Can anyone recommend any non-fiction books with a nautical theme ?
Ive recently read Rob Mundle's Fatal Storm about the '98 Sydney to Hobart, and his follow up, Hell on high seas which tells some great sea survival stories. Both highly recommended. Ive also just struggled through 700 pages about William Bligh and The bounty, which was also very interesting.
Im particularly interested in something easy to read about the first fleet, or to be honest, about anything boating related....
Any other suggestions ?
Cheers,
Craig.
What about Kon-Tiki trip?
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kon-Tiki
Francis Chichester around the world trip
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Chichester
Or others that have sailed around the world.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-handed_sailing
Australia 2 and the Americas Cup
There was an excellent exert from a book featured in The Surfers Journal. It was about a surfing fisherman. If I find the mag at home I'll tell you the title.
"a voyage for madmen"
"adrift"
the one about the robertson family that get hit by a whale in south pacific (google it)
"dove"
once is enough (classic jury rigged survival in the 1950's)
"Incredible Voyage" Tristan Jones' (don't know how non fiction it is but it claims to be and is a good read)
any of the lin and larry pardy books
and last but not least "around alone" joshua slocum
or just google small boat voyage and read away (atom website is a good read with lots of book sugestions I
armchair sailing gotta love it!
ship of gold in the deep blue sea. amazing book. part biography part treasure hunt of deap sea salvage. one of the best books i have ever read.
also left for dead is good (about fastnet race, everyone abandons ship whilst old mate is unconscious being dragged behind on a lifeline)
The best book about the sea,square rig ships and the men who sailed them, an absolute ripper of a read. Derek Lundy "The way of a ship".
The grand master of nautical fiction (albeit loosely spliced around real events) is Patrick O Brien (wrote Master and Commander) and a seabag full of others. If he gets hold of you ,you will end up with a twenty plus collection of novels. His turn of phrase and use of period authentic prose is a joy.
For Australian exploration "King, of the Australian coast" Fraid cant remember the author is a great read.
another vote for ship of gold , loved it
and since seafever got me thinking of ye old days... "a year before the mast" the original dropping out of uni and joining the circus book (cept of course he joined a ship rounding the horn)
"The Cruise of the Cachelot" written by an ordinary seaman who happened to be literate. It is an account of the round the world voyage of a whaling ship back in the late 1700s or early 1800s from the perspective of a lower deck seaman.
I bought a hard back copy of this book in very good condition from a second hand shop at Woolongabba in Brisbane for 50 cents in about 1985. Unfortunately I loaned it to somebody after I had read it and never got it back.
If anybody comes across a copy of this book I will give you $100 for it straight up.
For those interested in true accounts of sailing adventures written by an Australian, you should read anything written by Alan Villiers.
Among his book titles are The Set of The Sails, Cruise of The Conrad, By Way of Cape Horn, The Sons of Sinbad and The Quest of The Schooner Argus.
He was there at sea at the end of the Golden Era of the Cape Horn Clippers that carried grain from Port Lincoln, South Australia to Portsmouth, England.
There are many character building concepts in his writings that are mostly forgotten in this day and age of instant gratification.
If you desire a complete yacht manual with personal anecdotes, Donald M. Street's, The Ocean Sailing Yacht is great. You could probably pick up a copy of that on E-Bay for $100.
Probably the most depressing sailing book to read is The Strange Voyage of Donald Crowhurst. If you commit suicide after reading it, it is not your fault.
Another commendable and collectable classic is Sailing The Farm by Ken Neumeyer. One man's version of how to survive the apocalypse on a yacht. I believe that one is available on the net in PDF.
So google that lot and let us know what you come up with.
In the meantime SumFingWong, you should consult your friend, HuFlungDung before you post siwwy questions ong folum.
try "the last grain race"by Eric newby
then go for a weekend on the Leeuwin,and it will all make sense
"Two years before the mast" by Richard Henry Dana Jr if youre chasing a tallship era read
"Born to Win" by John Bertrand about the 1983 Australia II Americas Cup Challenge (and victory)
^^^^^^ oh yeah, 2 years before the mast..... twice as good as my suggestion, oops
"Batavia" by Peter Fitzsimons
Set in 1629 in WA about the pride of the Dutch East India Company.
Variously described as Lord of the Flies meets Nightmare on Elm Street 
