A detailed, almost daily, record giving an accurate and authentic narrative of over two years in the life of a common sailor before the mast in the American merchant service of the early 1800s. The book is written in journal fashion in the words of an ordinary sailor on the brig "Pilgrim" on her voyage from Boston, round Cape Horn to the western coast of North America. 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.

Originally published in 1930, this is a compact guide to seamanship for beginners sailing on inland waters. Although it is easy to assume that there is little seamanship required on the quiet waterways of Britain, this book advises the reader about some common mistakes and pitfalls. With an ever increasing amount of people choosing to take their holidays on boats, it has some useful information on safety, comfort and enjoyment and of course, the food that is practical to cook on board. Contents Include: On Setting Sail and Getting Under Way - Sailing; With a Note on Balance-Lugs - On Strong Winds and Reefing - On the Rule of the Road - Mooring, Stowing, Awnings, Down-Mast - About Knots - On Ship-Keeping - The Kitchen - Dictionary and Index

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.

Published to coincide with the Golden Globe Race's 50th Anniversary It lay like a gauntlet thrown down; to sail around the world alone and non-stop. No one had ever done it, no one knew if it could be done. In 1968, nine men - six Englishmen, two Frenchmen and an Italian - set out to try, a race born of coincidence of their timing. One didn't even know how to sail. They had more in common with Captain Cook or Ferdinand Magellan than with the high-tech, extreme sailors of today, a mere forty years later. It was not the sea or the weather that determined the nature of their voyages but the men they were, and they were as different from one another as Scott from Amundsen. Only one of the nine crossed the finishing line after ten months at sea. The rest encountered despair, sublimity, madness and even death.

'The attractions of dinghy sailing are many and varied. There is an enjoyment of being afloat and getting healthy exercise in the open air; the satisfaction of having secured a tactical victory and outsailed one's competitors is another source of delight, while the appreciation of the skill of someone else in sailing a better race should not fail to arouse pleasure and interest.' This book is a great source of interest and knowledge as well as a spur to successful racing and a guide to proud ownership. Contents Include: Periodic Survey and First Aid - Rigging, Wire and Wire Rope - Rigging - Cordage - Varnish, Enamel and Other Finishes - Scraping and Smoothing - Applying Varnish - Masts and Spars - Blocks, Fittings and Fastenings - Centreboards and Rudders - Sails - Getting Them Right - Keeping Them Right

There are many excellent books on sailing but very few devoted solely to dinghies. This is a book suited to those whose interest is mainly in just plain sailing, rather than those who wish to race. It contains a number of fairly original suggestions from the author who has found them to be successful on his own general purpose dinghy. A useful book for anyone interested in 'messing about' with as well as in their boats. Contents Include Sailing General Purpose Dinghies What to Sail and Where Mainsails Fore-Sails More Sails Rigging, Ropes and Knots The Hull and Fittings The Centre Board Ground Tackle Wind And Water Launching, Landing and Moorings Points of Sailing Reefing Sailing Single-Handed Trailing (A Mooring in Your Garden) Safety Precautions What to Wear Olla Podrida The Beaufort Wind Scale Cordage Some Splices and Hitches

The chain of islands from the Virgins to the southern Lesser Antilles is one of the most desirable tropical cruising grounds as well as the most accessible for North American and European sailors. The Caribbean Sea is usually benign, but the conditions are very different from your home waters-you must learn to sail with the grain of wind, weather, current, and climate, or these forgiving waters will turn into a punishingly rough old sea. Learn to sail in harmony with the winds and currents that surround the Virgins, the Leewards, and the Windwards, and your Caribbean sailing experience will be the good one you deserve. This updated third edition of Caribbean Passagemaking is an entertaining mine of information for the sun-soaked passage planner as well as the dreamer back home. Here is the full, vital background to help skipper and crew enjoy sailing the Caribbean islands. Topics include: *How to achieve easier passagemaking and sail in comfort *Which are the safe and easy harbors *How to spot the weather windows *Prevailing winds and currents *Ideal equipment for Caribbean waters Plus a wealth of practical, down-to-earth hints and tips.

