Books for begginers

[gedaggett]

So in the past year I have learned a lot about sailing by being on the water 6 times on larger boats. With this being the off season I am hoping to learn some about sailing by reading some books. Rather than just going to the local book store and blindly picking I wanted to ask AS members to post title and authors of good books for relatively inexperienced sailors (or experienced for that matter). The only one I have read cover to cover so far is Annapolis book of seamanship and a book titled buying the right sailboat. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks

Gary

[handyman]

I got a lot of info from the ASA book "Sailing Fundamentals"

However, being more of a "kenetic learner", I must say that the books get somewhat repetitive - to truly understand sailing you must sail. The books provide a basic idea of the physics - but once you have those, you need to have the FEAR put in you!

[ChucklesR]

Through the miracle of modern technology (and my wife patiently entering EVERY book in our library into a database) a partial list:

Bold is highly recommended, altho some are dated:

Ken Textor The New Book Of Sail Trim Sheridan House
Ivar Dedekam Sail And Rig Tuning Wiley
Jim Trefethen The Cruising Life: A Commonsense Guide For The Would-Be Voyager International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
John Rousmaniere The Annapolis Book Of Seamanship: Third Edition; Completely Revised; Expanded And Updated Simon & Schuster
Tom Cunliffe Coastal Navigation (U.S. Sailing Certification) (U.S. Sailing Certification) U.S. Sailing Association
Monk Henry Basic Keelboat (U.S. Sailing Certification) (U.S. Sailing Certification) U.S. Sailing Association
Steve Colgate; Doris Colgate Fast Track To Cruising International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Charlie Wing Boatowner's Illustrated Electrical Handbook International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Jim Howard Handbook Of Offshore Cruising: The Dream And Reality Of Modern Ocean Sailing Sheridan House Inc; Dobbs Ferry; New York; U.S.A.
The Best Tips From Women Aboard Women Aboard
Joy Smith The Perfect First Mate: A Woman's Guide To Recreational Boating Sheridan House
John Roberts Optimize Your Cruising Sailboat : 101 Ways To Make Your Sailboat Better International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
David Owen Bell Dockmanship (Cornell Boaters Library) Schiffer Publishing
Nigel Calder Nigel Calder's Cruising Handbook: A Compendium For Coastal And Offshore Sailors International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Chapman Piloting; 63rd Edition Hearst Marine
Tom Neale All In The Same Boat: Family Living Aboard And Cruising TAB Books Inc
John Kretschmer Flirting With Mermaids: The Unpredictable Life Of A Sailboat Delivery Skipper Sheridan House
Richard Henderson Singlehanded Sailing International Marine Publ
Don Danenberg How To Restore Your Wooden Runabout MBI
Cantor Cruising Catamaran Communique Sailco Press
Dave Gerr The Nature Of Boats: Insights And Esoterica For The Nautically Obsessed International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Nigel Calder Boatowner's Mechanical & Electrical Manual: How To Maintain; Repair; And Improve Your Boat's Essential Systems International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
John Gardner Building Classic Small Craft : Complete Plans And Instructions For 47 Boats International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Robert J. Sweet GPS For Mariners International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Peter Compton Troubleshooting Marine Diesels International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Peter Owen The Book Of Sailing Knots: How To Tie And Correctly Use Over 50 Sailing Knots The Lyons Press
Lin Pardey; Larry Pardey The Care And Feeding Of Sailing Crew L & L Pardey Books
John Vigor The Practical Mariner's Book Of Knowledge: 420 Sea-Tested Rules Of Thumb For Almost Every Boating Situation International Marine division of McGraw-Hill
Richard Keith Hubbard Boater's Bowditch: The Small Craft American Practical Navigator International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Suzanne Giesemann It's Your Boat Too: A Woman's Guide To Greater Enjoyment On The Water Paradise Cay Publications
Doris Colgate Sailing: A Woman's Guide International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
Nigel Calder How To Read A Nautical Chart International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press

[Somewhere2]

Nice list! I'm going to look for this one:

John Vigor The Practical Mariner's Book Of Knowledge: 420 Sea-Tested Rules Of Thumb For Almost Every Boating Situation International Marine division of McGraw-Hill

It may give Jim a break from all my "What If" questions.

