"Boatbuilding in Your Own Backyard" makes building a variety of classic wooden boats accessible to anyone. Using the illustrated instructions in this book, you can truly build a boat-dingy, sailboat or cruiser-in your spare time, in your backyard or garage. Considered the best in its field for over five decades, "Boatbuilding in Your Own Backyard." offers the best practices of boat making processes, designs, concepts, and materials. Written for boat makers of all levels, boatbuilding expert Sam S. Rabl shares a lifetime of knowledge about designing and constructing your own craft, all in a single volume.

From wood selection, tools, fastenings, laying down and taking off, framing, making the fits, planking and decking, installing the motor, the cabin, sails, and rigging, to caulking, painting, and more, Rabl guides the amateur boatmaker through every step of the process. The author also shares detailed drawing and guidelines for the construction of eleven boats, including a 14-foot skiff, 15-foot outboard utility, 15-foot sailing cruiser, 18-foot sport fisherman, 24-foot auxiliary cruiser, and several models of an 18-foot outboard tabloid cruiser (an example of which is the world famous Picaroon).

"Boatbuilding in Your Own Backyard" is the ideal builder's handbook and is an indispensable guide to good care, safety, and maintenance for every boat owner. Rabl's concise instructions overflow with expert advice that will simplify the job and make your boat build a success

"About the Author
The son of a shipyard supervisor in Chesapeake Bay, Sam S. Rabl's love and knowledge of boats started very early. His passion was fortified by technical training as a draftsman, naval architect and marine engineer. Sam Rabl was brought to national attention with his unique ability to make boat design understandable for the layman."

Sheila Redgrave writes about her son Sir Steve Redgrave, the five times Olympic Gold Medallist which is based upon her own diary entries that she has religiously made each and every day of her life. The book depicts the Redgrave family life during the 30 years of Steve's rowing career. "The Sonshine of our Lives," is not a typo (although dyslexia does run in the family), but refers to the fact that Steve is her son, and that he has always been the sunshine of his parents' lives. The book recounts the Redgrave family history from 1975 to the turn of the millennium and includes all the family related events that took place during these years. It highlights Steve's major rowing competitions and the build up to these and includes all the heartache and the family traumas that happened in the background during this time. While supporting Steve in his ambition to become the best endurance athlete in the world, the book depicts the feelings and the thoughts of a parent observing, at times helplessly, the highs of her son's triumphs and the lows of his ill health during his courageous struggle to survive, against the odds and through two major illness - doing the only job that he was ever qualified to do.

Scotland is famed for its rugged coastlines, pristine beaches, endless rivers and deep lochs. The whole country is a magnet for outdoor enthusiasts from all over the world. In this unique guide, adventurer Mollie Hughes introduces many of her favourite places to paddleboard, kayak, swim and surf. Mixing world-class surfing breaks with kayaking adventures on the west coast, and urban paddleboarding along the Clyde with invigorating swims in the lochs of the Cairngorms, the book shows us how to access and enjoy these varied blue spaces. Mollie includes her own personal experiences and tips, enabling wild watersports fans of all levels to make the most of the amazing opportunities Scotland has to offer.

Originally published London 1931. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Home Farm Books are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. A well illustrated book that will prove invaluable to the class of yachtsmen for whom it is intended. Contents Include: The Selection of a Boat. - The Effect of the Wind on a Boat. - Splices, Knots, and Tackles. - The Small Open Sailing Boat. - Open Sailing Boats with Boom-Sails, and Half Decked Boats. - Decked Boats. - Seamanship. - Open Boat Sailing. - The Cruising Yacht. - The Art of Coasting. - Decription of a Voyage. - Regulations Affecting Yachtsmen. - Two Cruises on Lateen-Rigged Craft. Etc.

Your ultimate guide to planning a long-distance voyage. Jimmy Cornell is the undisputed authority on long distance voyaging. In the 3rd edition of this book, he and his son Ivan help the would-be voyager plan their trip step by step. Aimed at those seriously contemplating (or dreaming about) an extended cruise, this book details what is involved in developing the right strategy. Amongst many important aspects, Jimmy and Ivan consider: - World weather systems - Strategies for sailing long or short circuits in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans - The pros and cons of different routes at different times of year (taking into account weather, currents, wind directions and strengths, likelihood of fog, icebergs, gales, piracy etc) - Practicalities (repair facilities, common gear breakage on extended voyages, places to leave the boat to fly home if necessary, health considerations, provisioning for a long trip, personal safety measures, and much more) Written from a completely international point of view, World Voyage Planner will help sailors from any country going to any other country to achieve a safe and enjoyable cruise.

