There are literally thousands of questions that run through your mind when you start the search for your first or next great boat. Fortunately for all, Art Edmunds has put his many years of experience as a naval architect, engineer and surveyor into this book, Buying A Great Boat. This book will answer those questions and more. Regardless of your boating knowledge, this book should be the first stop in the quest for your next boat.

Art begins with the type of boat that is proper for your type of use, whether it is diving, fishing or cruising. He then moves on to all the facets of a boat, its power and its systems. This will insure you have the understanding needed to choose the correct boat for that usage.

As you read further, you will learn what makes the difference between a poorly built boat and a well built boat. Many of the glossy boat brochures fail to mention more than the eye appealing details of the boat. Art explains what the brochures can't: the methods of manufacturing, what works and what doesn't. Art will be the first to point out that just because a boat looks good doesn't mean it is good. When you are finished with this book, you too will know the difference.

Illustrated

Most World War II submarine stories are glorifications of war written by submarine captains about their own boats. The USS Pampanito, however, was not a typical submarine. The sub and its crew caused plenty of destruction, but they found the pinnacle of their honor and fame in a dramatic sea rescue. Gregory F. Michno relates the experiences of the crewmen -- both enlisted men and officers -- who served on the USS Pampanito.

The Pampanito story begins with the boat's construction in 1943, continues through its six combat missions, and concludes with its decommissioning after the war in 1945. The heart of the book is the September 12, 1944, attack on a Japanese convoy carrying English and Australian POWs from the Burma-Siam Railway (of Bridge on the River Kwai fame) to prison camps in Japan. The Pampanito helped sink two of the prison ships, unwittingly killing hundreds of Allied soldiers, but then returned to rescue the victims. The crew picked a record seventy-three men from the sea.

In the face of killer storms, fires, piracy, and terrorism, container ships the length of city blocks and more than a dozen stories high carry 90 percent of the worlds trade. This is an account of one ship's voyage and of the sailors who daily risk their lives to deliver six million containers a year to United States ports alone. Inside these twenty-foot and forty-foot steel boxes are the thousands of imports -- from chinos and Game Boys to garlic and frozen shrimp -- without which North America's consumer society would collapse.

To explore this little-known and dangerous universe of modern seafaring, Richard Pollak joined the "Colombo Bay" in Hong Kong and over the next five weeks sailed with her and her 3,500 containers across the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. En route, this mammoth vessel called at Singapore and Colombo, passed through the Suez Canal (toll: $250,000), then put in at Malta and Halifax before tangling with Hurricane Karen on the two-day run to New York. Here is the story of the ship's unheralded twenty-four-man company; of the unflappable British captain, Peter Davies, a veteran of four decades at sea; of Federico Castrojas, who like the rest of the hard-working Filipino crew must daily confront the loneliness of being away from his family for nine months at a stretch; of Simon Westall, the twenty-one-year-old third mate, who reveals what it is like to be gay in the broad-shouldered world of the merchant service.

It is a world where pirates in the Malacca Strait sneak up behind ships at night in fast power boats, then clamber aboard and either rob the unarmed sailors at gunpoint and escape into the dark or throw the crewinto the sea and hijack the ship, plundering her cargo and sometimes repainting her and setting out to do business under another name and flag. It is a world where families desperate to get to the United States or Europe pay thousands of dollars to the Chinese Snakeheads and other criminal gangs, who secrete these wretched migrants in stifling containers; after a week or more at sea these stowaways arrive in the Promised Land either starving or dead.

Pollak sailed on September 13, 2001, into a changed world, on one of 7,000 container ships whose millions of uninspected boxes suddenly had become potential Trojan horses in which terrorists could transport weapons of mass destruction into the heart of the United States.

Throughout his riveting narrative, Pollak interweaves the insights of Herman Melville and Joseph Conrad, whose masterful portrayals of seafaring make the voyage of the Colombo Bay a dramatic reminder of what a hard and rarely reported life merchant seamen have always led out on the "unhooped oceans of this planet."

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 Karluk set out in 1913 in search of an undiscovered continent, with the largest scientific staff ever sent into the Arctic. Soon after, winter had begun, they were blown off course by polar storms, the ship became imprisoned in ice, and the expedition was abandoned by its leader. Hundreds of miles from civilization, the castaways had no choice but to find solid ground as they struggled against starvation, snow blindness, disease, exposure -- and each other. After almost twelve months battling the elements, twelve survivors were rescued, thanks to the heroic efforts of their captain, Bartlett, the Ice Master, who traveled by foot across the ice and through Siberia to find help.

