Every issue of WindCheck includes a look at a new book about sailing (or perhaps the reissue of a maritime classic) and occasionally gives a listen to the music of the sea.
An author, journalist and sailor, Emma Bamford has worked at The Independent and the Daily Express. She lives in Derbyshire, England. You’ll find her entertaining blog at emmabamford.com. Casting Off is Emma’s first book. Whether you choose the paperback or the eBook, it’s a great read.
Ships, Clocks, and Stars: The Quest for Longitude tells the story of the many attempts to solve what the British dubbed the “longitude problem.” Authors Richard Dunn and Rebekah Higgitt recount the pursuit of the measurement of longitude at sea, which stumped some of the finest minds of Western civilization for nearly 300 years.
Together with their son Nicky, who crossed his first ocean at age four, the authors have spent four years living and cruising aboard their Dufour 35 Namani, first sailing from Greece to the Caribbean and on to Maine, then from Maine to Australia. They’ve compiled a very readable cruising guide that covers everything from buying and equipping a boat, preparing for a long passage, understanding weather, and safety at sea to detailed information about the islands along the route
Sue Montana and Bob Bennett share an affinity for sailing that’s surpassed only by their devotion to one another.
Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex will be a very nice addition to have prior to seeing In the Heart of Sea, the movie, a Ron Howard production scheduled for release in December.
After parting ways with her husband, leaving a well-paid job and selling her possessions, she chose the iconoclastic pursuit of long distance solo ocean rowing to find meaning in her life.
As a young schoolboy and avid sailor at Milton Academy in Milton, Massachusetts in the early 1950s, Llewellyn Howland III was drawn to one of his predecessors at the school, W. Starling Burgess, the designer of the grand J-Boat defenders of the America’s Cup: Enterprise, Rainbow, and Ranger; and the glorious staysail schooner Nina.
Whether you’re planning to build your own boat or restore a classic, you’ll want to own a copy of this indispensable reference book. Now in its seventh edition, The Boat Data Book is a compendium of tables and graphs including pertinent lengths, widths, weights and strengths.
An extensively revised eighth edition of a time-tested reference, Tom Cunliffe’s The Complete Yachtmaster is an essential read for anyone contemplating making a coastal or offshore passage. Taking into account new developments in marine electronics and sail handling systems, it has information about using the newest chartplotters and integrated systems and navigating with apps, tablets and smartphones.
Fifteen-year-old Luke Constance, well-read, worldly and wise beyond his years, tells the story. One day in 1858, while he’s asleep aboard his grandfather’s schooner in Marblehead, Massachusetts, a pair of thieves steal the ship and head out to sea.
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