Shortly after his retirement, author Robert S. Ashton buys a 1983 Nordic 40 sailboat. He names the boat "Chandelle," not realizing at the time that it will be his home for the next ten years.

Along with his friends, Don, Roger, and Martha, Ashton soon joins a group of boats preparing to brave the Gulf Stream and adjacent waters from Norfolk, Virginia, to the Caribbean. During the next ten years, "Captain" Ashton sails to numerous destinations in his quest to circumnavigate the globe, including the Panama Canal, the Galapagos Islands, the Fiji Islands, Africa, and Australia. Ashton meets an eclectic group of people, experiences a variety of cultures, finds new members for his crew, and discovers the freedom of sailing the open waters.

"This Old Man and the Sea" is a must-read for any sailing enthusiast, revealing the highs and lows of extended life at sea with wit, wisdom, and insight.

Harry Parker was probably the most important figure in American rowing of the past century. His heavyweight crews at Harvard topped the leagues more consistently than any other team (they won the Eastern Sprints regatta, against most of the top college crews, more than three times as often as their nearest rival). From the time they miraculously won the 1963 Harvard-Yale Race at the end of his first year at the helm, his varsity didn't lose a race for six years, and they didn't lose to Yale until the Reagan administration. He was the first US National Team coach, and oversaw five Olympic teams. He coached the sons of his great oarsmen from the 60's and 70's, and at age 70 was still putting the sons to shame on a bicycle, or running the steps of the Harvard Stadium. He was respected by all, revered and adored by his rowers, and yet no one seemed to know him. The persistent myth was that he hardly said a word, and that his powerful mystique alone made his oarsmen great and their boats go fast. Though a fundamentally compelling figure, Parker's famous reticence means that few managed to spend much time close to him. Since he made no attempt to explain himself, legends abound: he never got older; he could control the weather; he could walk on water. The Sphinx of the Charles: A Year at Harvard with Harry Parker takes the reader not only inside the Harvard boathouse, but into the coaching launch with Parker. We see how he coached-how many words he actually uttered-as he guided his team through a year of training, and hear about his life in the sport. We see a paradox: Parker remained remarkably constant over the last forty-five years, yet he constantly evolved, changed his style, and used every means at his disposal to build champion crews. The Sphinx of the Charles goes inside the rowing world in a way hasn't been done before, putting the reader in the passenger seat next to one of the most successful coaches of all time. Parker is a historical icon, part of a tradition that goes back to the beginning of intercollegiate athletics in America. His story needs to be told. The Sphinx of the Charles is fundamentally a chronicle of a year with the Harvard team and a profile of Harry Parker as he was, five years before his death: comfortable in his position as elder and master of the sport, reflective but not nostalgic, aged but nearly impervious to aging. It is driven by Ayer's own observations of Parker from his seven years of coaching and training at the Harvard boathouse, but especially from one academic year, 2008-9. he shadowed him for a few days every week from September to June, observing practices both on and off the water, and interacting with the team. The present tense of the narrative reflects this immediacy, but also the sense that Parker has endured and continues to endure. And though The Sphinx of the Charles is not a biography in the usual sense, Parker's life and career were rich and extraordinary and they must be explored. Thus, each chapter carries the reader another month through the training year at Harvard, with vivid descriptions of team practices and a sense of progress towards the spring racing goals. From the passenger seat next to Parker we watch the rowers tackling the daily workouts, honing their mental and physical stamina along with their bladework, always trying to beat their teammates in the crew next to them, under Parker's watchful eye and ever-present megaphone. Parker makes asides in the launch that the rowers will never hear: remarks about the crews and their progress, passing wildlife, memories of his life in rowing, the river and its history, the sunlight on the water. Intertwined with the narrative are historical perspective, descriptions of the boathouse and the river, profiles of other coaches at Harvard, and impressions from rowers and coaches who worked with Parker over the previous forty-five years. Newspaper and magazine articles reveal how Parker was depicted, and how he revealed himself, to the rowing world and the public. The reader sees how Parker evolved and yet remained consistent. Parker was responsible for turning college crew into a three-season sport: varsity rowers now practice every day from September to early June. There are long "head" races in the fall, including the famous Head of the Charles in Boston. The winter months are a period of tough training on rowing machines and indoor "tanks," lasting until the ice breaks up on the river. The official season of "sprint" races doesn't start until April, and includes two championship regattas, the Harvard-Yale Race, and (if they win one of the championships) the Henley Royal Regatta in England.