Water Sports category: 1998 books

Gonzo's Flying Dog is the story of two penniless hitchhikers who decided to buy a sailboat, move aboard and sail down the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Neither of them had ever even set foot on a sailboat, much less did they know how to sail. They hitched a ride to New Orleans, got jobs at a supermarket,...

Bob Bitchin has a unique perspective from which to describe The Sailing Life. As founder and editor of the highly successful magazine Latitudes & Attitudes, he surveys and comments on the good and the bad, the funny and the sad, the practical and the theoretical of the sailing scene. This collection...

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...

This is a personal account of a decade spent developing a surf life saving facility in Mandurah Western Australia. A few volunteers overcame the odds when dealing with the local council and the organisation’s state body who together held the power and infl uence in decision making. Development of...

Incorporated in 1739 on the east bank of the Cape Fear River, Wilmington lies 28 nautical miles from the Atlantic Ocean. The city grew to become the largest in the state before the Civil War, and it remained so until the second decade of the 20th century. In 1840, Wilmington became the terminus of the...

When three friends gathered at Baxter�s Boathouse in 1972 to discuss their Memorial Day weekend plans over a few beers, none of them would have suspected that they were on the verge of creating one of the prestigious sailing events on the Atlantic coast. The Figawi Race began as a challenge among a...

"People have told us how lucky we are, to get to sail far away. My typical response is to say luck has little to do with it, that we've worked so very hard, made many difficult decisions, and given up so much for so many years to get to this place on the Earth. But on nights like this, under...

VHF Afloat explains how to use your VHF DSC radio. It covers licensing the equipment and gaining the operator certificate, and then takes you through each type of call. Each procedure is clearly illustrated using the yacht Sierra, to show how the radio is used on a passage to communicate with marinas,...

‘Hand (man) wanted for long voyage in small boat. No pay, no prospects, not much pleasure.’ So read the crew notice placed in the personal column of The Times by H.W. ‘Bill’ Tilman in the spring of 1959. This approach to selecting volunteers for a year-long voyage of 20,000 miles brought...

Author Doug Sanderson takes you along on a sailing trip that spans two years. He abandons his job in Seattle and purchases a Formosa 46 in Florida. After a frantic couple of months getting the boat ready, Doug sets sail for whatever adventures await him. His trip includes Florida, The Bahamas, Turks...

Rogue waves remain something of a mystery. Long believed to be a myth or an exaggeration, they haven't been the subject of any kind of serious in-depth research - until now. This book makes rigorous marine science accessible to all, exploring the causes and frequency of rogue waves, and the reasons...

Navigation is a subject best learned outside the classroom so this book is written to get you started as soon as possible. Once you've mastered a few simple principles, it helps you to get afloat and stay out of trouble as you learn the necessities and build confidence. Using straightforward explanations...

Discover what the modern yacht navigator needs to know for a stress-free voyage along the coast and out of sight of land. This book is designed to raise the game of the inshore day-sailor to fully fledged offshore navigator capable of handling any sea passage short of an ocean crossing. The book contains...

Originally published London 1931, this is a well illustrated book that will prove invaluable to the class of yachtsmen for whom it is intended, with much information that will still be found practical and relevant to the modern reader. Contents include: The Selection of a Boat; The Effect of the Wind...