The First Ever Guide for Optimizing Boat SystemsThis guide is invaluable for anyone designing or installing mechanical systems on a new boat, retrofitting an existing boat, or evaluating a boat's operating condition. Writing for designers, builders, owners, buyers, mechanics, surveyors, and insurers of sailboats, powerboats, and commercial vessels, Dave Gerr provides design and installation guidance for each major mechanical system plus pragmatic guidelines and rea...

"This work is significant. It is the first to include a method of assessing structural strength in the context of the modern marine environment."--Commander M. C. Cruder, U.S. Coast GuardAcclaimed author and naval architect Dave Gerr created this unique system of easy-to-use scantling rules and rules-of-thumb for calculating the necessary dimensions, or scantlings, of hulls, decks, and other boat parts, whether built of fiberglass, wood, wood-epoxy composite, steel, or aluminum. In...

Make your boat shine again No improvement to a tired-looking boat will have a more dramatic impact than refinishing, and few tasks are easier. Here is everything you need to achieve a fabulous finish on your fiberglass boat's bottom, topsides, deck, spars, wood trim, and belowdeck surfaces while saving time, money, and grief. What reviewers have said about Don Casey's boat maintenance books: "Astonishingly clear text and illustrations. The reader can almost feel the hand-holding this book ...

For the first time ever, a comparative survey of 95 percent of the fiberglass pocketcruising sailboats ever builtAuthor Steve Henkel has researched hundreds of cruising sailboats less than 26 feet long--pocket cruisers--to create this definitive gallery and handbook of the small cruising sailboats built in the last 45 years.With detailed plans, specifications, performance indexes, and commentary for every model the author could find (360 in all!), The S...

This book, based on a highly successful series of articles in Practical Boat Owner magazine, is a detailed practical guide to sailing around the UK - all by means of day sails.Roger Oliver, a passionate sailor, explains his in-depth passage planning, boat preparations, weather checks and log-keeping, as well as his choice of routes, the detailed navigation, sail trim tips and on-passage maintenance, all for the benefit of sailors who have a yen to follow in his footsteps.

By the same author as the bestselling Total Loss this is a new collection of terrifying and compelling accounts of yachts lost at sea. The seven deadly causes of loss continue to take their toll and Paul Gelder has compiled first-hand accounts of shipwreck and sinking caused by Collision Gear Failure Stress of Weather Faulty Navigation Fire Crew Failure and Exhaustion. The moving emotionally charged descriptions of shipwrecked sailors abandoning their yachts at sea will have you on the edg...

"Secrets' is the modern Bowditch, written so clearly that navigation and seamanship will be comprehensible to anyone . . ."-- Dave and Jaja Martin, circumnavigators and authors of Into the Light: A Family's Epic Journey"It's a great book. The prose is simple and clear . . ."--John Vigor, author of The Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat"The nautical tips and techniques presented are encyclopedic, ye...

This is not just an instructional book---it's an insight into a sailor's approach to the sea, boats, and the ever-changing dynamic of wind on the water"A learn-to-sail book with heart."--WoodenBoat"A real winner...a masterful blend of straightforward text with delightful and instructive illustrations. Quite simply a great primer on sailing and the world of boats for readers of all ages."--Cruising World"Teaches sailing with f...

Sailing, Yachts and Yarns is a selection of British sailing legend Tom Cunliffe's most entertaining, outspoken and instructive writing from the pages of Yachting Monthly magazine. Tom's regular column for this leading sailing magazine gives him free reign to explore a wide range of topics. He has a gift for capturing the magic of sail and finding pearls of practical wisdom in the most unlikely nautical adventures. Sailing, Yachts and Yarns is a wonderful miscellany of wit, wisdom and wonde...

Find a small cruising sailboat and restore it to pristine condition on a budget that won't sink your budget Small, trailererable cruising sailboats are more popular than ever as mooring spaces dwindle and marina dockage and winter storage costs soar. Fix It and Sail helps you discover boatloads of fun far less than a single ski weekend or golf club membership. Veteran sailor and journalist Brian Gilbert shows you how to select and inspect a boat, then restore it from keel to rigging. Gilbe...

“Vigor is one of the finest boating writers of our time.”--Cruising World“You name it, it’s in here. Covers every boating situation. This book is both informative and entertaining.”--Latitudes & Attitudes“John Vigor is the answer guy if you’re having onboard arguments about nautical terminology or the science of sailing in general, and his new book lives up to the promise in its title.”--Good Old BoatWhether it’s boat main...

Combining and updating the renowned Rigger's Apprentice and Rigger's Locker, meets the changing face of modern materials and technology while remaining true to rigging's best traditional principles and practices. It's much more than a knot book, though the knots a sailor needs are all here. It's a book for sailors who want the satisfaction and hard-cash savings of stepping their own masts, inspecting and maintaining their own rigs, and turning their own tailsplices and w...