At one time, Liverpool's landing stage was so busy that ships would be literally queuing in the Mersey to discharge and embark passengers. However, the period from the late 1940s saw both the golden age of Liverpool shipping as well as the decline of its passenger trade. From the early 1960s, though, Liverpool's passenger trade entered a decline that was unstoppable. The Jet Age had seen the loss of much of its trade and shipping line after shipping line moved away from the port or stopped its ships sailing and sold them for scrap or service with foreign lines. John Shephard tells the story, using the memories of those who sailed in them, of the last liners to use Liverpool.

The story of Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Johnny Trescott. A man as smart, tough, and fearless as they come. But he's about to lose everything-his boat, his freedom, and his identity. Long before Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips fell into the hands of modern-day pirates, Johnny faced the same high-stakes action on the high seas. He's cunning has always outwitted his antagonists, but now the odds have turned and he must pull off the ultimate drug bust. An adversary that has emerged from the deep blue. Johnny has met his match. The Phantom Patrol marked a turning point in L. Ron Hubbard's fiction. In writing this story he recognized the vital importance of research and realism. To that end, Hubbard toured Coast Guard vessels and interviewed officers who were actually involved in chasing down drug smugglers. The resulting authenticity and success of the tale was a sign of things to come. Read The Phantom Patrol and experience the development of a unique voice in storytelling. "Nonstop action and a hero to root for." -Publishers Weekly * An International Book Awards Finalists

Tom Christian is on the trail of revenge and a fortune in gold. As square-jawed and rugged as Clark Gable in his prime, Tom is headed deep into the jungles of the Solomon Islands to find Punjo Charlie-the ruthless criminal who killed his partner. But these jungles are thick with danger . . . as greed, temptation and sudden violence threaten to draw Tom into the heart of darkness. There's a pile of gold. . . . There's a beautiful blonde. . . . And there's a bloodthirsty tribe of headhunters who have fallen under the spell of Punjo Charlie. The trap has been set. The question is: will Tom fall into it? Will he lose his way and lose his head . . . or will he get his revenge, get the gold and get the girl? The answer lies buried in the rain forest . . . and in Tom's heart. And as he's about to discover, there's only one way out of the jungle: all-out war. In 1927, L. Ron Hubbard sailed across the Pacific to Guam to meet his naval officer father. It was the beginning of an adventure that would take him from the Western Hills of China to the South Pacific islands. Along the way he met Cantonese pirates, Chamorro natives, British spies, and headhunters of the South Pacific. He was one of the few Westerners to come away from an encounter with a headhunter tribe not only unscathed, but bearing gifts as well. Those experiences and knowledge proved invaluable in the writing of such stories as The Headhunters.

As the Boat Doctor in Boating magazine, Allen Berrien helped two generations of readers keep their boats alive and well. Now his practical know-how and wisdom is collected inPowerboat Care and Repair, the only book that focuses on do-it-yourself maintenance and repair of small powerboats.

Berrien provides tips on how to avoid and solve a host of common problems, such as electrolysis, pitted gelcoat, and battery failures. He also offers step-by-step guidance on spring commissioning and winterizing; inboard, outboard, and stern driveengine troubleshooting; exterior maintenance; emergency preparedness; and much more.

If Lars Marlin had three wishes, two have already been granted: he has escaped from Devil's Island ... and he has come face to face with the man who put him there-Paco Corvino. But the third wish-putting a bullet in Corvino-will have to wait. They're off to sea, and not since Fletcher Christian and Captain Bligh set sail on the Bounty have two more heated enemies been in the same boat. Corvino is a convict, con-man and killer who has schemed his way into a position as chief steward on a luxury yacht sailing out of Rio de Janeiro. And, in a twist as devious as it is diabolical, he's managed to install Lars-his hated rival-as captain of the very same vessel. And there are even darker twists to come.... Lars is determined to find out what Corvino has up his sleeve ... and what killer cargo he's hiding on board. But the yacht owner's daughter proves to be a beautiful-and dangerous-distraction. Will Lars be safe in her arms ... or is she part of Corvino's plot-a deadly trap set with honey? Like several leading writers of the day, L. Ron Hubbard was invited to Hollywood to write scripts, where his superior talent and productivity attracted numerous lucrative offers from the studios. But, as he wrote in a letter to the editor of Argosy magazine in August 1937: "I love to tie a yarn and try to make it blaze in print. The mags will never lose me to the movies. Never, at any salary!" And as Argosy gleefully responded in its pages: "Next to exorcise the Hollywood virus from his veins was L. Ron Hubbard ... he has set to work to give Argosy some more of his rousing yarns. The first, -Cargo of Coffins,' is due to appear in the November 13th issue, and a serial is likely to follow."