Plans included: Ravenna Coast (1:50 000) Porto di Ravenna (1:20 000) Porto di Rimini (1:10 000) Porto di Fano (1:7500) Porto di Ancona (1:25 000) Porto di San Benedetto del Tronto (1:10 000) Marina di Pescara (1:15 000) For this 2015 edition the chart has been fully updated throughout showing revised depths where required. Various harbour developments are shown at Porto di Ravenna, Porto di Rimini, Porto di Ancona and Marina di Pescara. The plan of Ancona Coast has been removed and replaced with two new harbour plans - Porto di Fano and Porto di San Benedetto del Tronto. The sketch plan of Pescara has been replaced with a fully georeferenced WGS84-compatible plan.

This second edition, 2018, shows - 8 new marinas, 11 new pontoons & 13 new sets of visitor moorings - also new roads and ferry routes. This high quality topographical map is specially designed to show the `Big Picture' for the yachtsman planning to cruise in the West of Scotland at a convenient scale of 1:350,000. It provides a unique combination of the best information shown on a conventional road map with selected nautical details. The map covers the sailing area from the Clyde to Ullapool and the Outer Hebrides as far north as Stornaway. The topographical base map is a quite detailed and shows the information that is important to most visitors - towns, villages, roads, railways, stations, ferry crossings, airports, islands, bays, headlands, straits, mountains, relief, rivers and lakes with all this detail in slightly muted colours. Over this is superimposed the sailing information - highlighted in bright colours to stand out - Marinas, pontoons, visitor moorings, selected anchorages, diesel supplies, areas with especially strong tidal streams, and a few selected pubs. The format of the map is designed to be clear, convenient and user friendly.

"Not So) Old Men and the Sea" covers portions of six years of the author's life. This was a time when he, his wife and seadog Bingo experienced first-hand lessons as they prepared for and then negotiated, the legendary Great Circle of Eastern, Canadian, Midwestern and Southern waters aboard their 38' cruiser, The Family Fjord. In all, they transited over 100 locks and 6000 nautical miles.

"Not So) Old Men" is a blueprint for the novice cruiser who dreams of taking extended coastal or river voyages "on his own bottom." It starts with the glories of cruising and rapidly gets specific about boat, power and options. There is an overriding focus on safety. "(Not So) Old Men and the Sea" presents a step by step to determine how, with what equipment, and where you will cruise. Author Pete Prestegaard thoughtfully includes money-saving tips.

After examining steps leading to the launch of a newly acquired craft, including example names which struck his fancy, the author discusses "crew," various events which could occur, river running, the impact of weather, and boat care. The book wraps up with entertaining letters home, and illustrative photos taken along the way. Log entries, summaries of desirable cruiser characteristics, a planned itinerary, checklists, perspectives from the first mate, and references for further research wrap up this valuable work.

Enjoying the boat living lifestyle! An essential introduction to sailboat living that provides detailed information on how to successfully and happily live aboard a boat. This book is filled with a wealth of fundamental and practical advice with tips on: purchasing a boat, understanding boat systems, maintenance and boat care, projects for the do it yourselfers, cost factors, and an international recipe section. Also included are sources for boat equipment. A strong emphasis is placed on the safety issues and current laws pertaining to the operation of sailboats.

Robotic sailing offers the potential of wind propelled vehicles which are sufficiently autonomous to remain at sea for months at a time. These could replace or augment existing oceanographic sampling systems, be used in border surveillance and security or offer a means of carbon neutral transportation. To achieve this represents a complex, multi-disciplinary challenge to boat designers and naval architects, systems/electrical engineers and computer scientists.

Since 2004 a series of competitions in the form of the Sailbot, World Robotic Sailing Championship and Microtransat competitions have sparked an explosion in the number of groups working on autonomous sailing robots. Despite this interest the longest distance sailed autonomously remains only a few hundred miles. Many of the challenges in building truly autonomous sailing robots still remain unsolved.

