Book Recommendations

[4yanks]

My wife and I are exploring the possibility purchasing a trawler after I retire in late 2019 and becoming live-aboard cruisers. I was wondering if anyone could recommend any books by people who have done the same. I will be traveling over the next few months on business and would like to have something to read on planes and in hotel rooms. I have tried to search on the site but have had little luck. I know there are a lot of books on the subject. I am looking for recommendations from those of you who've been there as well. Thank you.

[jcollie]

I don't have any other books to compare to, but I'm about 3/4 the way through Gene & Katie Hamilton's Coastal Cruising Under Power. I've skipped some of the bits about boat handling because I don't have a boat yet but the rest has been very helpful so far.


https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Hamrow]

You're smart to start the trade study early. its not exactly a book, but i highly recommend a subscription to Passagemaker magazine. it's a good resource even after you've already got a boat but especially fun to get in your mailbox during the search process.
If you haven't been, we also got a lot out of the Trawlerfest shows they sponsor a few times a year.

[FootballFan]

Chapmans Guide.


Great reference.

[hfoster]

Cannot recommend any books for you Mate. However there are number of blogs out there. Youtube has a number of couples that cruise sailboats full time. Cruising Leala has great videos as well as a blog. They are a older couple. Chuck & Lora. He retired out of the Army. Lora wrote on their blog about how she had to down size as a women from apartment to a sailboat which I thought was really good.


Sailing Uma is another one. However they are younger but I like the way they think and doing things as after as doing it cheaply. They are hard a working couple. Watch their first video. They have their head screwed on pretty tight as to how they looked at making the jump from land to water.


There are also blogs from people on trawlers as well. 3@sea comes to mind. Not sure if they have a blog or not but I believe they do.


Hope that helps you out Mate. Best of luck to you.


Cheers.


H.

[jcollie]

Originally Posted by hfoster

Cannot recommend any books for you Mate. However there are number of blogs out there. Youtube has a number of couples that cruise sailboats full time.

Youtube is full of sailing vlogs. Like with anything the sailing vlogs are a mixed bag.

Vlogs/blogs specific to trawlers (or at least motor vessels) are a lot fewer in number. Or at least active ones, there are a lot of them that have gone silent.

Unfortunately 3@Sea are no longer vlogging/blogging as the daughter left the boat to attend college.

Tula's Endless Summer is run by a younger couple that live on a 34' Marine Trader. They recently announced though that they are selling the trawler so that they can get a sailboat.

https://www.youtube.com/user/FIKITEnSUP

The owners of M/V Dirona blog & vlog fairly regularly about their travels on a Nordhavn 52. They are working their way through Scotland at the moment:

https://www.youtube.com/user/mvdirona

Technomadia is run by a couple that recently switched from full-time RV travel to live on a 1999 Bayliner 4788.

https://www.youtube.com/technomadia

[BruceK]

I suggest "Nigel Calder`s Cruising Handbook". Although Calder is a sailor and the book reflects that, it contains very helpful information and is well written. Much like Calder`s other publications on Mechanics, Electrics, even Refrigeration.

[RangerGlenn]

Crossing the Wake by Tanya Binford

[CapRob]

Hi 4yanks! We did the same thing a couple years ago and I was very ready to get started. I was flying a lot and had plenty of reading time. I got an Amazon Kindle Unlimited membership and started searching for stories of people that had done this before. I read everything from cruising guides to specific sections of the ICW to stories of voyages trips. Some of my favorites are:
- Seven Miles an Hour (Don Wallace)
- Life's a Ditch (Charles Dougherty)
- Newlyweds Afloat (Felicia Schneiderhan)
- Leap of Faith: Quit you job and live on a boat
(Ed Robinson)

After burning through these, I bought many charts, set my iPad up with Navionics and ploted courses up and down the coast. We are not fully living aboard but I have finally retired and we are doing some of the trips plotted and even plotting some new ones. It is great. I wish you the best!

Also to note that both Charles Dougherty and Ed Robinson have also ventured into fictional books about the trawler life that you might enjoy.

Good luck and hang in there... you eventually do get there!

[alormaria]

"Away from it all" by Sloan Wilson

[4yanks]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will plow through as many as I can in the next few months.

[SteveandZoila]

4Yanks, welcome, I am a newbie too, but have learned a little in the last 2 years. I have had to be McGyver more than once!
Football Fan has the best 1st read; Chapman's Its about 3" thick, buy the latest ed 67th
BruceK recommendation of Nigel Calder books is great, My wife bought me his 4th ed of "Mechanical and Electrical Manual 2" thick.
And Living on 12 Volts by David Smead. This was recommend by a mentor Ray Wolf, while we spent the winter on the hard!
I have bought other books on these subjects, but is the cream. I keep rereading them, 4th reread of 12volts. As I am still upgrading house bank systems. You buy this book use on the net, just get the latest editions.
My recommendations are more on the systems of the boat and your going to need knowledge to problem solve. Good reading.

[rwidman]

"Honey, Let's Buy a Boat" is a good one but there are many similar books on cruising. Amazon.com is a good place to start. Magazines such as "Passagemaker" (recommended above) are good as well.

YouTube does have a lot of cruising videos but they are done by amateurs and many are pretty boring. Still they are free and some will be helpful.

I would concentrate more on the cruising books until you actually get that boat. "Fixit" books can wait until you have a boat to fix.

I would also caution against the idea of buying a boat and beginning your cruising life the next day. Take a few months or more just doing short trips and getting used to the boating life.

[denverd0n]

Originally Posted by jcollie

I don't have any other books to compare to, but I'm about 3/4 the way through Gene & Katie Hamilton's Coastal Cruising Under Power.

I have considered this one, but am torn between the paperback version and the Kindle version. I generally prefer to read on my Kindle, but if the book has a substantial number of pictures and/or illustrations then a "real" book seems to work better. So, my question for you would be, does this book include a fair number of illustrations? Or is it pretty much just text?

Thanks!

[Drake]

Definitely read "Seven Miles An Hour". It's a free download on Amazon.

[4yanks]

Thanks again everyone! All of your suggestions should help fill in my traveling hours and then some.

[jcollie]

Originally Posted by denverd0n

I have considered this one, but am torn between the paperback version and the Kindle version. I generally prefer to read on my Kindle, but if the book has a substantial number of pictures and/or illustrations then a "real" book seems to work better. So, my question for you would be, does this book include a fair number of illustrations? Or is it pretty much just text?

Thanks!

It's mostly text. There are a few diagrams and a few more black & white pictures but they all were pretty clear on my Kindle Paperwhite. You can always bring up a Kindle book on a computer if you want to get a better look at something. While this is a good book it's not really a reference so you wouldn't really need this around if the s*** is hitting the fan. I'd definitely go with the Kindle version.

[wendybrann]

Stapleton’s Power Boat Bible by Sid Stapleton and The Essentials of Living Aboard a Boat by Mark Nicholas. Both are informative and great reads.

[MichaelB1969]

Try Cruising the Big U and Jenny's Journey.

Unfortunately, the husband and wife split up in Jenny's Journey, but regardless it's a good book to get a sense of the cruising lifestyle.

[cardude01]

Originally Posted by MichaelB1969

Try Cruising the Big U and Jenny's Journey.

Unfortunately, the husband and wife split up in Jenny's Journey, but regardless it's a good book to get a sense of the cruising lifestyle.

I second both of those.

For fun I also like the Ed Robinson books. Free with Kindle Unlimited.

https://www.amazon.com/Trawler-Trash.../dp/B00MWUAROA