The Sailors Classics library introduces a new generation of readers to the best books ever written about small boats under sail

The incredible story of Captain John C. Voss, who, in 1904, completed a three-year journey across three oceans in a Native American dugout canoe converted to sail.

The Sailors Classics library introduces a new generation of readers to the best books ever written about small boats under sail

When the 46-foot Tzu Hang sailed from Australia into the vast Southern Ocean in December 1956, her crew of three couldnt know what terror awaited them.

Sailors, dreamers and adventurers will love this account of a family cruise from Annapolis to Santa Barbara. A tale filled with humor, love, pirates and storms.

With horrors and heroes, murder and mayhem, "Mutiny on the Globe" brings to life an amazing chapter in seafaring history. In 1824, two years into a whaling expedition out of Nantucket, Samuel Comstock organized a vicious mutiny, butchering the officers of the "Globe" in cold blood. His plan: to set sail for an uncharted island and declare himself king. But his nightmarish fantasy was short-lived: upon landing, Comstock was murdered by his fellow mutineers, while six innocent seamen seized the "Globe" and escaped. Researcher and whaling historian Thomas Farel Heffernan does an expert job, shedding light on this shocking, action-packed episode of maritime history-and on one of the most bizarre and frightening megalomaniacs that ever went to sea.

A story to inspire the disabled, and in fact all people, to dream and set sights well past their comfort zone.­­Christopher Reeve

The inspiring tale of a voyage across the Atlantic

Paralyzed from the chest down when she was thrown from a horse, Liz might have sunk into a twilight of self-pity but for her indomitable spirit. She met and eventually married Pete Fordred, who had been paralyzed in a car accident. With no prospects in the beleaguered Rhodesia of 1980, they formed a crazy plan: to build a boat and sail around the world. That they were broke, were disabled, had never sailed, and lived 1,000 miles from the ocean in a country where boat equipment was almost impossible to obtain wouldnt stop them.

An Ocean to Cross is a tale of courage, self-empowerment, and ultimate triumph. Liz Fordreds most eloquent answers to a storm of nay-saying were her seemingly inexhaustible reservoirs of fortitude and optimism, and an amazing marriage that grew stronger with each new obstacle. This good-humored and forthright narrative tells the inspiring story of how she and Pete worked tirelessly together to rebuild their lives against all odds, and ultimately sailed to a new life in America.

Its illustrations on how the knots are tied are among the best I have seen.
­­Mariners Log

With nearly 300 superb photographs illustrating the ins and outs of the 20 most useful nautical knots and splices, this reissue of the critically acclaimed Nautical Knots Illustrated will transform any beginner into a boater who knows the ropes. Each knot or splice is presented on two facing pages, and an illustrated glossary and quick-glance overview of common linehandling commands are also included.

Fascinated since childhood with Leif Eriksson’s triumphant sailing voyage a thousand years ago from Greenland to North America, Hodding Carter could not shake his admittedly crazy idea of reenacting Eriksson’s epic journey in a precise replica of the precarious Viking cargo ship known as a knarr. This extraordinary book is the account of how he pulled it off. By turns thrilling and slapstick, sublime and outrageous, A Viking Voyage is an unforgettable adventure story that will take you to the heart of some of the most magnificent, unspoiled territory on earth, and even deeper, to the heart of a journey like no other. A celebration of the people and places Carter visits and a treasure-trove of fascinating Viking lore, here is an unforgettable story of friendship and teamwork–and the thrill of accomplishing a goal that once seemed impossible.

Wise, funny and beautifully written, The Water in Between is an inspiring-and cautionary-tale for anyone who has ever wanted to escape into another life.

A stint in the army and a broken heart lead Kevin Patterson, who has never sailed before, to buy a 37-foot sailboat. He recruits a more experienced sailor-another brokenhearted guy-and together they set sail for Tahiti, hoping to burn away their miseries in hard miles at sea.

At first Patterson finds life under sail distinctly less heroic than the travel literature that has inspired him. But when his companion remains behind, Patterson single-handedly sails his boat across the North Pacific and through a perilous four-day gale, truly testing himself against the elements.

Something happens when men and women put a plank between themselves and the water and set out on a voyage, whether for a day or a lifetime. Now Sail Away brings together the very finest writing about travel on water by a stellar crew of writers. Among those to be included are Joseph Conrad, Jacques Cousteau, Roald Dahl, Lawrence Durrell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, E.M. Forster, Ernest Hemingway, Thor Heyerdahl, Jonathan Raban, Paul Theroux, Mark Twain, Jules Verne, David Foster Wallace, and Evelyn Waugh. Packaged as the perfect companion to Beach, with atmospheric photos by Beach photographer Mittie Hellmich, Sail Away will be an important addition to the tradition of best-selling books about ships and the sea.

