This is a book with no practical purpose whatsoever. As any fan of Dave's would probably guess, a book by him won't make you a better sailor, and it won't provide any instruction on boat maintenance. But it will entertain - his light but observational writings tap the rich well of all those things that sailors know but few dare admit. The Impractical Boat Owner is a collection of Dave's columns for Practical Boat Owner magazine, expanded for the book, and with additional 'Lessons Not Learned' hints and tips boxes, all accompanied by Jake Kavanagh's wonderful cartoons. Taking us from Dave's first flounderings afloat to more recent, er, flounderings afloat, themes covered include: - first attempts at sailing - how not to sail singlehanded - mysteries of maintenance - how not to sail with a dog - the impenetrable mysteries of navigation and weather - how not to race The Impractical Boatowner is an antidote to all that's written about expensive shiny new yachts, self-improvement, the quest for qualifications and practical skills.

Chart scale 1: 350 000 Plans included: A Coruna (1:50 000) Ria de Corme e Laxe (1:75 000) Ria de Camarinas (1:50 000) Ria de Muros (1:75 000) Approaches to Ria de Arousa (1:150 000) Ria de Arousa (1:150 000) Cabo de Cruz (1:40 000) Vilagarcia (1:35 000) Illa de Arousa to Cambados (1:40 000) Ria de Pontevedra (1:150 000) Ria de Vigo (1:150 000) Baiona (1:85 000) Viana do Castelo (1:30 000) Leixoes (1:20 000) Barra do Rio Douro (1:20 000)) On this edition the chart specification has been improved to show coloured light flashes. There have been numerous updates to harbour developments across the chart. The plan of Ria de Camarinas has been extended westward to include a larger scale approach and full charting of Las Quebrantas bank. There has been general updating throughout.

Chart scale 1: 350 000 Plans included: Figueira da Foz (1:15 000) Nazare (1:15 000) Porto de Peniche (1:10 000) Cascais (1:15 000) Lisboa Approaches (1:65 000) Lisboa (Lisbon) (1:30 000) Sesimbra (1:15 000) Entrance to Rio Sado (Setubal) (1:40 000) Setubal (1:40 000) Sines (1:30 000) On this edition the chart specification has been improved to show coloured light flashes. There have been numerous updates to harbour developments across the chart, this includes completed harbour works at Sines. The plan of Lisbao Approaches has been extended westward so to include larger scale approaches to both Lisboa and Cascais. There has been general updating throughout.

Wales to the East Coast of Ireland Plans included: Cardigan (1:40 000) New Quay (1:20 000) Aberystwyth (1:20 000) Aberdovey (1:50 000) Barmouth (1:30 000) Porthmadog (1:75 000) Tremadog Bay (1:75 000) Menai Strait (1:80 000) Menai Strait - The Swellies (1:25 000) Conwy (1:30 000) Dun Laoghaire (1:25 000) Dublin Bay (1:90 000) Wicklow (1:10 000) Arklow (1:15 000) Wexford (1:75 000) On this edition the chart specification has been improved to show coloured light flashes. The firing practice areas have been updated and the extents of the Skomer I. Marine Reserve is shown. There has been general updating throughout.

Triathlon Swimming reveals the rewarding and rigorous Tower 26 program for mastering open-water swimming by the world's leading open-water swimming coach Gerry Rodrigues and former pro triathlete Emma-Kate Lidbury. Triathlon swimming is unique in its challenges and physical and mental limits. Over his lifetime of over 100 open-water swim race wins and over 30 years of coaching, Rodrigues has perfected the art and science of open-water swimming. His famed Tower 26 swimming program trains athletes in both the pool and in rough open water conditions, making triathletes and swimmers skilled, confident, capable, and fast in any condition. In Triathlon Swimming, Rodrigues and Lidbury break down open-water swimming technique and show how triathlon swimming requires different form. From kicking to sighting, Triathlon Swimming describes the best technique for swimming in open water. This guide shares the best gear for open-water swimming, shows how to create your own effective open-water swim workouts, and shares a plan for race prep and taper. Tower 26 offers the best open-water swimming technique. With Rodrigues' coaching approach and Lidbury's first-hand experience and insight, Triathlon Swimming can help you become a master open-water swimmer for faster, fearless racing.

Nothing beats a natural swimming hole for cooling off on a scorching summer day in Texas. Cold, clear spring water, big old shade trees, and a quiet stretch of beach or lawn offer the perfect excuse to pack a cooler and head out with family and friends to the nearest natural oasis. Whether you’re looking for a quick getaway or an unforgettable summer vacation, let The Swimming Holes of Texas be your guide. Julie Wernersbach and Carolyn Tracy highlight one hundred natural swimming spots across the entire state. The book is organized by geographic regions, so you can quickly find local places to swim—or plan a trip to a more distant spot you’d like to explore. Each swimming hole is illustrated with an inviting color photo and a description of what it’s like to swim there, as well as the site’s history, ecology, and conservation. The authors include all the pertinent info about admission fees and hours, parking, and on-site amenities such as showers and restrooms. They also offer tips for planning your trips and lists of the swimming holes that are most welcoming to families and pets. So when the temperature tops 100 and there’s nothing but traffic in sight, take a detour down the backroads and swim, sunbathe, revel, and relax in the swimming holes of Texas.

