winter reading

My all time favorites by Author William McCloskey retired Coastguard.

Highliners: The Classic Novel about the Commercial Fishermen of Alaska
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/produc ... 55&s=books

BREAKERS:
http://www.amazon.com/Breakers-Novel-Co ... 139&sr=1-1

And all novels by William McCloskey:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/searc ... 0McCloskey

Also, by Spike Walker

Working on the Edge: Surviving In the World's Most Dangerous Profession: King Crab Fishing on Alaska's HighSeas

http://www.amazon.com/Working-Edge-Surv ... _b_title_2
 
Let's hear a bit more from our "right coast" readers...
What a great list we are building..I definitely plan on making a personal list and peck away at it...
Let me add another...by the writer and poet Gilbert Byron.."The Lord's Oysters"....great story of living along the Chester River, our river.
 
Sailing Back in Time – Maria Coffey and Dag Goering

Maria Coffey and Dag Goering embark on a three-month journey by wooden boat along Canada's spectacular west coast. Leading the way are legendary boat builders and sailors Allen and Sharie Farrell on their last voyage aboard the China Cloud. Powered only by wind and sculling oars, they take Coffey and Goering to their old haunts, places where they homesteaded, fished, and built boats. Years roll away as the Farrells recount decades of memories with passion, insight and humour.

This book is a must for current and aspiring boat builders....Allen Farrell built over 40 boats from salvaged materials....some more than 40 feet long including the China Cloud, a Chinese Junk made out of cedar. Amazon has it used for $13.22.
 
For our C-Brats with I-Pod's let me suggest you check out http://www.furledsails.com/ Noel & Christy publish a new 1 hour podcast every Sunday and they have a list of over 90 shows on their website and you can subscribe thru ITunes for free. They interview folks from the sailing world....Yea , I know, but stinkpots are welcome too and will find a lot of enjoyment listening to their interviews as well.
 
Here's another vote for Mowat's classic.

I also recommend that you do not track down and consume the "Newfoundland Skreech" that is referred to in the book. It's as bad as it sounds, and the customs regarding it don't make it any better.

If you do buy a bottle, don't set it on the table because then you have to take the cork out.

If you take the cork out, you have to consume it then and there otherwise it will go bad (and it really does).

Shortly after getting out of the Marine Corps, and still influenced by my experiences there, I had to have a bottle when I visited BC. When I finally found a bottle in Campbell River, the clerk at the wicket asked me if I was going to drink it or wash my feet in it. The latter is the appropriate choice.

Steve
 
Normally, I am not much of a reader. During a six week cruise in the Broughtons, however, I devoured quite a few books. My favorite was " In the Heart of the Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick. The true story that inspired "Moby Dick". Here's a review I found.

Subtitled "The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" and published
in 2000 to critical acclaim, this true story was written by Nathaniel Philbrick, a leading authority on the history of Nantucket. Carefully researched, and extremely well written, this early 19th century incident has been brought to life with exquisite descriptions. Not only does Philbrick tell the long sad tale of the Essex's tragic sinking in 1820 and the sufferings of the few survivors who were forced to resort to cannibalism in order to stay alive, it is also the story of the whaling industry, the social and religious community of Nantucket, and the influence this incident had on Herman Melville in the writing of Moby Dick some 20 years after the event.

 
Some great reads on this growing list. I will add a few. Endurance by Alfred Lansing, about Ernest Shackleton's doomed voyage to the South Pole and the improbable rescue. Also, South, a book by Shackleton about the voyage. Cod:A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky. This is a very interesting read about how sailors were able to take long voyages, and why they took long voyages. And last, I must add, Boat Who Wouldn't Float by Farley Mowat. I just re-read this little gem.
Thanks to those who have recommend some interesting books.

Robbi
 
Three more nonfictions (isn't it funny how our group gravitates to that?):

Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. An excellent, readable account of Lewis and Clark's journey across the continent. He quotes their journals extensively and also interweaves commentary that helps the reader understand the context and import of this momentous, historic boating exploration of the American West in 1803 with the benefit of two hundred years of hindsight. It is well researched, insightful and the typical polished work Ambrose is so good at.

Cook : The Extraordinary Voyages of Captain James Cook by Nicholas Thomas is the latest account about this famous explorer and his exploits, good and bad and the impact they had on his several journeys throughout the world's oceans. Big stuff. Excellent analysis of Euro//polynesian "first contacts" and the clashes of the cultures.

Guns, Germs & Steel by Jarod Diamond. Not about boating, but it does include the influence of ships in explaining why Europeans, ended up having all of the power in modern human history compared to the rest of the world. What had been explained by many in the past as "racial superiority" Diamond theorizes is due to the effects of the orientation of the continents on the animals and plants people have come to rely on. 17,000 years ago, all humans were at about the same point in the development of their cultures and tools (stone age, hunters/gatherers). What happened to accel some and not others since then?. Okay, I'm done. Alright.... see William Shakespeare too, esp. King Lear (Forgive a simple English Lit. major). C.W.
 
I will only add one due to many of my favorites already being listed. The one is Nunaga by Duncan Pryde. This is a true story of a young man from Scotland who goes to work as a Trader with the Eskimos in the arctic regions of Canada in the mid l950's working for the Hudson Bay Company. He completely emerses himself in there culture before it changed. Included is a description of a 1400 mile freighter canoe trip starting in Bathurst Inlet and ending close to the mouth of the Mackenzie River. The canoe was 20 feet long and powered by a 20 hp motor. He had planned on going up the Mackenzie to Yellowknife but ice stopped there voyage prematurely due to his getting a late start on the voyage in September. This would have been a remarkable voyage even in the summer with a larger enclosed boat. He did this in a open canoe in 76 days ending in November.

CW, I know this is heresy but totally agree with your critique of Riverhorse. If the c-dory hadn't been in the story I would have tossed it before half way through.

Jay
 
For those of you who are interested in kayaking and the far north, there is a book by Victoria Jason called "Kabloona in the Yellow Kayak". It is a very interesting story about Victoria's journey across the top of Canada. Be forewarned that her writing is very negative towards a person (Don Starkell) with whom she started the trip. Victoria is now deceased, but was an interesting person to meet and talk to. She brought kayaking back into some Inuit communities, and has been lauded in WaveLength for that.

When she started the trip, she was recovering from a stroke.

It's worth the read. Kabloona is the Inuit word for stranger.

Steve
 
I'd like add another one "Heart of the raincoast" by Alexandra Morton and Billy Proctor
This book is one of the main reasons my wife and I started looking at buying a larger boat which in the end lead us to our c-dory

Stories are what you need to hear.Stories about people who have spent a lifetime living and working with nature. We owe a dept of thanks to Alexandra Morton,who vividly introduces us to this man
Robert Bateman
 
Caliban's Shore

This is a true story of an East Indiaman ship that wrecked on the Southeast shore of Africa and what befell the castaways.
 
The commentaries and reviews included here are too good to lose, so what i think is best is just to make a reference to winter reading and keep it all. How do I put this thread someplace where i can readily go to it? (sorry for my constant "lack of tech" questions.

I'm sending our local library this information because, as a service, they often publishe what is called a "reader's list" on various topics.
 
terraplane":1trir0hk said:
How do I put this thread someplace where i can readily go to it?
Click to expand...

terraplane-

The easiest way would be to go to page one of this thread and simply mark it as a favorite or bookmark on your computer.

Cheers!

Joe. :teeth
 
The subject of nautical books to read has been the subject of several discussions in the past. I've tried to locate those threads on the search engine but have been unsuccessful. If someone can find those threads it would save "re-inventing" the subject. (I'm certain that there are books on those threads that have not been mentioned above and likewise there are books mentioned on this thread that probably were not mentioned on the previous threads).


Several years ago we also had a thread that suggested titles of "must see" movies that would be of interest to our clan.
 
Two of my favorite books are about the Inside Passage along Vancouver Island. They are both written by Jim Spilsbury, and are about his life in the first half of the 20th century. The first book is "Spilsbury's Coast" by Jim Spilsbury and Howard White. Jim was raised on Savary Island and had a radio sales and repair business that he ran out of his boat. He serviced logging camps, fishermen and others that were living and working in the areas of Desolation Sound and The Broughtons. His descriptions of the people and places give a great feel for that time and place.

The second book is "Accidental Airline", it describes how Jim started an airline during WWII. The crazy things that he did, and the cutthroat nature of the early airline business made it a great read.

I haven't checked Amazon to see the availability of these books. It may be limited. I bought them years ago on a B.C. ferry.
Lyle
 
I agree with those who don't like River Horse. Too much bitter blah..blah..blah.

One on-line adventure I've enjoyed is www.bumfuzzle.com. The ongoing saga of a young, silver spooned, married couple who decided over beer and pizza to sail the world without any experience. They did....and now they are attempting to circle the globe in an old volkwagen bus.

-Greg
 
From the right side...kinda middle right side in the Heartland area... Have ordered this book and should be a nice read/guide book for those of us traveling the areas and/or the Great Loop!!

Great Loop Side Trips: 20 Cruising Adventures on Eastern North America's Waterways - by Ron & Eva Stob

Byrdman
 
:) .........Hey great Post......newbie here looking to buy a 22 cruiser....Love to read...........just finished a excellant sea going story........"Sea of Gray" the around the world odessey of the Confederate Raider Shenandoah......by Tom Chaffin.....non-fiction that reads like a novell..........
 
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