what's your favourite book of boats, the sea & all things nautical?

[Andy G]

I have just finished the last*inthe series of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels, I think there is about 20 of them all up.IMHO the best*sea going yarns*I have read, far superior to old Horatio Hornblower. If you haven't come across them you may have seen the film 'Master & Commander' with our own salty Russell at the helm, actually*the film*was a loose compilation of 2 of the books in the series 'Master & Commander' & 'The Far Side of the World'

Anyone have any other suggestions for other great 'salty*books'?*

 

[dwhatty]

I don't have any one favorite and my favorites seem to change over time. But some* my mind keeps coming back to are:

Grey Seas Under by Farley Mowatt

HMS Ulysses by Alistair McLean (particularly the passage about turning a heavy cruiser around in a North Atlantic hurricane)

The Wreck of the Mary Deare by Hammond Innes

The Patrick O'Brian series

The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Montsarrat

WW II naval fiction by Douglas Reeman (who also writes as Alexander Kent)

The Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell (I know, not "salty" but see his modern sailing novels "Wildtrack" and "Killer's Wake" for good adventure reads)

-- Edited by dwhatty on Thursday 27th of January 2011 08:54:09 AM

 

[RCook]

Must be January!* Time for more book recommendations.* Here's a list I've accumulated.* I've read and recommend almost all of these, but a few are recommendations (from others on this forum) that I have yet to check out.* Hope the formatting is not too bad.


Nautical, Ocean, Cruising, Fishing, or Navy-related Books


Jack Aubrey series (Master and Commander, etc)*** Patrick OBrian
The Golden Ocean & The Unknown Shore (prior to Aubrey series)

Cochrane (the real captain who was the model for Jack Aubrey)*** Robert Harvey

Over the Edge of the World (Magellan's Circumnavigation)*** Laurence Bergreen

South* - a memoir of the Endurance voyage*** Ernest Shackleton

Endurance:* Shackletons Incredible Voyage*** Alfred Lansing

River Horse (Crossing the country in a C-Dory 22)*** Wm. Least Heat Moon

Blues (Bluefish and stories, on the coast near Cape Cod)*** John Hersey

Adrift (True story of survival raft crossing the Atlantic)*** Steven Callahan

Alaska Blues, (& others - travel and fishing in SE Alaska)*** Joe Upton

The Perfect Storm (sinking of the sword fishing boat Andrea Gail)*** Sebastian Junger

The Hungry Ocean (& others)*** Linda Greenlaw
Stories of sword fishing, by the real female captain involved in the Perfect Storm

Cape Horn (scary true story of sailing the southern ocean) *** Hemingway-Douglass

The Curve of Time (cruising the lower BC coast)*** M Wylie Blanchet

Heart of the Raincoast (Billy Proctors life and the coast of lower BC)*** Morton & Proctor

My Old Man and the Sea (Sailing around South America and Cape Horn)*** Hays & Hays

Maiden Voyage (Solo sailing around the world)*** Tania Aebi

Working on the Edge (& others, King Crabbing in the Bering Sea)*** Spike Walker

The Blue Bear*** Lynn Schooler

Cod (the fish that helped inspire the discovery and exploration of North America)*** Mark Kurlansky

Longitude (revolutionary improvement in navigation via invention of Chronometer)*** Dava Sobel

Alaska*** Michener

Travels in Alaska*** John Muir

Where the Sea Breaks its Back (discovery of Alaska by Bering and naturalist Stellar) *** Corey Ford

In the Heart of the Sea (Moby Dick was based on this)*** Nathaniel Philbrick

Dreadnought (19th century lead-up to WW I, development of battleships)*** Robert K. Massie
Castles of Steel (WW I battleships and battles)

Lone Voyager*** Joseph Garland

The Boat Who Wouldn't Float*** Farley Mowat
Grey Seas Under (Rescues on the high seas of the north Atlantic)

The Serpents Coil*** Farley Mowat

The Riddle of the Sands (cruising sailors discover German pre WW II buildup)*** Erskine Childers

The Cruel Sea (true stories - escorting convoys during WWII) *** Nicholas Monsarrat

The Yard Building a Destroyer at Bath IW*** Michael S. Sanders

The Wind in the Willows*** Kenneth Grahame

Sailing Alone Around the World*** Joshua Slocum

The Pacific, and Other Stories*** Mark Halperin

Compass*** Alan Gurney

Run Silent Run Deep (classic WW II Submarine story)*** Edward Latimer Beach

An Eye of the Fleet (Nathaniel Drinkwater series)*** Richard Woodman

Two Years Before the Mast*** Richard Henry Dana

Spartina, Compass Rose*** John Casey

The Wreck of the Mary Deare*** Hammond Innes

Carrying the Fire*** Michael Collins

The Captains Wife*** Douglas Kelley

Wanderer*** Sterling Hayden

Coasting (small boat voyage around England)*** Johnathan Raban

Old Glory (small boat voyage down the Mississippi)*** Johnathan Raban

Fishing With John (salmon trolling in lower BC)*** Edith Iglauer

Spilsbury's Coast (growing up & living in islands of lower BC)*** Spilsbury & White