The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company constructed the most thrilling, innovative and graceful boats ever built in the United States. Here the finest of the Herreshoff designs afloat today are presented with insightful commentary on design evolution in every facet-from lines to displacement to hardware, accompanied by full-colour images of each vessel both in detail and under way, and unique colour reproductions of Herreshoff's archival plans and drawings. Each entry incorporates a history of the boat (or class), its owners, race results and fate, celebrating the many that still grace the waters.

"I first met her in Tollesbury and immediately fell for her. She was an -Essex girl through and through but not like all the others, although she was shallow. As far as I could see then there were only two problems. There was a big age difference-fifty-five years. She was born in 1904 and I was ten back then in 1959. None of this mattered to me but the second problem would be trickier: my Dad loved her too." So begins Nick Imber's affectionate account of his family's love affair with the barge yacht Nan, who was to give so much pleasure to three generations, across twenty years from the 1950s to the 1970s. We share Nick's childhood excitement on first encountering Nan, his teenage pride in skippering her for the very first time, and his quiet pleasure as his own children take to the water in her. Nan took good care of them all; whether exploring a peaceful East Coast river, braving a gale at sea, or drying out on an idyllic Devon beach, she demonstrates that the humble barge yacht has so much to offer the young sailing family.

The Triumph of the Amateurs is the story of the lost world or professional rowing in America, a sport that attracted crowds of thousands, widespread betting, and ultimately corruption that foretold its doom. It centers on the colorful careers of two New York City Irish boys, the Biglin brothers John and Barney, now long forgotten save for Thomas Eakins lovely portraits of them in their scull. If the bestseller The Boys in the Boat portrayed the good guys of the U.S.'s 1936 Olympic crew, the Biglins were the Bad Boys in the Boat. Rascals abounded on and off the water, where rowdy fans often outdid modern soccer thugs in violence, betting was rampant-as was fixing-and spectators in the tens of thousands came out to see it all. Racing to Oblivion traces the sport from its rise in the years before the Civil War on through the Gilded Age to its scandalous demise and eventual transition into a purely college amateur sport. In addition Barney Biglin's later career as holder of sinecures offers a colorful glimpse into late 19th-century New York City political corruption. Illustrated with 40 black and white and color illustrations, including Thomas Eakins famous paintings of the Biglin brothers rowing on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia in 1873.

Covering a time of great social and technological change, this history traces the development of the four classic aquatic disciplines of competitive swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo, with its main focus on racing. Working from the beginnings of municipal recreational swimming, the book fully explores the links between swimming and other aspects of English life society including class, education, gender, municipal governance, sexuality and the Victorian invention of the sports amateur-professional divide. Uniquely focused on swimming -often neglected in analytic sports histories- this is the first study of its kind and will be an important landmark in the establishment of swimming history as a topic of scholarly investigation. This book was previously published as a special issue of the International Journal of the History of Sport.

At the end of the First World War, there were 270,000 demobilised Australian soldiers in Europe. Getting them home after the Armistice was a task of epic proportions that would take more than two years. In the meantime, how to keep these disgruntled, damaged men with guns occupied? In a word: sport. The Oarsmen tells the story of the servicemen who survived the war to row for the coveted King's Cup at the 1919 Royal Henley Peace Regatta. Competing against crews from the US, New Zealand, France, the UK and Canada, the Australians were a ragtag bunch of oarsmen thrown in an old-fashioned boat and expected to race. Many had seen the worst of the action during the war at Gallipoli and the Western Front, and carried scars both physical and psychological. The baggage they brought to the boat would soon threaten to capsize the whole endeavour. Combining first-hand accounts with lively prose, this never-before-told story approaches the First World War from peacetime and illuminates history in vivid and compelling detail. Interweaving the soldiers' personal stories from before, during and after the war, The Oarsmen paints a fascinating picture of how these men, and society, transitioned from an unprecedented war to a new sort of peace.

For the past 12 years, Jo Winter has been cruising these waters in her 45' Island Packet, Brother Wind, and she describes it as one of the most diverse, beautiful, unspoilt and undiscovered sailing areas in the world. The book covers thousands of miles of coastline, a multitude of islands and inland up many of the region's navigable rivers. Along with a comprehensive range of information to help with planning a cruise in this region, the introductory section details weather information, including coverage of typhoons, and also indicates piracy risk areas to be avoided. Sailing directions include small scale area plans to orientate the navigator and larger scale plans to show details of harbours and anchorages. Full colour throughout, the plans and numerous photographs illustrate key features and places. Whether transiting the region or planning a more extended cruise along any of the coastlines bordering the South China Sea, this guide is an essential companion.

All the information necessary for preparing to plank, hanging and fastening and finishing off. Every type of wooden planking system, technique and method is covered along with all fastening options. Advice and illustrations all based on specific projects large and small.

