This is not just an instructional book---it's an insight into a sailor's approach to the sea, boats, and the ever-changing dynamic of wind on the water

"A learn-to-sail book with heart."--"WoodenBoat"
"A real winner...a masterful blend of straightforward text with delightful and instructive illustrations. Quite simply a great primer on sailing and the world of boats for readers of all ages."--"Cruising World"
"Teaches sailing with flair and poetry."--"SAIL"
"A great walk-through for the novice, both entertaining and thorough."--"Sailing"
"Sits in a class by itself. Elegantly simple, encyclopedic in scope, and a delightful reference for any novice--with lots to offer intermediate sailors, too."--"Kalamazoo Gazette"

If you never sailed, sailed once, or have sailed for a lifetime, this book is perfect for beginners but deep enough content for those interested in going beyond basics. Revised and expanded to include racing and GPS navigation, "The Complete Sailor" is not just a how-to sail book, but a book that teaches you how to become a sailor.

Inside you'll find: An all-in-one, comprehensive introduction to sailing Up-to-date information on techniques and approaches offered by the changing nature of the sport Exquisite pen-and-ink illustrations

Topics include: Wind Sense; Working Winds; Getting Underway; The Boat; Rigging; Sails; Under Power; Rules of the Road; Anchoring; Ropework; Marlinspike Seamanship; Emergencies; Sea and Sky; Navigation; Racing; Trailering

Sailing: A Beginner's Guide takes the reader step-by-step from his or her first sail to an almost intuitive mastery of small boat handling. the delightful drawings combined with the author's appealing writing style successfully explain topics in manageable double page spreads. The book unravels the mysteries of reading the wind, guides the reader through his or her first tenuous steps aboard, and then beyond to navigation, safety, seamanship and even trailering, conveying the magic as well as the nuts and bolts of sailing. It is a gentle introduction for those who are just starting out, and will provide many evocative images for those who already sail. It's all here, more successfully captured than ever before in one book. Inspirational for novice and old hand alike. 'A learn-to-sail book with heart' - WoodenBoat ' A real winner...a masterful blend of straightforward text with delightful and instructive illustrations' - Cruising World 'Teaches sailing with flair and poetry' - SAIL

Spark a passion for sailng and the outdoors in your child

From the Moonbeam Children's Book Awards bronze medal winner

Ever since humankind began seafaring, boats and shoreline adventures have produced sturdy, independent, creative, self-reliant kids. From the author of the bestselling "Complete Sailor" and proud father of a boy mariner, here is the book for all parents who want to introduce their kids to the world of boats, boating, sailing, the shore, and the sea. It provides dozens of adventures and activities for kids, and a plethora of projects for you and your kids to do together.

Topics range from how-to to fanciful, in random organization so that each excursion into the book turns up unrelated gems on facing pages. "The Anti-Pirate Potato Cannon" encourages your kid to get outdoors and on the water, to build things, to try things, to cultivate their curiosity, to learn self-reliance, and to get a giant dose of the magic of seaside adventure. Loaded with things for kids to do--build a rope ladder; build a Huck Finn raft from PVC pipe; catch and fillet a fish; go crabbing; skip a stone; body surf; waterski on bare feet; chart a cove; learn the great sea battles; build a sandcastle; navigate; win a sailboat race; paddle a sea kayak; and a whole lot more. Designed to cultivate a kid's curiosity about the natural world.

Topics include: Where's the wind coming from; How high is that wave; An anti-pirate potato cannon; Brew your own biofuel; Make a dugout canoe; Build a Huck Finn raft from PVC pipe; Skip a stone; Build a sandcastle; Carve a paddle; Row a boat Escape a rip current; Go kite sailing; Navigate by the stars; Carve a half-hull model; What's on the bottom; A journey to the abyss; Don't wrestle an alligator; A dinghy camper; How to dive with mask and snorkel; Build a motorboat from cardboard tubes; Body surf; Recognize ships; Discipline in the Age of Sail: cat-o-nine tails, hanging from the yardarms; Steer without a rudder; Chapter 25. Tie up to a dock; Reading a lines drawing; Whatever floats your boat; Play nautical capture the flag; Paddle a sea kayas; Build a rowboat; Signal across the water; Capture plankton in a net; Tie knots and splices; Make a rope ladder; Make a chart of your favorite cove; Throw your own beach clam bake; Make a catboat-race weather vane; Fight off a shark; Heave a monkey's fist; Ski on your own bare feet; Fillet a fish... and cook it on your engine; Your own ditty bag; A proper sailor's knife; How to stand up on a PWC; How to get up on a wakeboard; Go clamming; Build a human pyramid on water skis; How to poop in a boat: How marine heads work; Diver's tube raft; Submarine a PWC; Survive a sinking; Finding east or west All you need is the north star; The bosun's pipe; Ships in a bottle; Five sea battles that changed history; Use the five secrets of winning a sailboat race; Make a viewing bucket to see underwater; Cast a fly; Survive a hurricane; The Eskimo roll; Stow that chart; Goggles from a soda bottle; Find fish fast; Repair a sail; Whalewatching; Go on a plastics hunt; Don't be left in the dark; Pets at sea: how to train your cat or dog for boating; The green and clean boat; Ride the disk; Go crabbing; Careers at sea; Pass your boating license exam; Origins of sea terms; The best way to coil rope; Carve a slalom turn; Keeping watch; Throwing a cast net; Keep what you catch - start an aquarium; Heroes of the Sea: Shackleton, Slocum, Day, Knox-Johnston, Heyerdahl, etc.; Books & Stories (Three Men in a Boat, Crunch and Des, Riddle of the Sands, Swallows and Amazons); Stage paintball sea battles; Read the messages in clouds; Get unlost in the fog: sager forecaster; Know how to handle waves; Semaphore signals; Glacier surfing; Great voyages by young mariners; Make a weather station

Magic surrounds us. It is the stuff of creation. The Enlightenment did not kill it with science, nor did the Industrial Revolution extinguish its usefulness with mechanation. And whether mankind is aware of it or not, this timeless power continues to have a hand in the fate of mortals. There exists in this world, things that logic and reason cannot explain, and there are beings that have never been captured or catalogued. Elves may feel cramped in the big city, but they can get by. As the wild lands disappear, werewolves may have to be a bit more careful, but they still find time to hunt. And devils and demons still prey upon the souls of the wicked and the unwary. Come, explore this world of mystery, wonder, danger, and horror. You may find it to be not unlike the world in which you live. Modern Magic contains twenty-six short stories of fantasy and horror and thirty-five photo-illustrations.