Sailing Books

[Seajet]

I'm sure this has been done before, and is mentioned in a way on the Book Forum just along from here ( well worth a visit ).

However, having seen the response to the ( latest ) 'boatie films' thread, and then reading of Shane acton's book 'Shrimpy' being out of print and commanding good money, I thought this might be fun, and no-one will have read all the books mentioned, so there's learning and enjoyment to be had.

I once worked in a small but busy chandlery in a famous sailing town; one of my pet projects was to set up a book department, and I was astonished to find virtually all the old 'classics' - in my opinion of course - were / are out of print.

As someone mentioned on the 'Shrmpy' thread, if secondhand copies are going for £30.00, someone is missing out on making money - and presumably a lot of people are being denied some real life-changers !

I'll start the ball rolling with one of my all time favourites, 'The Lonely Sea And The Sky' by Francis Chichester.

An autobiography ( well and modestly ) written when he still had a lot more to do, but despite that full of quite astounding feats; attempting to fly a Gyspy Moth aircraft with added on, leaking floats around the world, inventing what were to become standard navigational methods as he went, rebuilding the aircraft by hand, then later on, noticing that a 'Blondie Hasler' had proposed a singlehanded yacht race across the Atlantic...

 

[tim_ber]

An amazing read and an amazing man.

Made his money selling land in NewZealand (according to the book) and then used it for his passion of flying. What and adventure. To get up and go after crashing into those cables (Japan was it?) was amazing. And then he made more money with his navigation stuff and map selling.

As you say, modestly written.

I have some first edition hardbacks of his other books (currently sprinkled with Bicarb to remove that old musty book smell).

Josh Slocum is another modest writer (with huge accomplishments) - he even built the boat first for goodness sake.

 

[JimC]

The Mariner's Library www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keyword...ooks&hvadid=6317099913&ref=pd_sl_1zaejugncw_b and The Shellback's Library www.dngoodchild.com/subject-06.htm re-publish old sailing classics and also newer works.

 

[Ubergeekian]

Some of my old favourites

• The Cruise of the Alerte, by E.F. Knight - the real story behind Peter Duck
• In Quest of the Sun, by Alain Gerbault - pre-war ocean voyaging adventures
• The Boat Who Wouldn't Float, by Farley Mowat - hilarious and fascinating voyage from Newfoundland to Montreal in a converted fishing boat
• My Ship is So Small, by Ann Davison - first woman to cross the Atlantic singlehanded
• Racundra's First Cruise, by Arthur Ransome - was almost forgotten, now recognised again as a fascinating and haunting travelogue of the 1920's Baltic
• The Art of Coarse Sailing, by Michael Green - brilliant tale of a week on the Broads - the hardback first edition is much better

 

[fergie_mac66]

Some of my old favourites

• The Cruise of the Alerte, by E.F. Knight - the real story behind Peter Duck
• In Quest of the Sun, by Alain Gerbault - pre-war ocean voyaging adventures
• The Boat Who Wouldn't Float, by Farley Mowat - hilarious and fascinating voyage from Newfoundland to Montreal in a converted fishing boat
• My Ship is So Small, by Ann Davison - first woman to cross the Atlantic singlehanded
• Racundra's First Cruise, by Arthur Ransome - was almost forgotten, now recognised again as a fascinating and haunting travelogue of the 1920's Baltic
• The Art of Coarse Sailing, by Michael Green - brilliant tale of a week on the Broads - the hardback first edition is much better

apparently M Green did a sequel though i have never seen it The art of coarse cruising

 

[Ubergeekian]

apparently M Green did a sequel though i have never seen it The art of coarse cruising

I've got it. It's not nearly as good, as it lacks the strong narrative thread of TAoCS. Worth 10p if you see it in a charity shop, but that's about it.

 

[ianc1200]

Got the hardback & the paperback of Coarse Sailing, I prefer the paperback perhaps because I read it first, but there are differences. Coarse Cruising also worth a read. Never found the answer as to why he stopped writing these, and only the first two books of his autobiography written (love to read more).

My fave books;

Magic of the Swatchways
Riddle of The Sands
We Didn't Mean to Go to Sea
Tidal Waters (F B Cooke)
Wreck of the Mary Deare
Under The Cabin lamp
Two and a half ton dream (Ray Whitaker)
Swin Swale & Swatchway/the last Cruise of the Teal (HL Jones)
Terschelling Sands F Mulville
Very Willing Griffin

 

[Seajet]

Ianc,

yes, 'Very Willing Griffin', the story of David Blagden taking the Hunter 19 'Willing Griffin' in the 1972 OSTAR; I remember one photo of the boat alongside another competitor, 'Club Mediteranee' sailed by Alain Colas, that boat was 270' or something !

I read VWG as a boy, and it may well have influenced my ending up with another Oliver Lee design, now entering our 33rd year together...

I'd love to get hold of a copy, but they're gold dust, naturally sought after by Hunter owners as well as those with a general nautical interest.

Last I heard the present Dutch owner of Willing Griffin was going to bring her over to UK; any idea if that happened ?

 

[Salty]

Riddle of the Sands - Erskine Childers.

Cracking good story, and hugely evocative of time and place - and a boaty novel makes a pleasant change from biographies and accounts of real-world voyages.

 

[ianc1200]

Andy

I got Very Willing Griffin after your recommendation, I think about £25 on Amazon (USA version) a couple of years ago. Didn't hear whether the Dutch guy managed to sell Willing Griffin (again 2 years ago?) but I think he was after £6500 for a historic Hunter 19, which was IMO too much, and no takers on the Hunter 19 Yahoo Group probably for that reason.

 

[Gerry]

'Lively lady' by Alec Rose.
The story of his circumnavigation that is often overshadowed by that of Francis Chichester, found my copy in Malvern of all places!

'Come Hell or High water' by Clare Francis. Fabulous book that already showed her literary ability, she went on to write some excellent thrillers.

www.gerryantics.blogspot.com

 

[Seajet]

I was told that (My) 'Lively Lady' was actually referring to someone Alec Rose had his eye on ! The locality of the teller was correct ( he was a Southsea green-grocer, though I suspect not your average one ) - but I find it hard to believe.

I met him as a boy when he gave a talk on his trip in aid of the RNLI, a really quiet, modest man, a true gentle - man. the only celebrity I've ever asked for an autograph, and yes I've still got it ! When someone asked how he compared himself to Sir Francis, he burst out laughing, " Well Francis was always a bit more cantankerous than me ! "

How about another couple; ' A Fighting Chance ' & 'Left For Dead'...

 

[Babylon]

William Albert Robinson

In Quest of the Sun, by Alain Gerbault - pre-war ocean voyaging adventures

Purchased!

Checking up on Alain Gerbault on Wikipaedia, I was reminded me of the American William Robinson who also set out on a circumnavigation in the 1920s, with no prior offshore knowledge aside from navigation lessons at night school in NY, and wrote a book about it. He always had a crewman with him, and the local he picked up in Taihiti (I think) was a complete character in his own right!

Robinson was also very critical of (in his case) missionary exploitation of the indiginous peoples of the Pacific islands. He differentiated not just between the characteristics of the different island groups and the varying cultures of their inhabitants, but also between the colonial rule of different powers, from the disgraceful through to the relatively enlightened.

"Deep Water and Shoal" - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Water-Shoal...=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295367028&sr=1-4

After the war (during which he ran a shipyard in the US building, I seem to recall, landing craft for the military), he built himself a small 'ship' and sailed to Taihiti where he had a child with a young Taihitian woman and sailed for Cape Horn with her and the baby.

"Return To The Sea" - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Return-Sea-...=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1295367028&sr=1-1

 

[Poignard]

'Across Three Oceans' by Conor O'Brien


'The Cruise of the Nona' by Hilaire Belloc.

 

[benlui]

Once is Enough by Miles Smeeton.........

When the 46-foot Tzu Hang sailed from Australia into the vast Southern Ocean in December 1956, her crew of three couldn't know what terror awaited them.

Very interesting reading about offshore cruising, i truly enjoyed this one.

 

[Babylon]

Good choice!

Once is Enough by Miles Smeeton.........

When the 46-foot Tzu Hang sailed from Australia into the vast Southern Ocean in December 1956, her crew of three couldn't know what terror awaited them.

Very interesting reading about offshore cruising, i truly enjoyed this one.

And a bit of offshore swimming, not to mention a bit of serious offshore boat-maintenance.

But, then-again, Guzwell had already built his own small yacht; Beryl had walked (against all beaurocratic advice) across a large part of Asia in the 1930s; and Miles had commanded attacks against fierce resistance from the Japanese by standing up with his binoculars (he was very tall) well above his tank hatch and kicking off other officers who tried to pull him back down, telling them he needed to see what was going on!

Remarkable people indeed.

 

[Seajet]

I discovered by coincidence when reading The Nevil Shute Foundation info', Nevil Shute (Norway) knew the Smeetons, and his last book, 'Trustee From the Toolroom' was inspired by them.

In 'Trustee' for those who haven't read it,- and I'd recommend all his books - a couple smuggle their wealth in the form of jewels buried in the ballast of their boat, to escape post-war Britain - the export of wealth was not allowed.

The Smeetons did this simply by buying Tzu Hang with just about all they had; she was their exported wealth, the plan being to sell her in Australia...