Drawing on the diaries of those who were rescued and those who perished, Jennifer Niven re-creates with astonishing accuracy the illfated journey and the crew's desperate attempts to find a way home.

On the afternoon of July 20, 1998, the Liberian passenger ship Ecstasy had departed the Port of Miami, Florida, en route to Key West, Florida, with 2,565 passengers and 916 crewmembers on board when a fire started in the main laundry shortly after 1700. The fire migrated through the ventilation system to the aft mooring deck where mooring lines ignited, creating intense heat and large amounts of smoke. As the Ecstasy was attempting to reach an anchorage north of the Miami sea buoy, the vessel lost propulsion power and steering and began to drift. The master then radioed the U.S. Coast Guard for assistance. A total of six tugboats responded to help fight the fire and to tow the Ecstasy. The fire was brought under control by onboard firefighters and was officially declared extinguished about 2109. The major safety issues discussed in this report are as follows: adequacy of management safety oversight, adequacy of the fire protection systems, adequacy of passenger and crew safety, and adequacy of engineering system design. As result of its investigation of this accident, the Safety Board makes recommendations to the U.S. Coast Guard, American Classic Voyages, Carnival Corporation, Inc., Carnival Cruise Lines, Crystal Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line, Orient Lines, P&O Princess Cruises International, Ltd., Radisson Seven Seas Cruises, Regal Cruises, Renaissance Cruises, Inc., Royal Olympic Cruises, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., and Silversea Cruises, Ltd., ABB, Inc., and the International Association of Classification Societies.

Retired Coast Guardsmen Denis Noble captures the stories of the brave crews who man the U.S. Coast Guard's small boat stations. Each year, these everyday heroes respond to over 37,000 calls for assistance and save more than 4,000 lives. Lifeboat Sailors bears witness to the courage of these unique men and women, and sounds the alarm for the rescue of this cherished American institution.

In 1851, Elanor Creesy, in a position almost unheard of for a woman in the mid-nineteenth century, served as the navigator on the maiden voyage of the clipper ship Flying Cloud -- traveling from New York to San Francisco in only eighty-nine days. This swift passage set a world record that went unbroken for more than a century. Upon arrival in San Francisco, Flying Cloud became an enduring symbol of a young nation's frontier spirit. Illustrated with original maps and charts as well as historical photographs, David Shaw's compelling narrative captures the drama of this maritime adventure.

Genset, Diesel Engines And Transmissions, Gasoline Engines And TransmissionsOutboard EnginesGenset: Types, sizing and usage; Advantages of each.Diesel Engines And Transmissions: Cooling systems, Fuel controls, additives and filters, Exhaust systems, Proper engine room ventilation, Engine electrical system, Power take-off, Oil changes, Tune up, Types of transmissions, Transmission cooling systems.Gasoline Engines And Transmissions: Cooling systems; Fuel controls, additives and filters; Exhaust systems; Proper engine room ventilation; Engine electrical system; Power take-off, Oil changes; Tune up; Types of transmissions; Transmission cooling systems.Outboard Engines: Maintenance concerns and common repair problems relating to engines up to fifty horsepower.Appendixes: Addresses and phone numbers for Manufacturers, Distributors and Retailers; Tools and supplies needed; Thorough glossary of boating terms.

A treasure chest of information, ideas, projects, and maintenance hints for the hands-on boat owner, Modern BoatWorks is novel in that it covers a wide variety of topics, including mechanical, electrical, communications, and maintenance information. It is not just another do-it-yourself text, although it includes some DIY projects. Its purpose is to stimulate, inform, and assist boat owners who have an interest in technology and the hands-on aspects of operating, maintaining, and improving their boats. Many of the chapters of this book started out as magazine articles which were intended to explain some of the newer technologies and their benefits. Others are directed toward helping the reader to use the technologies, or, in some cases, be prepared when they let you down.Modern BoatWorks offers details on improvement projects including the correct tools to use and hints to make the job easier and safer. There are also several chapters on the fine art of maintenance and some suggestions for innovative tools and methods to help take the mess and drudgery out of the tasks. Even though not all readers will own a diesel engine, install a hatch, rework an electrical system, or need to customize an instrument panel, they will still find valuable information in every chapter. Modern BoatWorks is a potpourri of practical knowledge that will lead to a better understanding of boats in general - knowledge that can be applied in a wide range of situations, help solve a multitude of problems, and enhance the boating experience. The chapters are grouped by a tenuous commonality, but the book is meant to be browsed at the whim of the reader. Enjoy And remember, the best things in life are afloat. Illustrated.

