The small benefits of Christmas shopping

Was out trying finish up on the last minute Christmas shopping and ran in to Barnes & Noble for a quick poke around. Sure as heck the "Sport" group pulled me in and I spied "The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat" [2008, Mark Nicholas]. What better time than now to buy myself a Christmas gift! (Give it up - how many of you do that also!?!)

No relation to author... Nor is this a recommendation. Just excited about my "gift".

As a lifelong dreamer of living aboard, the time is fast approaching to make this a reality. I am looking forward to getting home, pouring a cocktail and start turning some pages. Dang traffic!

Oh yeah, any other reading recommendations are appreciated.

Gary

I started with voyaging under power...mine is the 4th edition. great read.

I have Voyaging Under Power but it's on the boat so I don't know what edition it is.

I saw an ad for the new Chapman's the other day. I have an old one from the 60's but might have to pick up a new one....just cause!

I like these three in particular:

#1) The Intricate Art of Living Afloat by Claire Alcard. Written but revised the original is out-of-kilter on the medicines for certain however the information on provisioning, voyaging, chartering (we did it on our 40'er) and taking on crew (what not to do) -- well, it's a good read. And it's a penny on Amazon.

#2) Tricks of the Trades by Bruce van Sant (yes, the information in this book is also within his Gentleman's Guide to Passages South however it's in a better format -- not scattered within the island trek) I'm still learning his treatise on weather. Fascinating.

#3) Why Didn't I Think of That? Speaks more to sailboats but also has a lot of modifications and ideas a full-timer could use to make their boat more livable.

I've read the Nicholas book. It's not bad. Mueller writes a better one. Groen I believe offers a similar topic. Tom Neale writes a decent one -- I'd pick his after the initial three. I'm sure there are others.

Enjoy!