Nautical Books: Reference Material for the Mariners in Your Life
Most boaters are grateful when they receive good nautical books. This article is a list of boat books that should interest the boater in your life:
The Nature of Boats: Insights and Esoterica for the Nautically Obsessed by Dave Gerr
This browser’s reference by naval architect Dave Gerr gives boaters an insight into how boats tick. It tells you all you’ve ever wanted to know about boats: power and sail, racer and cruiser, dinghy and motor yacht. This is one of the few nautical books that go into detail about things like how thick a hull should be, why one sailboat tips less than another, how to choose an engine, how to design a rig for your trawler yacht, how to build a dinghy, and simple rules of thumb for dozens of design quandaries, all delivered in the understandable, friendly, non-technical style that made Gerr’s column for Offshore magazine so enduring and well-loved.
The Anti-Pirate Potato Cannon: And 101 Other Things for Young Mariners to Build, Try, and Do on the Water by Seidman David
Nautical books such as this one are meant to spark an interest for sailing and the outdoors in your child. It’s great for parents who want to initiate their children in the world of boating, sailing, the shore and the sea from the author of the best selling Complete Sailor and the proud father of a boy mariner. Randomly organized how-to topics vie with fantastic adventures, so each jaunt into the book turns up unrelated gems on facing pages.
How to Read a Nautical Chart by Nigel Calder
From one of the trusted names in boating comes the best handbook on chart usage. Few nautical books are as invaluable as this one, especially since the government ceased publication of Chart No. 1 in 2000. Now you can make sense of the intricate system of signs, symbols and graphic elements used in navigation charts.