Bat Conroy--cut him and he'd bleed ink, he's a born newspaperman. Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Eric Sevareid--the greatest American journalists of the 20th century all made their names as war correspondents, but none of them would have beat out Bat Conroy to a good story.
Which makes it that much more mystifying--and aggravating--when an unknown writer, filing under the byline Perry Lane, scoops Bat on every story that comes along. Bat's always been the go-to reporter covering the Japanese invasion of China . . . until this Perry Lane person came along to steal his thunder and maybe even his job.
Now, the biggest story of the war is about to hit the fan, and Bat's going to get to the source first if it kills him. But the most shocking news of all is the true identity of the elusive Perry Lane.
As a young man, Hubbard visited Manchuria, where his closest friend headed up British intelligence in northern China. Hubbard gained a unique insight into the intelligence operations and spy-craft in the region as well as the hostile political climate between China and Japan--a knowledge that informs stories like Inky Odds.

Latitude Hooks and Azimuth Rings is for people who like to work with their hands and who appreciate traditional nautical craftsmanship. You dont have to be the master of any craft to undertake any of these projects--from a simple kamal or latitude hook to the more complex pelorus or octant--just a careful and enthusiastic worker.

These 18 projects fall roughly into three categories: decorative, useful, and somewhere in between. Some, such as the astrolabe, are mainly for display. On the other hand, the sounding line is an important and practical tool for small-craft navigation, particularly in the absence of an electronic sounder. The cross-staff falls somewhere in between, equally at home in the den or the ditch kit.

Each of the devices discussed here--with simple, proven building instructions complemented by clear illustrations--has at one time or another been used for the practical business of navigation, and each is worth reviving for its beauty, historic value, or sheer usefulness.

Dennis Fisher has designed these projects with an emphasis on simplicity and reasonable cost. Everything can be scratch-built using easily obtainable materials and tools, and each is true to the spirit and function of the original instrument.

In 1858 Savannah businessman Charles Lamar, in violation of U.S. law, organized the shipment of hundreds of Africans on the luxury yacht Wanderer to Jekyll Island, Georgia. The four hundred survivors of the Middle Passage were sold into bondage. This was the first successful documented slave landing in the United States in about four decades and shocked a nation already on the path to civil war. In 1886 the North American Review published excerpts from thirty of Lamar's letters from the 1850s, reportedly taken from his letter book, which describe his criminal activities. However, the authenticity of the letters was in doubt until very recently. In 2009, researcher Jim Jordan found a cache of private papers belonging to Charles Lamar's father, stored for decades in an attic in New Jersey. Among the documents was Charles Lamar's letter book, confirming him as the author. The Lamar documents, including the Slave-Trader's Letter Book, are now at the Georgia Historical Society and are available for research. This book has two parts. The first recounts the flamboyant and reckless life of Lamar himself, including Lamar's involvement in southern secession, the slave trade, and a plot to overthrow the government of Cuba. A portrait emerges at odds with Lamar's previous image as a savvy entrepreneur and principled rebel. Instead, we see a man who was often broke and whose volatility sabotaged him at every turn. His involvement in the slave trade was driven more by financial desperation than southern defiance. The second part presents the "Slave-Trader's Letter-Book." Together with annotations, these seventy long-lost letters shed light on the lead-up to the Civil War from the remarkable perspective of a troubled, and troubling, figure.

