Book Review

By Jan-Willem Polman Published by Adlard Coles Nautical, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing, Plc 176 pages hardcover $30 The ability to splice rope has been an essential seafaring skill for centuries. But with traditional 3-strand rope becoming a thing of the past (for the majority of sailboats, anyway), few sailors know how to splice today’s braided ropes. If we want an eye splice in a braided rope, or perhaps a tapered sheet, most of us call a…

By Priscilla Travis Published by Cornell Maritime Press, a division of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 544 pages, hardcover $35 If you’re thinking about getting started in sailing – or are already on the water and dreaming about sailing to far-off destinations – the Mariner’s Guide to Nautical Information belongs in your library. Author and professional mariner Priscilla Travis has compiled more than 2,000 nautical terms and topics in this alphabetically-arranged and comprehensive resource, along with a wealth of practical…

The Five-Hundred-Year History of America’s Hurricanes By Eric Jay Dolin Published by Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W.W. Norton & Company   369 pages   hardcover   $29.95 The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November, with each one of the tropical cyclones that reaches the United States packing the energy of 10,000 nuclear bombs. Furthermore, these powerful storms have determined the course of American history. Over the past five centuries, hurricanes threatened the voyages of Columbus to…

Learn what to do when the unexpected happens. Increase safety and enjoyment through partnership. Published by the Cruising Club of America 55 pages   spiral bound   $20 Our friends at the Cruising Club of America (CCA) have released an updated and revised edition of the essential resource on the subject of safe shorthanded sailing. Originally published in 2001 as Suddenly Alone, Safety for Cruising Couples is designed to be used as part of the CCA’s popular and successful…

By Carol Newman Cronin Published by She Writes Press   357 pages   paperback   $16.95 A new book from our friend Carol Newman Cronin, an award-winning writer and editor as well as an Olympian, is always a treat. Scheduled for release in June, Carol’s newest novel might be her best yet. Fired from his job ferrying passengers from imaginary Brenton Island to Newport, Rhode Island after being caught with a small amount of contraband in his possession, Captain James…

By Jon L. Ten Haagen, CFP® Published by Xlibris   83 pages   paperback   $15.99 “It is never too early or too late to start investing!” says Certified Financial Planner Jon Ten Haagen, who has written a very useful book about retirement planning. Topics covered – thoughtfully presented in terms that even this reviewer was able to understand! – include how to choose a qualified financial planner, creating a retirement budget, eradicating debt, the basics of investing, estate planning,…

By David Abulafia Published by Oxford University Press 1,049 pages hardcover $39.95 The most scholarly tome ever reviewed on these pages – and at more than 1,000 pages also the weightiest – The Boundless Sea by David Abulafia describes how centuries of human navigation of the oceans shaped the world we know today. The main protagonists are the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, which cover more than half of the Earth’s surface and comprise the vast majority…

By Eric Takakjian and Randal Peffer Published by Lyons Press, an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 272 pages paperback $19.95 Lying eastward and southeastward of Nantucket Island, the Nantucket Shoals is an area of treacherously shallow waters located just off a major transatlantic shipping lane. With depths as little as three feet and swirling currents, the shoals are designated by the International Maritime Organization as “an area to be avoided.” Hundreds of wrecks…

By Cynthia Barrett Published by Lyons Press, an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. Inc. 180 pages paperback $16.95 A remarkable number of words and phrases in the English language have origins in the terminology used by sailors of the empire that, for better or worse, made our world what it is today. Our conversations, from boardroom to coffee room, are so chock-full of these nautical idioms that we don’t notice…and often don’t know the…

By Anthony Bailey Published by Lyons Press, an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group. Inc. 357 pages paperback $18.95 The southern shoreline of New England comprises some very fine cruising grounds, and in The Coast of Summer, author Anthony Bailey invites the reader to join he and his wife Margot for a leisurely warm weather cruise aboard their Tartan 27 Lochinvar. A staff writer for The New Yorker for thirty-five years, Bailey is both a…