[ChucklesR]

It's a nice fun one.

Elsewhere on the forum there is a 'black box' thread; the black box theory is from John Vigor, as is the official naming, unnaming and renaming ceremonies.

Good stuff - like the average cockpit is 5 feet from the water + 5 feet for the eye = 10 feet above the water which equals IIRC 12 miles visibility to hull down..

All that and it' pocket sized.

[RocinantePT]

Ivar Dedekam "Sail and Rig tuning" is excelent!

[sailingdog]

The Complete Sailor, by Dave Seidman is an excellent choice, in addition to what has already been suggested.

[ChucklesR]

One?

I only missed one?

I do have that one, just missed it on my list.

[AboardIndigo]

Blame it on the DBA.

Nice list Chuckles. This will help me put together an easy 'Christmas Wish List' for the wife and kids.

[ChucklesR]

Let me know if you want the ISBN number.

I missed it because that is a cut and paste from a spread sheet, I didn't sort it well - and skipped some on purpose because they were redundant in type and info.

Mary's got a scanner and some software that reads the bar code and directly feeds a database. We aren't anal, it's defense against double buying.
When we downsized to our current house we donated 40+ boxes of books to our library (and 14 of records); we still had over 1k books on our shelves despite liberally giving non-reference books to friends and the recycle bin.

I guess one can read too much. They don't fit on the boat

[Captainron]

"Sailing for Dummies"

Its a good basic book, and covers the basics pretty well.

[T37 SOLARE]

NOAA Symbols, Abbreviations, and Terms, Chart No. 1

http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/mcd/chartno1.htm

[Buckeyesailor]

"Sailing for Dummies"

Its a good basic book, and covers the basics pretty well.

I was gonna mention that one but thought the old salts would make fun of me...

[Izzy1414]

I was gonna mention that one but thought the old salts would make fun of me...

Heck Buck, the last time most of the old salts around here read a beginners sailing book the pages were granite. And prolly still attached to the cave wall!!

[MimsyB]

I'm just reiterating what Chuckles has said but any of the Nigel Calder books are outstanding. The man is a total stud. Even the ARE is kind of a squealing fan boy.

I liked Sailing for Dummies because my daughter loves it. Lots of useful information in it, but most importantly- its simple enough for a child to understand. She hasn't digested everything (does anyone ever?) but the chapters are short and concise. With a bit of help, I bet Josh would get a lot out of it ( and dad too!)

[Mario G]

I was just given this library yesterday along with a sextent and its manual


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[T34C]

Great list Chuck- , but I've got another one you missed. "The Boating Bible an Essential Handbook for Every Sailor" by Jim Murrant. I found this to be a great reference book (similar to Chapmans) and packed full of useful information. It was published by Collins/Angus&Robertson Australia.

[MobtownPirate]

I've read Sailing for Dummies cover to cover twice, a lot of good info there, but, in my opinion, the instructional videos on here are the best!!! You get all the info you need, but it's nice to have the book onboard incase you need to look something up =D

[S&S]

I've found that the K.I.S.S. sailing intro book was better (easier for newbies to "get") than Sailing for Dummies.

for those with a more theoretical bent: Seaworthiness, the Forgotten Factor and Sailing Theory and Practice by C J Marchaj; and Oceanography and Seamanship by van Dorn

also "Nautical Rules of the Road" (can't remember the author)

there's also a series by Uffa Fox that's very good (avail used)

and Kinney's "Fundamentals of yacht design"

If you wind up buying a woodie, I can generate a whole 'nother list

[sailingdog]

Richard K. Hubbard's Boater's Bowditch should really be on that list Chuck.

For Multihull sailors, I'd add:

Chris White's The Crusing Multihull
Mike McMullen's Multihull Seamanship
Thomas Firth Jones' Multihull Voyaging

[CharlieCobra]

Over on http://forums.sbo.sailboatowners.com/ Don Guilette has a book I bought right off. It comes with a nice waterproof chart for quick reference. Plus, you can always chat him up in the forum. Here's the link for the book.

http://shop.sailboatowners.com/books...u=100&cat=1321

I highly recommend it.