Two things made the battleship possible: the harnessing of steam for propulsion and Britain's vast industrial power in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. With these two massive powerhouses available to ship designers, it was inevitable that change would come to the seas. For a short while France led the way with the launching of the Gloire, but Britain soon stole the limelight with the launch of HMS Warrior in 1863. The moment her keel hit the water the naval world was turned upside down and all other warships were rendered obsolete. But that event was as nought compared to the astonishing revolution in warship building caused by the launch in 1906 of the mighty Dreadnought. If Warriorhad caused a great upheaval, the impact of Dreadnought was positively Krakatoan. Such was her impact on the naval world that her very name became generic. All battleships built before her were classed as 'pre-Dreadnought' and all battleships built post-1906 came to be known as 'Dreadnoughts'. This is their story.

This amusing insight into Cunard's legendary liners begins more than fifty years ago when Paul Curtis joined the original Queen Mary as entertainments officer. Over a Cunard high tea in the Queens Room, Paul recounts the stories of these iconic ships. Then, over a drink in the Red Lion, he shares the tales of the antics of both passengers and crews. The facts are delivered in vivid detail - some of them things you should know and an occasional peep at things you shouldn't. Simply turning these pages releases a sniff of the sea and a whiff of champagne. Paul has worked, travelled upon or photographed every Cunard Queen ever built. He has an offbeat sense of humour and a keen appetite for the ridiculous. A life at sea can do that to you.

The islands surrounding Scapa Flow made one of Britain's best natural harbours, while the location at the north of Scotland protected the approaches to the North Sea and Atlantic. The naval base was important during both wars but what makes Scapa Flow famous is its wrecks, the remains of a German fleet, which once numbered some 74 vessels, most of which were scuttled in 1919, as well as the war graves of HMS Royal Oak and HMS Vanguard. The wrecks of the navy ships still survive, along with eight German warships for which a second war came and prevented salvage. Now a divers' paradise, the wrecks of Scapa Flow bring divers from all over the world and employ many in Orkney itself. This is the story of the ships of Scapa Flow, their sinking and their salvage, using many previously unseen images of the recovery and subsequent removal of many of the German battleships and cruisers to Rosyth dockyard in Fife for breaking up.

Insurance investigator Brent Calloway may be too hard-boiled to crack a smile, but he'll go to any length to crack a case. As tough, terse and tireless as insurance man Edward G. Robinson in Double Indemnity, Calloway's about to go to extremes to see to it that one ship makes it safely from Hawaii to the mainland. Going undercover and posing as ruthless killer Spike O'Brien, Calloway quickly discovers that on this ship nothing is what it seems, and no one can be trusted. With so much insurance money at stake, and the whole crew apparently in on the scam, this could end up being a voyage to the bottom of the sea.... And when the real Spike O'Brien shows up, it's Calloway who'll need a good insurance policy. Because life is cheap when the stakes are so high-on a ship of lies bearing a False Cargo. A veteran sailor who had voyaged long and far, L. Ron Hubbard knew well the life at sea. He once wrote in his journal: "There is something magnificently terrible about a savage sea in the unwholesome green of half-dawn.... The ship is an unreal, fragile thing, full of strange groans, and engine and sails are dwarfed in their puny power when matched to all the countless horsepower in wave and wind and current. The whole world is an awesome threat. Alone, wet, hungry, hand cramped upon a tiller, a sailor knows more truth in those hours than all mankind in his millions of years." Also includes the sea adventure "Grounded", in which a Royal Air Force lieutenant loses a friend and tarnishes his reputation, and sets out in search of redemption ... no matter the price.