Lying buried on Isle of Arran is a bottle of whisky. On the far side of the world a highly pressurized sales manager decides that the time has come for a change of gear. He wants to return to Europe, and instead of taking the plane he finds himself Ryusei, a beautiful 44-ft wooden sloop. Together with friends who form a happy gang of 'Three Men in a Boat, ' he sets sails. Taking a long route from Asia via Africa and the Americas they head to Scotland ??? to dig up the whisky.

Sam McKinney has spent many of the best parts of his life on the water -- sailing a dory along Canada's west coast, crewing on the deck of a river steamer, shipping out deep-sea in freighters across the Atlantic. In the middle of his life, when he sold the hull of an ocean-going sailboat which had absorbed two years of his love and labour, he looked at his boat-building shed and thought, "Hmm. With all this lumber, I could build a boat and go across the continent, instead." So he did. In the Gander he travelled up the Columbia and Snake rivers, down the Missouri, up the Mississippi and Illinois and on, ever eastward, to New York City. It took him four summers and three Ganders, one of which had to be abandoned in the mud of the upper Missouri, but he made it. This is a lovely and evocative memoir by a perceptive and thoughtful writer.

It was January 19, 1988. The waters were calm and the skies cloudless as five fishermen set off on a week-long trip off the Costa Rican coast. Five days later, their twenty-nine-foot wooden craft was foundering against thirty-foot waves as a dreaded north wind -- El Norte -- struck with full force. Set adrift in a badly leaking vessel, they faced the perils of more storms, shark attacks, near-madness, a mutiny, and bouts of starvation and thirst. Continuously bailing, the five men endured a record 142 days lost at sea -- until they were rescued 4,500 miles across the Pacific Ocean.

The curved lines of a sailing ship resemble the inverted dome of a great cathedral, surrounded not by soot-covered buildings and crowded streets but by a vast liquid wilderness. This physical and symbolic connection is at the thematic heart of Cathedral of the World, a collection of essays in which writer and professional small-boat sailor Myron Arms sets out on a journey both physical and spiritual, seeking to explore what he calls "the primal spaces" and to articulate the sailor's age-old quest to understand his world and himself. Arms, author of the Boston Globe bestseller Riddle of the Ice, weaves the experiences of four decades at sea into a series of reflections that range across half a lifetime and thousands of ocean miles. During these journeys, he takes readers to some of the last wild places on Earth, climbing the hills of the North Atlantic in a full gale, watching the flight of seabirds, listening to the night-breath of whales, and pondering the questions that all such encounters inspire.

What John Muir did for western forests, what Edward Abbey did for the desert, Arms now does for the ocean. In a voice that is reverent, impassioned, and clear-sighted, he celebrates the wilderness he has come to love, mourns its wounds, and demonstrates for all of us its power to heal.

This authoritative anthology of SAIL magazine articles contains a wealth of invaluable advice, tips and opinions from leading yachtsmen, sail designers and manufacturers. It represents current ideas and practice for cruising and racing sailors alike, imparting advice on how to rig everything from dinghies up through ocean racers. By means of this anthology, information which the experts take for granted will assist the ordinary sailor to keep abreast of the times.

Sailors Secrets contains over 1,000 tips, suggestions, evaluations, and nuggets of hard-won advice from more than 300 seasoned veterans.

Instructive, humorous, biting, and challenging, Sailors Secrets can be opened anywhere and enjoyed. Its wide-ranging chapters cover routine maintenance, understanding weather, safety at sea, storm strategies, piloting, engine troubleshooting, gear and outfitting, and simple solutions to complex problems.

Michael Badham and Robby Robinson have created the nautical equivalent of an experts forum. Don Casey, Dennis Conner, Bob Rice, Dave Gerr, Hank Hinckley, Bill Biwenga, Sheila McCurdy, Katy Burke, Meade Gougeon, Buddy Melges, Walter Greene, Steve Callahan, and a host of others share the insights theyve developed over millions of sea miles.

These are the 2000 editions of NOAA's classic tidal current tables, now no longer published by the government. Included are the times and velocities of ebb and flood currents, information on rotary currents, Gulf Stream information, and data on thousands of locations in North America, South America, and Asia. Mandated by the U.S. Coast Guard for use aboard commercial vessels.