Rough Passage to London: A Sea Captain’s Tale

Rough Passage to London: A Sea Captain’s Tale

Rough Passage to London: A Sea Captain’s Tale By Robin Lloyd Sheridan House, 2013 Hardcover, 368 pages Author Robin Lloyd had no intention of writing a historical novel when he began researching his seafaring ancestor Capt. Elisha Ely Morgan. He had inherited a letter from Charles Dickens to the captain as well as several others from Dickens to the captain’s son and wanted to know more — more about Morgan, his connections, and more about this iconic age of Atlantic commerce. His new novel, Rough Passage to London, is the fruit of his labor and follows the young Morgan as…
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Suddenly Overboard – True Stories of Sailors in Fatal Trouble

Suddenly Overboard – True Stories of Sailors in Fatal Trouble

Suddenly Overboard – True Stories of Sailors in Fatal Trouble By Tom Lochhaas McGraw-Hill/International Marine, 2013 185 pages, softcover Suddenly Overboard is a collection of true stories of real maritime casualties — drownings, capsized boats, groundings and more. Author and avid sailor Tom Lochhaas delivers them in a no-nonsense narrative style that quickly grabs your attention and gets you thinking: “that could have easily been me.” He presents the stories as lessons of just how quickly things can and do go wrong afloat, and most importantly, why they go wrong. Most of these stories are not about dramatic losses brought…
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Deer Isle’s Undefeated America’s Cup Crews

Deer Isle’s Undefeated America’s Cup Crews

Deer Isle’s Undefeated America’s Cup Crews – Humble Heroes from a Downeast Island By Mark J. Gabrielson The History Press, 2013 176 pages, paperback The history of the America’s Cup is rich and fills many a library shelf. Most of the books on this great sporting challenge have been focused on decades of club rivalry, wealthy owners, quirky captains, the yachts, and their designers. Little attention has been given to the scores of men who crewed the boats. Thanks to Mark J. Gabrielson’s new book, now at least a few of those talented sailors are being given the recognition they…
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A Storm Too Soon – A True Story of Disaster, Survival and an Incredible Rescue

A Storm Too Soon – A True Story of Disaster, Survival and an Incredible Rescue

A Storm Too Soon – A True Story of Disaster, Survival and an Incredible Rescue By Michael J. Tougias Scribner, 2013 208 pages Award winning author Michael J. Tougias is well known for his fast-paced maritime disaster stories. Overboard!, Fatal Forecast, and The Finest Hours are all gripping true stories of strength and survival, and his newest, A Storm Too Soon, may prove to be the best yet. In May 2012 a professional yacht captain and his crew left Florida for a trans-Atlantic passage aboard their 47-foot sailboat Sean Seymour II. After just five days into the voyage, they were…
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Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built it, and the Millionaire Who Can’t Really Afford it

Grand Ambition: An Extraordinary Yacht, the People Who Built it, and the Millionaire Who Can’t Really Afford it

By G. Bruce Knecht Simon & Schuster, 2013 256 pages When asked a question about the cost of operating a large yacht, J.P. Morgan is said to have responded, “You have no right to own a yacht if you ask that question.” Cost is relative, and yet time and time again individuals of all means are willing to lay it all on the table to acquire the boat of their dreams. In his new book, Grand Ambition, journalist, sailor and author G. Bruce Knecht follows one man’s quest to build and own a 187-foot luxury yacht, an accomplishment that he…
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Mystery Islands – Discovering the Ancient Pacific

Mystery Islands – Discovering the Ancient Pacific

Mystery Islands – Discovering the Ancient Pacific By Tom Koppel University of the South Pacific Press, Suva, Fiji Islands, 2012 345 pages, soft cover   Author, journalist, and educator Tom Koppel’s new book Mystery Islands is one man’s odyssey across a vast ocean to a region of islands that comprise Remote Oceania and Near Oceania. The region has more than 20,000 islands with only half of them inhabited. Seafaring people from this unique region of the world have explored and populated the South Pacific and beyond bringing with them a wide variety of cultures and skills including a keen ability…
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The Natural Navigator – The Rediscovered Art of Letting Nature Be Your Guide

The Natural Navigator – The Rediscovered Art of Letting Nature Be Your Guide

The Natural Navigator – The Rediscovered Art of Letting Nature Be Your Guide By Tristan Gooley The Experiment, LLC, 2012 307 pages, soft cover Ever wonder what life was like before GPS, LORAN-C, LORAN-A? Before the chronometer or compass? In his new book, The Natural Navigator, explorer and navigator Tristan Gooley shows us the way back to the true roots of navigation in the natural world that surrounds us. He brings navigation on land and sea back to the basics that guided our ancestors and unlocks the directional clues hidden in the sun, moon stars, and sea breeze. On land,…
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Cornell’s Ocean Atlas: Pilot charts for all oceans of the world

Cornell’s Ocean Atlas: Pilot charts for all oceans of the world

Cornell’s Ocean Atlas: Pilot charts for all oceans of the world By Jimmy and Ivan Cornell Cornell Sailing, Ltd., 2011 120 pages (available from Paradise Cay Publications, Arcata, Calif.) World cruising expert and author Jimmy Cornell has teamed up with his son Ivan to produce an atlas of pilot charts for all the oceans of the world. Unlike older pilot charts that include older historical data, these charts are based on the latest meteorological data gathered during the previous 20 years. The atlas includes a comprehensive discussion of the nomenclature, definitions, as well as comments on principal sailing routes. It…
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