These proceedings present the cutting edge of work in a variety of fields related to robotic sailing. They will be presented during the 5th International Robtoic Sailing Conference, which is taking place as part of the 2012 World Robotic Sailing Championships.

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The first book in Marsali Taylor's thrilling Shetland Sailing Mysteries series. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Val McDermid, Faith Martin, J.R. Ellis, LJ Ross and Ann Cleeves! '... a well written, enjoyable story with a proper murder-mystery plot... Highly recommended.' Puzzle Doctor, Classic Mysteries Cass Lynch's big break has finally arrived - she feels like she has struck gold after being asked to skipper a Viking longship for a film. However this means returning to the Shetland Islands, the place she fled as a teen. When a corpse unexpectedly appears onboard the longship, she can run from the past no longer: Cass and her family come under intense scrutiny by the disturbingly shrewd Detective Inspector Macrae. Even if Cass's local knowledge and sailing wisdom help to clear the Lynch family of suspicion, they may not be enough to stay ahead of the murderer's game. . . and avoid becoming the next victim. Previously published as Death on a Longship. _____________________________ Praise for the chillingly addictive, nail-biting series: 'A fascinating book and a fascinating series so far. And there are more in the series! Yaaay!!' 5* Reader review 'Excellent first volume of detective stories set in Shetland... Good story line with notable twists to the conclusion. Would recommend' 5* Reader review 'Very believable characters and delightful descriptions of Shetland that really make you feel you are there' 5* Reader review 'Lovely series of crime books set in beautiful Shetland... Complex and fascinating' 5* Reader review

A tour of over 30 minor harbours around the coasts of southwest Britain from Lyme Bay to the River Severn. Illustrated with evocative colour photography, Dag Pike's narrative brings to life a contrasting collection of small historic harbours, which although infrequently visited have a fascinating story to tell. 'Hidden Harbours of Southwest Britain' aims to paint a picture of what harbours were like in the past and what they are like now. They can make an interesting alternative for visiting yachtsmen looking for somewhere off the beaten track to visit and explore, perhaps by small tenders. They can tempt visitors looking to trace the industrial archaeology of harbours and the reasons for its rise and decline, or walkers along the coastal paths. Many of the harbours were built to last and they can be rich in history and rewarding to visit both by land and sea. Dag Pike has 60 years of experience in a wide variety of ships and boats having worked with Trinity House on their lighthouse tenders and with the RNLI as an Inspector of Lifeboats. He has raced offshore powerboats, sailed competitively and set many long distance records, and has cruised extensively around the coasts on both power and sail yachts. He holds a Master's certificate and a Yachtmaster Ocean. He has written 36 books including his autobiography and writes for many yachting magazines around the world. He now spends part of the year living in Cornwall and sails in the Falmouth Working Boats. "This is a real gem of a book for sailor and landlubber alike. Dag's choice of photography is particularly relevant, the page layout with the aerial topography depicting the harbour is well thought out. Thoroughly recommended". - Nautical Magazine

Nathaniel G. Herreshoff was the greatest yacht and marine designer and builder this country has ever produced. Captain Nat Herreshoff is credited with the introduction of more new devices in the design of boats than any other ma, and the great yachts that he designed for the successful defense of the America's Cup caught the imagination of the world. The period of his greatest activity from 1890 to 1920 was known as "the Herreshoff Era," so greatly did his personality and the yachts he designed dominate the sport. He was a man of manifold talents and unusual genius and his career makes one of the most fascinating biographies. Many of closely guarded secrets of Captain Nat, the great master, are reveled in these pages which teem with human interest, philosophy and the accumulated wisdom of a long lived genius.

A handy, splash-proof, on-the-water aide memoire of everything the skipper and crew need to know - or find out quickly - when cruising: from lights, shapes and sound signals to knots, ropes and engine troubleshooting. With diagrams and illustrations throughout, this quick reference guide will help to keep you safe when out at sea.