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.
The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald By John U. Bacon Liveright, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company. 432 pages, $35 In the summer of 1976, this reviewer was a 15-year-old avid radio listener when “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” a ballad by Canadian singer-songwriter by Gordon Lightfoot, hit the airwaves. With a melody described by the composer as “an old Irish folk song” and a sound utterly unlike anything I’d heard. I bought…
A two-part historical fiction series by Cynthia Elder Holand Press, 2025 A novelized true story about three generations of a 19th century seafaring family from the farming village of West Barnstable, Massachusetts, author/historian Cindy Elder’s Tales of the Sea was compiled from more than 100 pages of their letters, unpublished ship’s logs, journals, and the research of local historians over the last 175 years. Book One: The Journey Begins: A novel of family, love and a…
A true story of love, obsession, and shipwreck By Sophie Elmhirst Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC In the late 1960s, a young British middle-class married couple named Maralyn and Maurice were growing restless. She was charismatic and ambitious and he awkward and obsessive, though both shared a fear of wasting their lives as well as a dream of escaping from it all. After quitting their jobs, selling their house and Vauxhall Cresta and…
An incredible true story of courage in a savage storm By Michael J. Tougias Christy Ottaviano Books, an imprint of Little, Brown 257 pages hardcover $18.99 Adapted for young readers (ages 9-14) from an earlier book by award-winning author Michael J. Tougias, Fatal Forecast is a gripping story of catastrophe and survival at sea. Mike is peerless in this genre, and he delivers a gripping moment-by-moment account of seventy-two hours in the lives of eight men. On…
By Paul Elvstrøm and Søren Krause Adlard Coles, an imprint of Bloomsbury Nautical $30 Review by Joe Cooper A long time ago in a galaxy far, far…etc., the go-to book on the Racing Rules of Sailing was a pocket-size paperback called Elvstrom Explains the Racing Rules. This was the Great Dane’s overview of the rules and his explanation of situations and outcomes, a precursor, say, to similar publications today written by either of The Daves. Anyone racing…
The Adventures of Captain Marco, Volume 1 By Lesley O’Brien Illustrations by Emmett Donovan Orange Kitty Kreative LLC $18.95 Written for sailors and story lovers from 5 to 95 (and all salty sea dogs), Unfurmiliar Territory is the first in a series of stories by Lesley O’Brien about a rough-around-the-edges orange cat who becomes the Master of a sailboat. Fortune had not always favored Captain Marco. Not long ago he and his brother were shivering in rainy…
Published by YETI and TALWEG 160 pages hardcover $100 Recently released by everyone’s favorite maker of coolers and rugged drinkware, WAVES is a lovingly produced tribute to the motions of the ocean and the duality of water. It’s among the most luxurious coffee table books we’ve seen, and with immersive essays by four legendary surfers, it’s an engaging, thoroughly enjoyable read. The latest in an adventure-oriented series from YETI (presently comprising three other volumes: DUCKS, WHITEWATER and…
A Collection of Essays, Volumes 1 & 2 By Karen Jewell Winged Publications paperback, audiobook & Kindle The author of the popular weekly Water Views column that was published by The Hour newspaper in Norwalk, CT from 2001 to 2012, Karen Jewell has compiled many of her entertaining short essays into two volumes, the second editions of which were recently released by Winged Publications. These columns received three Certificates of Merit for Outstanding Submissions in the Sailing…
Words of wisdom from 50 years afloat By Skip Novak Adlard Coles, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 304 pages paperback $24 Revered by sailors around the world for his numerous adventures – especially those in extreme latitudes – Skip Novak wrote an excellent column in Yachting World magazine for many years in which his shared his vast expertise on many sailing subjects. Skip has curated, edited and updated many of those original dispatches and supplemented them…
A Voyage Around the Mind, Around the World, Around the Heart By Niamh McAnally Black Rose Writing/Texas 302 pages paperback $22.95 Finding herself unemployed, homeless and divorced in her fifties, Liamh McAnally (pronounced Nee-if Mack-an-alley) changed the course of her life by embarking on a global quest to find purpose by volunteering to work on marine conservation projects on remote islands in Belize, Vanuatu and Tonga. Exploring exotic destinations like Bora Bora, Palau, Fiji and St. Barths,…
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