Boating Books

Among the best cruising guides out there for any part of the world! I read and reread this book many times over the past Minnesota winter and found it as enjoyable as it is informative. I can't speak to its accuracy as I'm still too chicken to take my modest sized sailboat out on the Big Lake but that day is coming!

The Boo and Baa books are a delight! They have that incredible Scandinavian quality (think Ingmar Bergman) of restrained dignity. My children love Boo and Baa at Sea especially, for its sense of play. Each Hemingway-esque one liner is bound to bring a laugh. A great learn-to-read book.

Tying a solid knot is a skill that will be needed even as technology continues to advance. "The Book of Sailing Knots: How to Tie and Correctly Use Over 50 Essential Knots" is a complete and comprehensive guide to sailing knots and, as the title says, how to correctly use them. Going over each knot step by step and outlining when each knot is appropriate, there is no book more in depth on the subject. "The Book of Sailing Knots: How to Tie and Correctly Use Over 50 Essential Knots" is a top pick for sailors and community library nautical collections.

Compiled and edited by Ken Mallory (Director of Publications, New England Aquarium, Boston), Boston Harbor Islands: National Park Area is a beautiful and impressively informative introduction to the national park islands of Boston Harbor. Featuring lavish full-color photographs, at-a-glance capsule information concerning access, description, facilities, special interests, and agencies of each island, and inviting, easy-to-follow narration of each island, Boston Harbor Islands: National Park Area is a joy for armchair travelers, and an excellent introduction for anyone looking to spend quality vacation time in the national park areas of Boston Harbor Islands.

I've been reading this to my daughter since she was six months old. Now she loves to "bob-bob" along while Mommy or Daddy reads the book, saying "bob-bob-bob" the whole time. The pictures are cute and colorful. This is wonderful book for little ones. I can't wait to get the rest. Read it to your baby and soon you'll find that "bob-bob-bob" is one of his/her first words.

Anyone wanting to know more about the history of the Grand Canyon and river running in general will love this book. The Kolb brothers are truly amazing people. Their courage, vision and entreprenurial skills made them unique individuals in the history of the Grand Canyon. The writing style is sometimes difficult to get through it is well worth your time because of the wonderful history it reveals.

If you are ever on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, take time to visit their studio. It is like taking a walk back in time. Also, I highly recommend seeding the video they shot of their riving running exploits. Although it is very grainy you still get an idea of what an accomplishment it was to both run the river and make a film of doing so. Lots of fun!!

A book every wood finisher should have. Very detailed in its process of going from raw wood to bright work or for refinishing. If fact, the author is quite blunt in the need for precision--do it right or hire some one who can. The book is a hands-on guide and as the author states, keep it in the shop, not on a shelf.

If you haven't finished marine woodwork before, this book will be a bit threatening. But if you have the desire and the love of the work itself, it is an indespensible tool in getting that just right finish.

Pretty much the best, and most honest, how-to book I've ever owned and enjoyed.

The best book available about British coracles and Irish curraghs, [but no Conwy or Dwyryd], also the Spey currach and Iraqi gufa. The primary source for all the craft that it covers, except the Spey. This book contains much original information not available elsewhere, such as useful drawings, diagrams and constructional information.
This book is most unlikely to be bettered, largely because most of the craft covered have been legislated out of existence.

This book has several stories collected by the author during his trips around Lake Superior, including stories of lost ships, old ships resurrected from the water, an account of "Yankee Girl's" voyage across the Pacific, and a reconstruction of the "Edmund Fitzgerald's" last hours. The author also includes additional notes and and epilogue for each story that give background detail and how he learned about the story. It was a fast read and an enjoyable one for those who are interested in the sea and sailing.

Dean Gabbert has the ability to share with the interested reader his life and times on the Mississippi River from when he was a kid---some 83 years ago. He shares his adventures from canoing the Mid-Miss to ST Louis, Mo, at the ripe young age of 15, to his later years as a writer and 'rider' of the myriad of Coast Guard boats that used to ply this great river.

Dean has written a couple of fictional stories on the grand old days of steamboating before this recent journey into the non-fictional arena about this same beautiful part of the America we live in---Log of the Jesse Bill and Let the Lower Lights Be Burning. I highly recommend anyone who enjoys reading Mark Twain and others of that genre to continue the feast by getting Dean's books. Modernday tweaking from his most recent book, Brown Water Boating, from a fellow 83 years young is exactly what river story readers need today!