Andy wrote:
: John F wrote:
: Andy wrote:
: snip
: : All the finer points of sail trim, including mast bend, are covered
: : well in books.
: : Andy
:
: Could you please list some of the books you've read that
: you feel contributed to your sailing knowledge. Not so
: much sail trim in particular, but engine maintenance and
: mechanical systems, anchoring, docking, navigation, etc, etc.
: The ASA and US Sailing books I've read for courses
: (Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, and Bareboat) I've taken
: seem way too light-weight for complete self-learning.
: The USPS Advanced Sailing course book seems much better,
: and sail trim seems very well covered by Tom Whidden's
: The Art and Science of Sails. But I haven't found (what
: seemed to me like) good books for many of the other topics
: you've mentioned in your preceding posts, and would be
: very interested to know what you found the most helpful.
: Thanks,

: Hi John:
: I agree with you about the ASA books; they are pretty lightweight and I
: wouldn't rely on them alone. I used the ASA books as basically an
: introduction and overview of the topics. Chapman's Piloting, while
: pretty thick, I also just used as an introductory text. When I was
: actually out cruising I don't think I ever opened the ASA books, and I
: only checked Chapman's as a last resort.
: Here are the books that I considered to be the most useful to me in
: learning to cruise. I am not saying these are the best books
: available; Some of them I were on board when we bought the boat and
: some of them I picked up at yard sales, etc. and I ended up finding
: them useful.
: 1. Nigel Calder's Cruising Handbook. This is what I turned to first,
: since it adequately covers a surprisingly large number of diverse
: topics. I suspect that if people in this newsgroup threw random topics
: at me we would find that 85% of them are covered in sufficient detail
: for cruising (not racing) purposes.
: 2. Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual; Nigel Calder. This
: book resolved at least 90% of my mechanical and electrical issues.
: 3. Marine Diesel Engines; Calder.
: 4. Fundamentals of Sailing, Cruising, and Racing; Stephen Colgate.
: 5. Sail Like a Champion; Dennis Conner.
: 6. The 12 Volt Bible; Living on 12 Volts with Ample Power
: 7. Surviving the Storm; Dashew.
: 8. Pardy books, i.e. The Cost Conscious Cruiser, the Capable Cruiser,
: etc.
: 9. Sensible Cruising: The Thoreau Approach; Casey and Hackler.
:10. A bunch of books in the peril-at-sea genre. Its good to read about
: other people's mistakes.
:11. Sailboat Hull and Deck Repair; Don Casey.
: Andy

Hi Andy,
Thanks very much, indeed. Looks like a terrific reading list,
and I'll definitely be checking them all out and buying at least
several.

P.S. to original poster, David, if you're still reading this...
I didn't originally realize pinnacle was one of those fractional
ownership deals. If that's what interests you, also check out
www.sailtime.com , which has boats both at Chelsea Piers and also
at Liberty Landing. (Their Chelsea boat used to be at Pier 40
alongside pinnacle's, but Chelsea's much better protected, making
it more comfortable for evening parties
You can also try bareboat chartering a boat for a day. Several
places, e.g., Brewer Yacht Haven Marina (www.byy.com), along LI Sound
do this kind of business (roughly $500/day for a 40 foot Beneteau).
But in these cases, I believe they'll want to check out your skills
a little more carefully than pinnacle seems to be doing.
--
John Forkosh ( mailto: where j=john and f=forkosh )