Spinners Inlet*** Don Hunter

Two Against Cape Horn (real life sailing)*** Hal Roth

A Year in Paradise* (ICW)*** S. Watterson

Empire of Blue Water (Capt Morgan and the real pirates of the Caribbean)*** Stephan Talty

Divided Waters (US and Confederate Navies during the American Civil War)*** Ivan Musicant

The Nature of Boats: Insights and Esoterica for the Nautically Obsessed*** Dave Gerr

Captain Cook and the South Pacific*** Gwyther

The Two Ocean War (short history of the US Navy in WW II)*** Samuel Eliot Morison

 

[Codger2]

Anyone have any other suggestions for other great 'salty*books'?'Master & Commander' & 'The Far Side of the World'

The ship that was used to make the movie is at the San Diego Maritime Museum and
can be toured.

*

 

[Moonstruck]

"Six Frigates" by Ian W. Toll

Great history of the founding of the US Navy and its roll in winning The War of 1812.

I think John Adams is the unlikely hero of the Navy.* You can also see something about Sephen Decatur.* He was the hero of warwith the Barbary pirates as well as in The War of 1812.

 

[SOMERS]

The best book on cruising is the one you write yourself.or*
Robert Beebe's book "Cruising under Power"


Donald
Mainship Cruiseship

 

[skipperdude]

For good fun stories. Anything by Clive Cussler.

Interesting fellow. Found the Hunley (Confederat submarine)*

I met one of the divers.

SD

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

shrimp wrote:I have just finished the last*inthe series of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin novels, I think there is about 20 of them all up.IMHO the best*sea going yarns*I have read, far superior to old Horatio Hornblower.

I agree 100%.* I've read the entire series at least 3 times.* The stories are so rich and dense that I always pick up something new.

In the non-fiction category I recommend Alfed Thayer Mahan's, "The Influence of Seapower upon History, 1660 - 1783."* The section dealing with French Admiral Suffren reads like O'Brian.



*

 

[Conrad]

The Curve of Time by*M. Wylie Blanchet, which covers the 1930's adventures of a mother and her 5 children as they explore the BC coastline in a 25' powerboat.

 

[Jon]

Further to Mr. Cook's excellent list,
Any of the Tristan Jones yarns ( hard to determine where the tall tale starts but great reads)
Any of the Bernard Moitessier books
The first Around Alone nonstop circumnavigation by Robin Knox-Johnston,before he was a Sir.
Fridtjof Nansen's attempt to reach the North Pole in the Fram - best expedition book EVER.

Jon

 

[ARoss]

Mr Cook mentioned Samuel Eliot Morrison's "Two Ocean War" which is actually an abridgment of his original 15 volume history of the war, which he was commissioned to write by the Navy.

 

[KJ]

The Sea Wolf** Jack London

Two Years Before the Mast** Richard Henry Dana Jr.

 

[belizebill]

Michenr's Caribbean is a great read, but only if you like boats,pirates,battles and such nonsence .BB

 

[JohnP]

For some reason I like- Away from it All**-* by* Sloan Wilson

This is the story of a man and his bride who decide to ditch the 9 to 5 life and get a boat and head South.

Of course this is way back, when this kind of irresponsible lifestyle raised eyebrows.

Interesting how it all pans out and they learn alot about boating and life in general.

-- Edited by JohnP on Thursday 27th of January 2011 03:56:32 PM

-- Edited by JohnP on Friday 28th of January 2011 03:35:02 PM

 

[Daddyo]

Just finished "Six Frigates". A great read if your interested at all in how we came to have a navy, strong central government,* foreign policy, national debt, etc.

 

[Moonstruck]

Daddyo wrote:

Just finished "Six Frigates". A great read if your interested at all in how we came to have a navy, strong central government,* foreign policy, national debt, etc.

Daddyo, If John Adams hadn't known how to work PORK we never would have gotten those 6 frigates built, and the outcome of the War of 1812 would have been questionable at best.* Interesting book from a lot of stand points.

*

 

[Marin]

Castles of Steel by Robert K. Massie.* Terrific book about the British and German navies in WWI.* Massie is the one of the best writers on history I've ever read, and is the best on topics like this one.* The book is as much about the people on both side as the ships and battles.

His companion book, Dreadnought, is equally fascinating and covers the events and the arms race that led up to WWI.* Battleships were the nuclear weapons of their day and their development and the personalities on both sides are fascinating.

You do not have to read them in order, which is good as each one is near 1,000 pages long.

 

[Maxx]

A voyage for madmen peter Nichols.good book about the first around the world race.

ssn Tom Clancy. Submarine warfare with China.Based off a board game.Really a good book

The mystery of the Mary Celeste.Is the story of the Mary Celeste and what the author thought.Happened to the captain and his family.And the crew.

 

[Andy G]

'His companion book, Dreadnought, is equally fascinating and covers the events and the arms race that led up to WWI.'

I have a DVD called 'The Battleships' covers the same topic and events from 1906 through to 1939 the archive material is excellent*

 

[Keith]

My log books!

 

[FF]

"Sea Gypsy" , Peter Tangvald .