THE OXFORD COMPANION TO SHIPS AND THE SEA, ships An encyclodepia of nautical history and personalities.(sm).
THE OXFORD BOOK OF THE SEA, An anthology of maritime literature.(sm).
MEALS ON KEELS, Bluewater Cruising Association, Cookbook from local cruising ass'n in Vancouver. (dk2).
THE SAILING YACHT, Juan Baader, Out of print but shows up on used book lists occasionally. Comprehensive treatment of all aspects of sailing, lavishly illustrated.
VOYAGING UNDER POWER (3RD EDITION), Robert Beebe, The only book I know of about long range cruising in small (50 feet/15 meters or less) power yachts. The author has designed and built several such boats and taken them all over the world. (mh).
SELL UP AND SAIL, Bill and Laurel Cooper, This book is hard to describe. It begins with the question of whether you are cut out for long distance cruising and then proceeds to a lot of varied topics which aren't covered very well elsewhere. Laurel Cooper's sections on galley work and provisioning are among the best I have seen. Very British and sometimes startlingly irreverent. Useful and a good read.(mh).
MANAGING YOUR ESCAPE, Katy Burke, How to arrange your life so that it does not require your presence. Oriented towards cruising but applicable to anyone wanting to pursue a freedom lifestyle.(mh).
THE COMPLETE BOOK OF SAILBOAT BUYING, The editors of Practical Sailor, Two volumes, one covering the general subject of buying a boat, the other reprinting many of the PS boat review articles. The best general coverage of the topic. An earlier version called PRACTICAL BOAT BUYING is still in print. This is a single paperback volume.(mh) THE COMPLETE LIVE-ABOARD BOOK by Katy Burke. Every aspect of living aboard a boat, technical and otherwise. This is also a good guide to choosing a boat from the livability standpoint. Highly recommended.(mh).
COOKING ON THE GO, Janet Groene, A complete cookbook which does not require refrigeration. Includes extensive information on long-term storage of foods, as for a major passage.(mh).
DAYCRUISING AND DAYSAILING, Pete Hodgins, Not yet published, but written by a rec.boater; probably available from him in some pre-print form at aw103@freenet.carleton.ca (jfh).
SELF-STEERING FOR SAILING CRAFT, John Jr. Letcher, Out of print and hard to find. Theory and practice from an accomplished designer and sailor.
THE WIND COMMANDS, Harry A. Morton, A history of sea-faring people and vessels from polynesian canoes to clipper ships with an emphasis on Pacific voyages and what was needed to make them. Morton discusses pivotal developments in ship design, navigation, maratime medicine which enabled ships to cross the Pacific, as well as the culture and lore of the sea. I didn't care for the writing style and organization. The book has an excellent bibliography.
THE CARE AND FEEDING OF THE OFFSHORE CREW, Lin Pardey, The domestic side of offshore boatkeeping. Covers much more than galley topics and tells a good cruising story along the way.(mh).
ROYCE'S SAILING ILLUSTRATED, Royce, A compact little book with a lot of info in it, including descriptions and pictures of sloops, schooners, marconi rigs, gaff rigs, etc., in other words, a general intro to the styles of boats that are around (although it doesn't get into the distinctions between a brig and a bark, etc., but these rarely come up in day-to-day harbor scans).
THE ONE POT MEAL, Hannah G. Scheel., Not intended for boat use, but probably the most practical boat or RV cookbook around. I've used this since my college days. Probably out of print, but worth looking for.(mh).
A FIELD GUIDE TO SAILBOATS, unknown, Or is it ``a field guide to boats''? This little book lists about 250 types of boats, from Dyer Dhows up to Columbia 50s. They are mostly ones that are in current production, and some of them are so painful to the eye that you want to know their names only in order to avoid them. Each page gives a drawing of the boat, with arrows pointing to distinctive features, and a long paragraph of text describing the boat. There's also basic info like tankage, sail area, displacement, length overall, waterline length, etc. (jfh).
THE YACHTING COOKBOOK, Elizabeth Wheeler and Jennifer Trainer, The only coffee-table cookbook I know of. Contains some of the best recipes I have found anywhere, all easy to prepare. I use it at home more than on the boat. This is for coastal cruising, based on regional ingredients. Wheeler is a charterboat cook.(mh).