On April 4, 1998, a tow of the M/V Anne Holly, which was traveling northbound on the Mississippi River through the St. Louis Harbor, struck the Missouri-side pier of the center span of the Eads Bridge. Eight barges broke away and drifted back through the Missouri span. Three of these barges drifted toward the President Casino on the Admiral, a permanently moored gaming vessel below the bridge on the Missouri side of the river. The safety issues discussed in the report are: the advisability of the Anne Holly captain's decision to make the upriver transit and the effectiveness of safety management oversight on the part of American Milling, L.P.; the effectiveness of safety measures provided for the permanently moored vessel President Casino on the Admiral; and the adequacy of public safety for permanently moored vessels. NTSB's recommendations to the USCG, the Research and Special Programs Administration, the States of Missouri and Illinois, the cities of St. Louis and East St. Louis, the National league of Cities, the American Association of Port Authorities, the American Gas Association, the American Public Gas Association, President Casino, Inc., Laclede Gas Company, and American Milling, L.P. are included.

Arthur Edmunds is one of the country's top naval architects and his knowledge of the boat building industry has never been more apparent than in this book. Art has written this book so the reader, unfamiliar with the construction process, will understand every aspect of the process. But this is not a beginner's-only boat building book. Advanced craftsmen and top professionals have equally as much to learn from Art's years of experience. Art takes the reader from the first step of Building a Fiberglass Boat to the last step, in a manner that will certainly inspire all who ever pondered the notion. He expertly explains why a competent craftsman would want to undertake the seemingly overwhelming task of building his own boat. Art has described the two most popular sizes and styles of boats as examples for the project; a twenty-five-foot open boat and a thirty-three-foot cruising boat. Sail is also explained. By referring to these example boats, the reader can envision a boat of any size, limited only by the imagination. Everyone can learn from this book. If you have a boat just waiting to be built, you will now have the knowledge. If you never plan to build a boat, you will understand the entire process, making the Buying Experience far less confusing. There are no Trade Secrets, only knowledge not yet learned.

Frank Brumbaugh has lived boating and written articles for most of his life. In that time, he has tackled every conceivable problem a boater could ever be confronted with on a boat. For the first time, he has put those years of knowledge into an easy-to-understand book, Basic Boat Maintenance. This book contains a wealth of information any boat owner can use to perform routine maintenance and repairs. Along with this, Frank has provided his recommendation for a time schedule to follow for this work. Basic Boat Maintenance is highly illustrated with graphics showing in detail the steps needed to accomplish most tasks. Additional graphics show the correct charge state for the batteries, a schedule of maintenance, which tasks to complete, and when they should be completed. The information is presented in a straightforward, easy-to-follow writing style. This allows any boater, regardles of skill level, from novice to advanced, to use the information quickly and easily without fear of mistakes during the projects. After completing the book, you will have the confidence to maintain and repair your own boat.

After many years in the boating industry and writing countless articles for your favorite boating magazines, John Fleming has put his wealth of knowledge into his new book, The Complete Guide To Gasoline Marine Engines.

This book is not limited to the routine maintenance tasks or simple repairs that many engine books detail. These pages take the reader deep inside the engine by discussing the design, function and results of the entire "engine system". The book's design allows the reader to start with the basics and progress through each skill level until a thorough understanding of engines is achieved.

Although this book delves deeply into the technical aspects of engines, to more clearly relate the repair procedures, the information remains extremely easy to understand and follow throughout each phase.

You will not find another book that will explain gasoline marine engines as completely or easily as this book.

One fact is clear; when you complete this book you will know more about gasoline marine engines than you ever thought possible.

Illustrated

Nature never intended the Brazos River for navigation, but before the coming of the railroads Brazos steamboats were a necessary, if always erratic, form of transport. And there were men to meet the challenge. One captain, heedless of shallows, shoals, snags, and falls, boasted that he could tap a keg and run a boat four miles on the suds. Based on rich archival sources, this authoritative and entertaining book tells of the men and boats that braved the river from the earliest days to the late 1890s. Steamboat captains and plantation aristocrats, business tycoons and empire builders, mud clerks and river rats, all were obsessed with a single idea: to open the Brazos for steamboats from its headwaters to the Gulf of Mexico. The river was dredged and snags were removed, boats were designed with shallow draft, and boat owner, captain, and pilot (often one and the same) pitted their skills against the river. But the Brazos was recalcitrant. Seasonal rises silted in manmade channels and left behind new snags to catch the unwary. And as railroads inched their way across the state, the need for river transport dwindled. Railroad bridges across the Brazos finally created barriers that even a steamboat riding a "red rise" could not negotiate. By the turn of the century, the dauntless Brazos paddlewheelers were only a memory, but, even today, the dream dies hard along the river.