SAILS:

The Way They Work and How to Make Them

by Derek Harvey
 

This book is for the do-it-yourselfer. Derek Harvey will show you how to save up to three-quarters the cost of store-bought sails. Learn how to use CAD (computer aided design) which you can receive free with the purchase of this book, the origins of the different shapes of sails, the way they work, and the differences between them. He de­scribes the way to choose the best cloth for your application; determining the size, cloth weight, and material. All the aspects for designing and repairing your own sails are covered in this book.  
 

#255 Softcover, 6 1/8" x 9 1/4", 192pp, b&w photos and illustrations …$19.95

 

 

Save the Dolphins

by Donoghue and Wheeler
 

This important and timely book celebrates the  beauty and wonder of the world’s dolphins and small whales, and makes a plea to save the many species that are acutely endangered. It identifies and describes the threats currently facing these wise and gentle creatures, such as “wall of death” nets, purse-seining, and even hunting or deliberate harassment by humans.

Also included is a section on how inshore habitats have become so polluted that, for example, the belugas of the St. Lawrence Seaway are now sterile and doomed to extinction. Dolphins are deliberately pursued and slaughtered near Japan, S. America, and the Black Sea for they compete with commercially valued fish, and are used for food, fertilizer, and even crab bait.

From Asia to South America come accounts of the most endangered dolphins of all: small river-dwelling species, such as the Ganges River dolphins, which are very restricted in distribution and are now  extremely rare due to  hunting and habitat destruction. Many of the superb color photographs show dolphins swimming free and wild, while others provide irrefutable evidence of a major international conservation problem.

On a positive note, the book details initiatives for conservation from international organizations such as Greenpeace, and protective measures being put into place by coastal states, giving hope that our “friends in the sea” may have a brighter future.

Michael Donoghue (graduate of the universities of London and Southampton, U.K) is now Principal Conservation Officer, Marine Mammals Div., with the New Zealand Dept. of Conservation. He was  involved with the Int. Whaling Commission as a delegate on the Commission’s Scientific Committee; has also represented Greenpeace, the Antarctic and South Ocean coalitions by lobbying IWC meetings, antarctic minerals negotiations, and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. He is also trying to save New Zealand’s Hector’s dolphin.

Annie Wheeler is a freelance writer and editor. A graduate of Canterbury University, New Zealand, she has worked on a number of books dealing with that country’s wilderness areas. For many years she was an active conservationist, helping to protect the country’s native forests and wild places from logging and mining. She is now working for the Department of Conservation, and is helping to coordinate national efforts to combat marine debris pollution.
 

#267 Hardcover, 7 1/2" x 10", 119 pp, many color photos …$24.95...Now $15.00

 

 

 

 

The Sea Anchor & Drogue Book Illustrated

by Daniel S. Shewmon
 

This is how the book begins. From there on one good lesson follows another. Author Daniel C. Shew­mon is an accomplished seaman, having cruised the Great Lakes, the Florida Keys & the Gulf of Mexico. He has a BS in Engineering from Lehigh University, and manufactures sea anchors and drogues in his Safety Harbor, Florida shop.

This unusually shaped book is a treasure chest of instructions for those caught at sea in a storm.

First the book deals with terminology, unlike other books that put the terminology last (thus you struggle through reading the text and constantly flip to the back), in this book you first get acquainted with the right words and their meanings.

There are good chapters on:

• what is a sea anchor,

• how it is used,

• why is it shaped the way it is,

• how is it rigged,

• and then deployed,

• how to recover it and care for it.

• Sea anchoring for heavy weather,

• Sails converted to sea anchors,

• Tables related to sea anchors.

The second part of the book deals with drogues and general information:

• leeway for sea anchors & drogues,

• poor sea anchor & drogue substitutes,

• materials and equipment,

• recommended books.
 

#183 Softcover, 176 pages, many photos, drawings & charts. 5 1/4" x 11," printed in dark blue ink …$19.95

 

 

 

 

Seagulls In My Soup –

Further Stories of a Wayward Sailor

by Tristan Jones
 

Seagulls in my Soup continues Tristan’s adventures after Saga of a Wayward Sailor.

