Book Review

The Yacht Dissected and Explained By Nic Compton Published by Adlard Coles Nautical   192 pages hardcover   $60 Whether you’ve enjoyed sailing for decades or have just been bitten by the bug, The Anatomy of Sail by author and photographer Nic Compton is both an encyclopedic compilation of every element comprising a sailing yacht and a visual feast. Starting with the history of yachting and boatbuilding, Compton describes the evolution of sailboats and then focuses on specific parts,…

Published by The Greenwich Workshop Press   80 pages   softcover It’s fascinating that prodigious talent is not only hereditary but also frequently multi-generational in a family (i.e. Williams and Andretti in music and motor racing, respectively.) The son and grandson of well-known illustrators, our friend Christopher Blossom grew up on the eastern seaboard and started sailing at age six. Today, he’s one of the world’s greatest marine artists. By twenty, Blossom had sailed aboard the square-rigged brigantine Young…

By Capt. Tuuli Messer-Bookman Published by Cornell Maritime Press, a division of Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 216 pages   hardcover   $34.99 While compiling information for a seminar she planned to deliver to senior deck cadets at the California Maritime Academy, Captain Tuuli Messer-Bookman discovered that there were no up-to-date comprehensive texts on the subject of maritime casualties, and more significantly, the consequences of such events. In fact, before a lecture on the sinking of the RMS Titanic and the…

By Ron Breault Published by Whaler Books, an imprint of Mariner Media, Inc. 320 pages   paperback   $39.95 In 1995, Ron Breault of Old Lyme, CT placed the winning bid on a Sparkman & Stephens Dolphin 24 that had been donated to the Connecticut River Museum’s annual Thanksgiving fundraising auction. Having retired early from the ‘game,’ he was looking forward to restoring this lovely but neglected boat for singlehanded daysailing, overnighting to places like Fishers Island and Shelter…

By Ben Wyckoff Shore Published by Cinder Block Publishing   250 pages   paperback A term used to describe how a piece of art can evoke powerful emotion in the viewer, particularly awe or terror (originally ascribed to the works of the 16th Century Italian artist and sculptor Michelangelo), Terribilita is also the title of the first book by Ben Wyckoff Shore. Taking place during the Italian unification movement of the mid-19th Century known as the Risogimento, this historical…

By Christopher Rosow Published by Quadrant Publishing, LLC   375 pages   paperback It’s exceedingly rare for a self-published book by a new author to break into the top 20 on the Amazon “Most Sold” list. Christopher Rosow’s first book, False Assurances, not only ascended to #6 on that list for the week ending May 17, it simultaneously hit #1 with a bullet on Apple Books…an occurrence only slightly more likely than seeing a mermaid. In July 2017, a…

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…