Katherine Grainger is not only Great Britain's finest ever woman rower, but also she has won more Olympic medals than any other female British athlete in any sport. At Rio de Janeiro in the 2016 Olympic Games, at the age of 40, and less than two years after coming out of 'retirement', with a different partner, she came within one second of retaining her women's Double Sculls gold medal. On 3 August 2012, on the water at Eton Dorney in the London 2012 Olympic Games, she - and Anna Watkins - had rowed to glory in the women's Double Sculls. Three times an Olympic silver medallist, she could finally hang up her oars as an Olympic champion to add to her six World Championships and eight World Cup gold medals - but she didn't. Katherine's story is a remarkable one - proof that nice people can be winners and dedication and hard work pay off. Incredibly bright, Grainger combined her athletic career with her education and she has degrees from Glasgow and Edinburgh universities and a PhD from London, in subjects as diverse as law, philosophy and homicide. No wonder she is so much in demand as a motivational speaker. Katherine Grainger: The Autobiography continues her inspirational story taking in her post-London activities, the return to training, finding a new double sculls partner in Vicky Thornley, the highs and lows of their attempt to qualify for Rio 2016 and eventually their astonishing row to another silver medal.

Martin O'Scannall loves the old, the eccentric, the offbeat - the quirky if you like; the wandering off into byways, the exploration of half-forgotten snippets of history. And Galicia, his home for the past decade or more, is ideal territory for indulging that taste. Galicia is a time warp: rain-swept, isolated, savage and gentle by turns, as far a cry from the blazing Costas as it is possible to imagine. This book is a conversation with the past, conducted in a very old, engineless gaff cutter, armed with the Admiralty Pilot, a gallant crew, and a sense of the ridiculous. We encounter, but in unexpected ways, the likes of Drake, Nelson, the ill-fated HMS Serpent, Celtic myth and legend, and the reminiscences of those who have gone before, all interspersed with the business of managing an old yacht in the old way: Walker log, paper charts and all. Beginning, as he says it has to be, with the dreaded storm at sea.

Based on his journals, with literary assistance provided by a ghostwriter, this 1832 publication gives an account of the early life and later voyages of the American sealer and explorer Benjamin Morrell (1795 1839). The titular adventures consisted of explorations of the Pacific and Antarctic between 1822 and 1831. The text describes unfamiliar bodies of land, sometimes violent interactions with native populations (several of Morrell's crew were killed in the Carteret Islands), and encounters with the slave trade. Morrell also claimed to have been the first American captain to cross the Antarctic Circle. However, there are doubts about the veracity of his narrative, as reported distances, times and locations, particularly in the Antarctic, have proven to be inaccurate. This has been attributed variously to error, exaggeration or outright deception. Morrell himself admits to enhancing his narrative by drawing on information furnished by other navigators."

Harvard University coach and acclaimed rowing author, Dan Boyne, tells a humorous story of his first year of freshman crew, including a sub plot of personal redemption against an insufferable football player who has bullied him throughout high school. After being accepted at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, Boyne decides to take up rowing, the only sport that takes place far off campus, on the adventurous waters of The Connecticut River. There, he quickly experiences the unique rigors, rewards, and colorful personalities of the sport, not knowing that his nemesis has decided to try out for crew, at rival school Coast Guard Academy. As racing season approaches, Boyne becomes part of an exceptional freshman lightweight boat, with high hopes to win the National Championships in Philadelphia that year, but his final fears are realized when he discovers that his old high school archenemy is also doing well, and rowing in the very same position as he is-the seven seat.

Recreational boating presents more than its fair share of legal hazards. An unsuspecting buyer may discover too late that the yacht is encumbered by secret maritime liens incurred by a previous owner. A marine insurer may deny coverage for a total loss based on a seemingly innocent misrepresentation in the insurance application. A boat owner may mistakenly believe that a rescue from a grounding is covered by a prepaid towage plan, when in fact the rescuer will be making a very expensive claim for marine salvage. These and other dilemmas unique to maritime law appear repeatedly in the court decisions relating to recreational boating. This book focuses on those maritime law issues that are most likely to affect the typical recreational boater. It explains the legal concepts in plain language, giving examples from reported cases. Where possible, the author provides practical advice on how to avoid the most-common pitfalls. It is a guide for all those in the recreational boating industry who want a better understanding of maritime law, and even for lawyers looking for a primer in this very specialized area of the law.

32 classic big wave surfing stories from the sport's pioneers John Long's classic collection of big wave surfing stories heralded a new era in surfing literature. Focusing on those elite athletes who live to challenge the ocean's fury, The Big Drop is more than just another surfing book. It is both an extraordinary collection of thirty-two true tales and a treasure-trove of insight into the evolution of big-wave surfing-with particular focus on the pioneers of the 1950s and 1960s and the skills necessary to challenge huge waves. Providing a comprehensive look at the sport's eras, locations, and legends, with a host of stunning images and a glossary of surfing terms, it is a truly unforgettable look at the obsession of those who face down monstrous waves. Revealing the tantalizing and terrifying truth about riding big waves, The Big Drop is a must for any surfer inclined to tackle large surf in thought or in fact.