In The Great Escape and Papillon, Steve McQueen embodied the tough guy on the run from captivity and injustice. But when it comes to toughness, McQueen is following in the daring and determined footsteps of Captain Spar.
Wrongfully accused, Spar has been condemned to suffer the brutality of the guards and the conditions on Devil's Island. But they haven't broken his will, and now, escaping, he has one mission in life: revenge. Spar's out to kill the man who put him into the devil's hands. But he'll have to take on a gallery of rogues who are as treacherous as the waters of the Caribbean.
Pressure is rising and a storm is brewing. But even in the face of a natural disaster, Spar discovers that nothing is more volatile than human nature--as temptation and danger are about to collide with Hurricane force.
In 1937 L. Ron Hubbard wrote to one of his editors: "You might have noticed that I am intensely wary of becoming any kind of a story specialist. I have sold the gamut of types: air war, air, western, detective, love, terror. . . . My one passion is to build a name for variety. . . . I like my freedom. I fight hard for independent individualism. I love to tie into a yarn and make it blaze in print." Hubbard's passion for writing, creativity and individualism certainly blazes across the page in stories like Hurricane.
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"""The excitement is made even more thrilling through the superb production Galaxy Audio puts behind these audiobooks. Excellent voice acting, sound effects that keep the story thrilling, and incidental music that makes you feel as though you are in an old time radio drama." "--Gather.com"
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Bob Sherman has a strength of character and purpose that would make Spencer Tracy proud. But signing on to the crew of the yacht Bonito, he'll need every ounce of his strength and courage to overcome the forces arrayed against him--in Sea Fangs.
He'll take on the forces of nature--a hurricane smashing into the boat off the Venezuelan coast. He'll stand up to the forces of ignorance--Bonito's incompetent captain. He'll defy the forces of corruption--the boat's owner, who stripped him of his land years ago. And he'll fight the forces of evil--a ruthless band of pirates who take all aboard, including the owner's daughter, to the uncharted Island of Death.
His fate intertwined with a woman whose father stole everything he valued, Sherman is about to discover that there's one force as powerful, unpredictable and dangerous as the sea itself . . . the force of a beautiful woman's love.
Hubbard had vast experience at sea. By the time he'd written this story, he had traveled twice to China on Naval vessels, had signed on a twin-masted schooner plying the Chinese coast, and had organized a five-thousand mile expedition aboard a four-masted schooner. He had first-hand experience of the violence of the sea--and of the men who ply it--as he depicts in Sea Fangs.
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"The cast brings alive romance, bravado, menace, and the thrill of escape." "--AudioFile
*Winner of AudioFile's Best Audiobook for 2011

As daring and defiant as Kirk Douglas journeying 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, there's no stopping diver Hawk Ridley as he takes the plunge into a briny world of untold riches and danger. The Caribbean is a fortune hunter's dream, salted with the gold of galleons long ago claimed by the deep. Now Hawk's headed for the Windward Passage of Haiti to stake his claim. But a rival team has also picked up the scent, and they're willing to turn the sea red with blood to get to the gold first. Fighting off ruthless competitors is nothing new to Hawk...but fighting off a beautiful woman is a different story. Is she an innocent stowaway or a seductive saboteur? Between the cool millions lying on the bottom of the ocean, and the boiling-hot race to grab it, Hawk's about to find the answer and make a discovery Twenty Fathoms Down that will blow you out of the water. When it came to research, Hubbard was not one to head for the library. He always went to the source-in this case a U.S. Navy deep-sea diver who agreed to show him the ropes and the danger. Hubbard admits it was daunting-even frightening-but he returned from the experience with all the first-hand knowledge he needed to fathom the true nature of life and death underwater. "Primo Pulp Fiction." - Booklist

Long before Captain Jack Sparrow raised hell with the" Pirates of the Caribbean, "Tom Bristol sailed to hell and back "Under the Black Ensign.""That's" where the "real" adventure begins."
"Bristol's had plenty of bad luck in his life. Press-ganged into serving aboard a British vessel, he's felt the cruel captain's lash on his back. Then, freed from his servitude by pirates, his good fortune immediately takes a bad turn . . . as the pirates accuse him of murder--and leave him to die on a deserted island. Now all he has left are a few drops of water, a gun, and just enough bullets to put himself out of his misery.
But Bristol's luck is about to change. Finding himself in the unexpected company of a fiery woman and a crafty crew, he unsheathes his sword, raises a pirate flag of his own, and sets off to make love and war on the open seas.
In his early twenties, Hubbard led the two-and-a-half-month, five-thousand-mile Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition. He followed that with the West Indies Mineralogical Expedition near San Juan, Puerto Rico, in which he completed the island's first mineralogical survey as an American territory. It was during these two journeys that Hubbard became an expert on the Caribbean's colorful history--an expertise he drew on to write stories like "Under the Black Ensign.""
"" "The ever-present soundtrack is never distracting and . . . lends a richness to the imagined picture." "--AudioFile

Incredible amount of detail about all those kickers from the past, including an appendix with comprehensive model-year information.
­­WoodenBoat

This book is the one to buy if you are interested in collecting antique outboard motors.
­­Boating