Good Reads

George M. Foy’s collective biography of a ship and a storm, and of the crew who would die in that storm, is a tour de force of nautical expertise coupled with sensitive treatment of one of the worst maritime disasters in our history.

I approached Nigel Calder’s latest book with the usual trepidation.

Unpredicted and thus far unpredictable waves of vast height and sudden destructive power have long animated the imagination and concern of deepwater sailors.

In all my miles as a cruising sailor, I’ve always been impressed by how well other cruisers could conserve things — money in particular.

Hawaii by Sextant: An In-depth Exercise in Celestial Navigation Using Real Sextant Sights and Logbook Entries By David Burch & Stephen Miller Starpath Publications, Seattle, Wash. 2014 Hawaii by Sextant is an exercise in ocean navigation by celestial navigation alone.…

Hawaiki Rising By Sam Low Island Heritage Publishing, 2013 Hardcover, 343 pages It has been nearly 38 years since the Polynesian voyaging canoe Hokule’a first set sail from Hawaii without instruments or charts, using only the stars, wind, and waves…

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…

The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World By Lincoln Paine Alfred A. Knopf, New York 2013 784 pages I first met Lincoln Paine when he was researching his book Down East: A Maritime History of Maine (2000).…

The Billionaire and the Mechanic – How Larry Ellison and a Car Mechanic Teamed Up to Win Sailing’s Greatest Race, the America’s Cup By Julian Guthrie Grove Press, 2013 323 pages, hardcover In The Billionaire and the Mechanic, award-winning San…

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…

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…

Wilderness and Rescue Medicine By Jeffrey E. Isaac, PA-C and David E. Johnson, MD Sixth edition Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2013 226 pages, softcover Jeff Isaac and David Johnson’s book continues to be the last word on wilderness and rescue…