Tristan and Nelson, his one-eyed, three-legged Labrador retriever, are aboard Cresswell, a converted lifeboat ketch in Ibiza, a Spanish island in the Balearics. The very proper Sissie St. John, the Bishop of Southchester’s sister, is also on board. Thus, the scene is set for more adventures/encounters à la Tristan Jones. It includes a yacht delivery from Algiers to Marseilles with some unexpected machine-gun fire thrown in, and a stormy night’s mercy mission, transporting a battered English lady and Señora Puig (nine months pregnant) who gives birth to Antonio Cecilio Tristan Vedra Pomeroy Cresswell Puig at dawn... need one say more?
 

#217 Softcover, 5 1/2"x8 1/4", 299 pp …$14.95...Now $10.00

 

 

Spanish for Cruisers

by Kath Parsons
 

This easy-to-use phrase book provides all the hard-to-find vocabulary you’ll need to repair and maintain your boat while cruising in Spanish-speaking countries. The contents of this book have been tested by mechanics and shopkeepers in Latin America. It has easy-to-use 211 spiral-bound pages, b&w illustrations.
 

#395 Easy-to-use 211 spiral-bound pages, b&w illustrations …$24.95

 

 

 

 

The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst

by Nicholas Tomalin & Ron Hall
 

“The authors, basing their findings on the extensive internal evidence in the log and tape recordings left on board when he apparently threw himself into the sea, have endeavored here to tell us the whole story of Donald Crowhurst, and they have written a masterpiece.” …THE NEW YORKER

... one of the most moving and disturbing books I have ever read. I don’t think I shall ever forget it.” …THE WASHINGTON POST

In The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst, authors Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall tell the riveting story of a man whose desire for world fame resulted in tragedy. A competitor in the Golden Globe, the first single-handed, nonstop around-the-world sailboat race, Donald Crowhurst set out from England in the autumn of 1968. But eight months later his trimaran was found in the middle of the Atlantic, structurally intact with no one on board.

In this journalistic masterpiece, Tomalin and Hall explain how, motivated by a grandiose need to be a hero to his sponsors, his wife, and his country, Crowhurst meticulously faked his position reports to have him leading the race, when in fact he was sailing back and forth in the South Atlantic.

Ultimately, Crowhurst, distraught over his deception, apparently committed suicide by jumping off his boat. The authors detail every aspect of this amazing, bizarre story: Crowhurst’s growing distrust of his boat; his first decision to attempt one of the greatest hoaxes of our time; the lying radio transmissions; the ‘triumphal’ return up the Atlantic as the elapsed-time leader; his steady mental deterioration; and the incredible ending.

Originally published in 1970, The Strange, Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst is both a suspenseful narrative and a psychological casebook of ambition and anguish. Well-publicized in major media and a bestseller, it left a lasting impression.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS: Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall (U.K.) are both leading British journalists. The late Tomalin was the literary editor for the New Statesman and was nominated “Reporter of the Year” for his coverage of the Vietnam War. Hall is one of the co-founders and the joint managing editor of the Sunday Times.

Also intrigued with the unusual voyage of Crowhurst,  the French made a movie about it in late 1980s.

In smaller format and with a mini-budget, Peter Rowe, Rosebud Film Productions, made a 45-min. video version of this tantalizing story. Crowhurst was renamed Philip Stockton, played by Gordon Pinsent, and the video is titled: Horse Latitudes. (It is still available through MM’s Video Sales.)
 

#458 Softcover, 317 pages, b&w photos and maps …$16.95...Now $10.00

 

 

 

 

Surveying Small Craft – 3rd Edition

by Ian Nicolson
 

If you’re thinking of buying a second-hand boat, you face a transaction that will involve considerable expense. You should be aware of numerous pitfalls: dry rot, wet rot, osmosis, electrolytic action, ill-fitting hatches, suspect sails and rigging, etc...

