Stan McCall wrote the following with his stack: “I tried to pick out books that had not been in a stack already. Tristan Jones writes exciting sea stories in the first person, but you have to take it with a pinch of salt. His stories are not 100% true.
And Soon I Heard A Roaring Wind is a history of weather forecasting, but told from a trip on his boat with his wife.
Sailing in Circles is about someone from PEI sailing up the St Lawrence to do the Great Loop.
Read Suddenly Overboard and you won't go out again without your PFD on.
Paul Schupbach checks in with a solid stack of ambitious voyages.
Once is Enough is a Cape Horn adventure. “As Nevil Shute writes in his foreword: ‘It has been left to Miles Smeeton to tell us in clear and simple language just where the limits of safety lie.’”
500 Days is a classic among small-boat sailors. Here’s the blurb on the back:
Roy Schreyer ( www.roydesignedthat.com )turned in this gorgeous Jenga stack of nautical gems. We just hope nobody was injured.
We can see more Tristan Jones, and we spy several Farley Mowat titles. We loved The Boat Who Wouldn’t Float but haven’t gotten to reading The Black Joke yet.
Both Jones and Mowat had detractors who questioned the accuracy of their accounts or accused them of exaggeration at least. Here is an interesting article on Mowat. “He considers Mowat somebody who takes ‘all sorts of artistic license’ to create compelling stories, but does it in a ‘greater subservience to a greater truth beyond facts.’”
9 Years on the 7 Seas looks like a good read. The authors set off for a quick little 56,000 mile voyage.
Capt. Suzan R. Wallace sent this nice mix of practical and entertaining nautical titles. She wrote: “When I was considering downsizing upon retirement to a liveaboard boat again...my Dad reminded me, ‘What are you gonna do with all those d*mn books?’ Since books & water don't set well, I built a tiny home instead (for the books) and downsized to only trailerable small craft…”
Good Little Ship focuses on Swallows and Amazons author Arthur Ransome and the story of the Nancy Blackett, Ransome’s own boat which appears as the Goblin in his story We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea.
The Ancient Mariners is highly regarded—”Seafarers and Sea Fighters of the Mediterranean in Ancient Times.”
The Outer Bank of North Carolina is “the fascinating story of the Banks and the Bankers; of whalers, stockmen, lifesavers, wreckers, boatmen, and fishermen; of the constantly changing inlets famous for channel bass fishing; and of the once thriving Diamond City that disappeared completely in a three-year period.”
A few more stacks coming soon…—Eds
I’d like to send you my stack. How do I do that please?
I guess this as good a place as any to thank Joshua and all the prior contributors to Small Craft Advisor. I am a late subscriber, maybe 3-4 years ago. At times, it seems like I'm oversubscribed to the digital feed. As I read the prior content I have a much greater appreciation for the content.
There has been a tendency for big boat sailors to under appreciate the efforts of small boat sailors. I tip my hat to both big and small and the wonderful written content.