Adrift" and "The Brendon Voyage" in my hot little hands. I've got to finish a mountaineering book first, then I'll start on one of those. By coincidence, after I bought a copy of Adrift from Amazon marketplace (or was it ebay), I found a copy in a charity shop in better condition than mine for less money (if p&p is included). C'est la vie. And tomorrow (approximately) I should have another rental DVD, "Deep Water", on Donald Crowhurst's participation in an around the world yacht race.

Edit: Oh dear, the story of Donald Crowhurst is a rather sad story.

 

[TimBob1989]

No-one has suggested 'Sailing Alone Around the World' by Joshua Slocum - first man to circumnavigate solo. Fascinating story and written in a style that alternates wonderfully between gruff and lyrical.

If you were considering fiction, then if you haven't read Moby-Dick, read it!

 

[semisimple]

No-one has suggested 'Sailing Alone Around the World' by Joshua Slocum - first man to circumnavigate solo. Fascinating story and written in a style that alternates wonderfully between gruff and lyrical.

+1, good fun to read! And it's on gutenberg (and the kindle for free) http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6317

 

[Brick]

Quoting from "Adrift",

I read books about all the great voyages: the raft crossings of the Pacific by Theyerdahl and Willis, and the circumnavigations of Slocum, the Hiscocks and Guzzwell.

In that one sentence, there are two books I've read, one that's been recommended here, and two more I'm not familiar with. I guess that I'm vaguely "on target" then.

Eric C. Hiscock (I presume this is the right Hiscock) has written quite a few books. While I'm now in a mode of reading what I have before I buy more, are there any recommendations of which Hiscock books should go "on the list". (I have this thread linked to from a shortcut on my browser, so that any recommendations will still be accessible and not forgotten by the time I come up for reading air.

I presume the reference to Guzzwell means this book, Trekka Round the World. Correct?

 

[jhr]

Have you tried anything by Alan Villiers? Cruise of the Conrad and Stormalong are two that spring to mind. Long o/p but you can probably get copies from Amazon or Abebooks.

He also took film footage of the last days of the grain clippers and was one of the first people to champion sail training for youngsters as a means of helping them prepare for life. Fascinating man.