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OT- sailing books, movies, etc

PostPosted: Wed Jan 25, 2023 2:53 pm
by slash2
Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but it’s winter here and boat building is hit or miss. It does give me time though to read and watch all things sailing so I stay in the lane.

I’d be interested to see what you all recommend for good books, movies, etc. I’ll list a few of my favorites:

“The Southseaman” by Weston Martyr. May be hard to find, but worth the search. The author was an avid sailor and this book details when he quit his job and journeyed up to Nova Scotia with a friend to build a yacht in the mid 1920s. Full of detail and humor, it will also test your knowledge of sailboat terms. This is one of this books you will reread.

“Captains Courageous” was a Kipling book, but I’m referring to the 1937 movie adaptation. It’s a great story, but watch it for the incredible sailing scenes of the Grand Banks cod fishing schooners. They are the real thing.

“The Way of a Ship” by Derek Lundy. This book details the sailors life on the last of the square rigged ships of the late 1800s. It’s an incredible story of what a seaman had to go through and how poorly they were treated. Its incredible what a person can do when they must.

Re: OT- sailing books, movies, etc

PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 2:00 pm
by Bflat
Good topic.
I like the whole series of "Horatio Hornblower" books by C.S. Forrester. Taking place within the British navy during the Napoleonic wars, it's pretty compelling historical fiction. Sir Winston Churchill thought highly of it. Interestingly, Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry said that he, in part, modeled Captain Kirk after Horatio Hornblower.

Another good one is Joe Richards, "Princess." He buys an old Friendship Sloop, fixes it up, and sails the U.S. East Coast. Takes place around the 1940's.

Bob

Re: OT- sailing books, movies, etc

PostPosted: Thu Jan 26, 2023 8:04 pm
I recently enjoyed reading "The Compleat Cruiser: The Art, Practice, and Enjoyment of Boating" by L. Francis Herreshoff.
It describes cruising around Martha's Vineyard and Buzzards Bay - the sort of sailing you would enjoy doing in your Pocketship.

Doug

Re: OT- sailing books, movies, etc

PostPosted: Fri Feb 10, 2023 9:49 pm
by slash2
Thanks for the suggestions. I acquired one of the Hornblower books as well as The Compleat Cruiser. Very different books but I enjoyed each one. Reading Four Months in a Sneak-box now. No sail on that boat but still fascinating.

Got some warm weather the past few days here so I did get some actual boat building in, though not for the Pocketship. I’m building spars to make a lug rig for the Passagemaker I built last winter. It has the Gunter sloop rig now but I’ve decided I wanted the simpler rig so I can quickly rig from sail to row and back.

Re: OT- sailing books, movies, etc

PostPosted: Mon Jun 19, 2023 6:38 pm
by Creekboater
I’m about halfway through Steven Callahan’s Adrift and love it. Admittedly it’s not so much about sailing than floating. If you’re not familiar, Steven spent 76 days alone in a 6 man life raft in the Atlantic after his sailboat sank in a storm. All very interesting, for the reasons you would expect.

Re: OT- sailing books, movies, etc

PostPosted: Mon Jun 19, 2023 9:24 pm
by slash2
Oh yeah, that’s a good book.