This book sheds light into these dark corners; it tells you places to probe, and what to look for. It is a handbook for the private owner as well as the professional. It can save more than money, if a fault can be spotted before it becomes dangerous.

Ian Nicholson has worked around boats for decades. After working as a naval architect, he sailed a 45' boat from the UK to Vancouver, BC  where he founded the Ocean Cruising Club. Then he built himself a 30’ boat and sailed it back to Britain single-handed.

He has built a number of other boats since, has worked as a yachting editor and written over 20 books on marine subjects.
 

#447 Hardcover, 7 1/2" x 10", 216 pp, drawings and b&w photos …$29.95  ...Now $20.00

 

 

 

 

The Symposium Book II

Transcript of the 1985 World Multihull Symposium

edited by Charles K. Chiodi
 

An informative and, in parts, very entertaining book about the differences in theories of renown designers: one man’s success is another’s failure. All is revealed in front of the audience during a panel discussion.

Burning questions, such as: which are more popular, catamarans or trimarans? What drives the designers’ minds? Headline success of ocean racing vs. making a comfortable living at designing cruising multihulls? What about boat-breaking stresses, and who knows the most about these? What and where are the production multihulls?  If you are buying a new or used boat, what should you look for, and what avoid? Randy Smyth tells about how sails will (or will not) drive your boat, and what you should know about rig tuning to get the best performance from your boat, even if you are just out sailing around. This, and much solid information laced with some intriguing controversies, as well as MM’ UK Representative Patrick Boyd’s witty humor, make this book a great value.
 

#187 Softcover, 5 1/4" x 8 1/2", 212pp, b&w photos/drawings …$9.95

 

 

 

Taking Terrapin Home –

A Love Affair with a Small Catamaran

by Mathew Wilson
 

Mathew Wilson was born in England but came to the US as a child when his family emigrated to the States. Although living in Virginia and Florida, he went to school in Canada, then recrossed the Atlantic to join the British Army where he was decorated 3 times and retired as a Brigadier.

In 1984 he bought a house and settled in Florida with his wife Janet. Only then could he start realizing a long-held dream of owning a unique sail­boat. He commissioned a U.K. builder to construct a Hirondelle catamaran for him which he named Terrapin. The author brought the boat from England to Florida, in stages: through French rivers and canals to the Mediterranean, to the Canaries, and south to the Cap Verde Islands before crossing to the US mainland. It represents 2 1/2 years of wonderful boating in very interesting places.
 

#457 Softcover, 230pp, 5 1/4" x 7 3/4” …$14.95

 

 

 
 

The Cruising K.I.S.S. Cookbook II

by Corinne Kanter
 

Many years of Corinne C. Kanter's notable cooking columns for popular magazines and lecturing at boat shows have honed her skills. The Cruising K.I.S.S. Cookbook II melds her two classic cookbooks - The Galley K.I.S.S. Cookbook, (the most popular nautical cookbook ever published) and the Cruising K.I.S.S Cookbook. K.I.S.S. stands for the "Keep It Simple System."
The Cruising K.I.S.S. Cookbook II has 645 simplified recipes on 480 pages. Corinne's recipes are organized by her legendary theme: "Delicious, Nutritious, Economical and Convenient." This cookbook has large readable type, rugged lay-flat comb binding, and all the recipes are complete on a single page. Sections include: Pressure Cooker Use, Vegetables and Vegetarian Cooking, "Lite" Foods, Fish, "Start from Scratch," and perhaps most importantly for cruisers, a section on how to provision and stow for long-term cruising.
The Cruising K.I.S.S. Cookbook II uniquely features: charts of meat cuts, cheese identification and descriptions, ingredient substitutions, equivalent measures, and cooking terms. The book also features guides for cutlery, basic equipment, tables of metric conversions, temperatures, capacities, pan sizes, helpful hints on food, and much more. The Cruising K.I.S.S. Cookbook II is five-volumes-in-one!

 

#436 Softcover, 480 pp, 6 1/4" x 9 1/4" …$24.95