Book Recommendations

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
4

4yanks

Member
Joined
Aug 18, 2017
Messages
10
Location
USA
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Last edited:
hfoster said:
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.
Click to expand...

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

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.
 
"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.
 
Last edited:
jcollie said:
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.
Click to expand...
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!
 
Thanks again everyone! All of your suggestions should help fill in my traveling hours and then some.
 
denverd0n said:
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!
Click to expand...
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
4yanks said:
Thanks again everyone! All of your suggestions should help fill in my traveling hours and then some.
Click to expand...

FWIW, we've found it useful to get books -- and various systems documentation -- in softcopy format whenever possible, to minimize storage requirements on the boat.

Between Kindle, Nook, and Google Play -- and PDF downloads from system manufacturer's sites -- we've been able to build us a decent reference library that can live on each of our two tablets and each of our two laptops...

As for basic books, Chapman's, Beebe, Calder, etc... various books on docking and handling... etc...

-Chris
 
Don’t forget to enroll in boater safety classes. That would be first on my list. Both the Coast Guard and Power Squadron provide theses classes as well as others. I know several folks who tried to become boaters without embracing Boaters Safety. They all sold their unused boats. What you do well, you do often. What you fear you stay away from.
 
Thanks once again to all. I have read a couple on the list already. Both my wife and I have e-readers and tablets. As much as we both love the feel of a book in our hands, we became digital converts years ago. So I appreciate the inclusion of online resources as well. Of course I've idled away more than a few hours already digging through TF!
 
Pgitug said:
Don’t forget to enroll in boater safety classes. That would be first on my list. Both the Coast Guard and Power Squadron provide theses classes as well as others. I know several folks who tried to become boaters without embracing Boaters Safety. They all sold their unused boats. What you do well, you do often. What you fear you stay away from.
Click to expand...

Couldn't agree more. We own a 23' power boat now that we keep in Beaufort,NC. We took an online (BoatUS) safety course before we bought it. We hope to take a trawler specific training course next spring. This one will be more about acquainting ourselves with trawlers if we are still interested we will take more detailed courses as we get closer to retirement in late 2019.
 
4yanks said:
Couldn't agree more. We own a 23' power boat now that we keep in Beaufort,NC. We took an online (BoatUS) safety course before we bought it. We hope to take a trawler specific training course next spring. This one will be more about acquainting ourselves with trawlers if we are still interested we will take more detailed courses as we get closer to retirement in late 2019.
Click to expand...



I took the online courses and they were helpful, and I also had to train with an instructor for around 20 to 25 hours before my insurance company was comfortable letting me operate the boat without an instructor.

BUT, there is no substitute for just getting out there and doing it. Just make sure you have the proper safety equipment (and know how to use it), and take a baby step approach to sea conditions.

The swells we experienced a week ago would have given my wife and I a bit of anxiety 9 or 10 months ago when we first got the boat, and now they are no big deal.

That said, there are sea conditions that many on this forum would not be worried about that would probably terrify me. In fact I'm sure that's the case.

My goal is to experience things in baby steps and work up my confidence in myself and the boat gradually.

Of course, sea conditions can always be a bit of a surprise, so I watch the forecast very carefully and assume that the conditions will be worse than forecasted, leaving a margin for error. I also take into consideration that at this time the boat can likely take more than we can, so if we were to find ourselves in 10 foot seas instead of 5, we'd likely be fine. Especially since we have a liferaft and EPIRB.

But if I see a forecast of 5 to 8 foot seas at 9 seconds, I'm assuming I could easily run into 12 footers at 6 seconds and I'm staying home. 4 to 6 at 9 seconds, I would probably head out and feel things out.

Point is, I typically build a margin of safety for the unexpected, especially given my lack of experience.

As boaters gain more experience, they tend to operate at a narrower margin of safety (relative to a novice), or get lazy. My assumption, although I could be wrong, is that most accidents happen to very inexperienced, and very experienced boaters.
 
Last edited:
CapRob said:
Hi 4yanks! 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)
Click to expand...

I also like the above list, plus:

Magazines are very good sources of well written stories.

Most books I've read by live aboard, world cruising sailors are pretty good. 90% of what they do is applicable to motor yachts.

I'd avoid videos and U-tube, unless you have time to waste.

Avoid How - To manuals until you can get hands-on practice.

Les Weatherritt's books about Crossing the Atlantic and Cruising around the Atlantic are wonderful books even if toy never get out of sight of land.
His sections about crewing, provisioning, weather and other things are OUTSTANDING.
Everyone should read his section in preparing the boat for bad weather.

Read books on subjects that you have no desire to ever do. That will add to your knowledge base and reinforce or reform your thinking. Remember, you don't know what you don't know.

Good luck.

Richard
 
Richard,

Can you recommend any good marine weather books for dummies?

Asking for a friend...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Books for a ground floor novice
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
old salt
old salt
C
DIY Fuel Polisher
Replies
27
Views
809
Jerbro
J
ksanders
Our next cruise - Mexico to Alaska
2
Replies
46
Views
3K
ksanders
ksanders
MeltemiCaz
Adhesive recommendations for mounting metal studs to fiberglass?
Replies
16
Views
1K
MeltemiCaz
MeltemiCaz
MVTara
Book recommendations?
Replies
4
Views
1K
MVTara
MVTara

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom