The Line

by Gavin LeSueur
 

After being plucked from a life raft in the gale-torn Tasman Sea, Gavin LeSueur (a doctor by profession) wrote his best-seller Windswept. The security of dry land did not last long.

The Line is about jumping out of the frying pan ‑ and into the fire.

A modern-day adventurer, LeSueur shares with raw insight and frightening pace, the events that determine who decides to challenge, and who survives the ravages of the ocean.

The Line is the story of the doctor who rather sails then sews up patients, he rather battles the sea than disease. An inside look at the politics, the adventure and love surrounding the Australian Bi-Centennial sailboat race around the continent.

Getting to the starting line was a battle, surviving the first night was a drama, and then the marathon began. The toughest coastal race in the world ‑ 8,000 miles ‑ in which a sailor is lost on the first night out! This is a real adventure story with more than its fair share of controversy, and a great learning experience about multihulls as well as their capabilities versus their shortcomings.

Gavin LeSueur’s life will never be the same. But, it’s not just a boat race ‑ it’s high adventure, gripping fear, sizzling love, devotion and perseverance.

This book presents a parade of Australia’s best-known multihulls, such as John West, Steinlager 1, Verbatim (ex-Bullfrog), Power Brewing (ex-Yumi Maru), Spirit of Cairns, Escapade, Skedaddle, St. Therese, and others; and famous sailors, like Ian Johnston, Cathy Hawkins, Peter Blake, Martin Pryor, and others.
 

#182 Hardcover, 327 pp, 5 1/2" x 8 3/4", b&w photos & small maps of the race course …$29.95...Now $20.00

 

 

 

THE Race

by Tim Zimmermann
(reviewed by Charles K. Chiodi)

 

This book is a thrilling account of sailing’s extremes: a nonstop race around the world by the best sailors on the most technically advanced sailboats.
Millions of dollars and many lives were risked to achieve what no man had done before. Oh, yes, there are Around The World races in solo and crewed mode, sponsored by major corporations, putting into ports for the fanfare (and publicity), but none of them this grueling, this on-the-razor’s-edge, and so intense that the entire world’s news media would focus on it for 62 days.
Were these boats all up to the task and the cruelty of the Southern Oceans?
Were all these men masochists or mad to do this Race? Is Bruno Peyron, the inventor and father of this race sane?
“What the hell is this?” – asks Cam Lewis, skipper of Team Adventure, then he wipes his salt-encrusted goggles while steering the boat at 30 knots, and suddenly realizes that what appeared to be a cloud is nothing less than an iceberg, right on collision course. At this speed, it is disaster waiting to happen – in minutes!
Reading “The Race” is like being aboard. Zimmermann, an experienced blue-water sailor himself, is very skillful in writing this book. Although sarcastic at times about multihulls, he cannot deny their superiority. To initiate the uninitiated, he goes back in history to Joshua Slokum and the early stars of circumnavigations. He explains what a nautical mile and a knot means. But, he does it in a very subtle way, not to belittle those who never read a nautical account.
He sheds light on the plight of Team Phillips, the ill-faited, much-too-high technology catamaran that was ahead of its time.
So was Team Adventure’s revolutionary new sail material, the Cuban Fiber. When I visited at the home of Randy Smyth, the sailmaker and crew on the boat, he showed me a piece of this material. It was like a stiff aluminum foil. I had a hard time understanding how you can make a sail out of it but, I guess, when you make it into a football-field size, all you need is a big loft.
The description of the Southern Ocean couldn’t be any more dramatic. Both Skip Novak and Grant Dalton had their own politics working throughout The Race. While Club Med was leading and everyone was convinced of her victory, little did we know how Dalton had to nurse the boat to the finish. It was touch and go, and only luck that held long enough to make Dalton the winner.
The book is so exciting, that you will have to take a day off from work the following day, because you’ll be up all night.
 

#398 Hardcover, 312 pages, b&w photos...$25.00

 

 

 

There is Always Sunshine Behind the Clouds

by Charles K. Chiodi

 

A young family’s dramatic escape from the tyranny of their Communist regime, the struggle of starting their new life halfway around the world in a country where they could not speak the language, and the hilariously funny situations they got themselves into because of it... are some of the chapters in which the author takes the reader for a nonstop emotional roller-coaster ride.
In one chapter you’ll shed tears of sympathy for the dying mother who is desperately attempting to hang on to life by facing into the sunshine – sitting in a window day after day – while struggling with her guilt feelings of being an invalid burden to her teenage son. That’s what gave this book its title.
In another chapter you’ll find humor in how a foreigner has to cope with what is an everyday routine for those who were born in and grew up in the United States.
Throughout the chapters the author of the story is amazed at the freedom and the opportunities his new country provides, until one day he realizes that there is another side to this shiny coin, and it is corroding rapidly. Or is “corrupting” a better word for what is going on in this once pristine society? Had family values changed with the advent of both parents working, or is the lack of discipline at home, in school, and in life to be blamed? Is there “too much freedom in this country?” – a statement he once made and was promptly chastised for by his contemporaries. Despite life’s hardships, he always had a positive attitude, because he remembered his mother’s last words: “Son, there is always sunshine behind those clouds!” Indeed, there is, and the clouds keep moving. They are not permanently glued to the sky.

 

About the Author: CHARLES K. CHIODI spent 24 years in his native Hungary, 11 under Communist rule, before he escaped to the west after the unsuccessful 1956 Hungarian Revolution. He studied as, and consequently became a  journalist while serving a mandatory two years in the Hungarian Army, traveling across the communist bloc, reporting on cultural events for the Hungarian Army newspaper. He started a new life in the USA at a daily newspaper as a darkroom technician because he could not speak a single word of English. He learned quickly and was sent on assignments.

After a 10-year service at the paper he established his own advertising agency, and later a publishing company. His love for sailing produced a 32 Sailing trimaran that he built from scratch, and the establishment of a magazine in 1975 for a special sailing society: multihulls. That magazine became the standard and enjoys a readership in 102 countries. In 1998 he started a sister publication for power multihulls. At age 71 (at this writing) he is still at his desk working every day, and is actively sailing and testing new boats and equipment all over the world.

 

#100 Hardcover, 368 pages, many color photos ...$24.95

 

 

 

This is Catamaran Sailing

by Ernst W. Barth & Klaus Enzmann
 

This is Catamaran Sailing is a practical work on choosing, setting up, sailing, and racing a day­sailing catamaran. The book covers all the common types of catamarans, from the high-performance boats such as the Tornado and Dart, to dual-purpose racing and fun cats (Hobie 14, 16, 18, and the Prindle 15).

Early chapters deal with the principles of cata­maran sailing, and the equipment for these per­formance craft. Tuning multihulls for maximum speed is fascinating but relatively complex, and the authors explain this clearly.

Thus, more than half of the book deals with all points of sailing, so that owners, helmsmen, and crews can derive maximum benefit from the potential of their cats. Besides optimum sailing, topics include heavy weather, emergency ‘braking,’ special safety measures, and a detailed chapter on how to race in any catamaran class.

Both authors are catamaran sailors and yachting writers, and live in Germany.
 

#191 Hardcover, 7 1/2" x 8", 141 pp, color and b&w photos, also good instructional drawings …$19.95...Now $10.00

 

 

 

 

Trimaran Catamaran Construction

by Edward B. Horstman
 

Edward B. Horstman is the designer of the Tri-Star trimarans. As such, he has done everything he writes about in this book more than once. He has been building boats since he was 13 (a 13’6” kayak) and multihulls since 1961.

His intention in writing Trimaran Construction was to aid the amateur boat builder by suggesting to him ways of approaching and completing all phases of boat building.

Contents: Who Can Build; Materials and Methods of Construction; Preparation To Build – Tools and Shelter; Strongback – Jig Construction; Frames, Daggerboard Cases and Centerboard Case – Con­struction and Installation; Plywood Methods of Hull Construction – Cold Mold – Sheet Ply – Stapling; Fiberglass Introduction and Application; Foam Fiber­glass Sandwich Construction; Removing Hulls From Strongback; Joining of the Hulls; Cabin Decking – Cabin Sole; Insulating Your Boat For Cold- and Warm-Weather Sailing; Interior Con­struction; Exterior Fitting Out; Rudder Construction; Engine Selection and Installation.

Spars and Rigging; Fuel Systems; Water Systems; Stoves; Electrical Systems; Refrigeration; Ventilation; Boat Fastenings – Glue, Boat Nails, Screws and Bolts; Lumber and Plywood Selection; Painting; Haul-Out and Moving; Detailed Marine Survey.
 

#194 Softcover, 8 1/2” x 11”, many graphs, drawings and photos …$21.75

 

 

 

Trimaran Sailing

by Edward Horstman
 

In the introduction to Trimaran Sailing, Ed Horstman states that the book is “for those not familiar or acquainted with trimarans, trimaran sailing, or sailing in general.

“It is the intention of this book to acquaint you with as many aspects of trimaran sailing as possible, and to explain the basics from ‘just beginning’ right up to ‘cruising’.”

Contents:

• Trimarans: Evolution; Design; Construction;

• Seaworthiness;

• Sailing and Handling; Basic Sailing Principals;

• Sailing Safety & Conditions for Precautionary Sailing;

• Making Sail; Sail Setting;

• Docking; Picking up Mooring; Anchoring;

• Heavy Weather Sailing: Reefing, Running Before;

• Lying ahull; Heaving-to; Riding at Sea Anchor;

• Basic Sailing Rules; •Cruising Hints.

 

#195 Softcover, 8 1/2" x 11", photos, drawings …$20.95

 

 

 

 

A Trimaran Sails the Seven Seas

by Jerry Heutink

(reviewed by Don & Joanne Sandstrom)
 

“A Trimaran Sails the Seven Seas” relates some of the toils and tribulations of a stubborn Dutchman chartering his dreamboat so that he can live his dream of sailing the seven seas.

Launching his Cross 46 trimaran in Canada, Jerry Heutink sails to his native Holland, and spends two seasons of adventures and misadventures chartering in the North Sea. Then follows a cruise to the Caribbean and back, with not always helpful or pleased crew as paying shipmates.

During the trip, Trillium II survives a rogue wave, un­damaged, in the infamous Bermuda Triangle.

More interesting shipmates (and playmates) are introduced on an ex­tended voyage through the Medi­­­­ter­ranean, the Greek Islands, and, with special details of the Egyptian experience, to Sri Lanka and several years chartering in that locale.

The narrative makes you wonder whether the charterers or the charteree gets the best of the deal, but it does detail how sudden whims or lack of planning lead to un-expected experiences. The expected experiences: joys of quiet night watches, dolphins frisking around the boat, glorious sunsets, startling displays of moon and stars, are fondly described.

A nice touch is the vignette of photographs scattered in the margins, throughout the book, which is well designed and typographically “clean.”

As with most stories about cruising, the real problems arise from forces of nature (gales and rogue waves notwithstanding) or ill-founded boats, but from the vagaries of human personalities (and there are many larger-than-life characters in this book, first and foremost being the captain/author). In many cases, it seems, no one had made clear to paying crew what was expected of them.

As Heutink notes, “For six days [in the Red Sea] we lived with an impossible crew who refused to do any work. They had paid for a cruise, not for wheel watches. Why should they do any work?” Why indeed, if such chores hadn’t been spelled out when they paid their money?

As the narrative makes clear, and the author points out explicitly in the third chapter (“From Holland to Sri Lanka”), “Chartering, no matter where, is very competitive, hard work. If the wrong people are on board [as they some­times were on Trillium II], it can be a bitter dis­ap­point­ment. No one becomes rich [by chartering], but if you are lucky you might break even.”

Heutink notes hard steering when the wind was aft, and difficulty in sailing the boat into the wind (“Ethel,” the diesel engine, was often given the chore of propelling the boat under those circumstances). One won­ders whether, at 30 tons, Trillium II wasn’t more than a little too heavy. The specifications in Cross’ plans for the 46 MK II note a displacement of 19,500 pounds and a payload of 6,500 pounds. Still, after 12 years and more than 100,000 miles, the boat was as sound as the day she was launched.

I confess to being a little put off by the numerous references to femi­nine pulchritude: “Even with a dark shadow on their upper lips, they were attractive, graceful, and charming.”

“The girls adorned our decks in their colorful two-piece bathing suits.”

“She was a rare beauty of Eurasian descent… the other had Italian blood in her veins.

“Mama was the biggest darling of all in her scanty bikini.

Little was said about any woman’s ability to handle the boat – though several were said to be good cooks. Equally off-putting were references to the darker-than-northern-European people: Storekeepers were waiting for us with broad smiles on their brown faces.

“A motor launch sped toward us… and some dark-colored people jumped on deck."

“The taxi driver was a man with a kind, round face and a straight nose, contrary to the hooked noses of pure-bred Arabs."

“Little brown men appeared on the mole."

“Time meant nothing to the men of the east."
 

#353 Softcover, 212 pp …$14.95

 

 

 

 

The Best of Tropical American Cruising

by J.A. Rogers
 

This is a no-nonsense book containing hundreds of practical ideas on preparing for a pleasure boat cruise to the tropics, onshore and off. This in­formation holds true for both sailors and power­boaters.

There are long detailed sections on Boat Basics: finding a boat whether used or custom built, refrigeration, lighting, sails and dinghies; Living Aboard: fresh water, storage, cooking, bug control, and the ‘dos and don’ts’;  Maintenance: replacing parts, dealing with metal corrosion/wood working and paints, top/bottom and deck maintenance, avoiding dry rot and plumbing problems; Navigation  and Handling: nautical and obsolete charts, hurricane preparation, weather fax, short wave radio, autopilots, anchoring, and single-handing. This book covers much more than has been listed.
 

#239 Softcover, spiral-bound, 51/2"x81/2", 248pp, mostly text, some charts and diagrams …was:$20.00...Now $10.00

 

 

 

The Turks and Caicos Guide

by Stephen J. Pavlidis
 

This is the first-ever in-depth cruising guide to provide coverage of the entire Turks and Caicos region, including parts of the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. The book con­tains color chartlets, pi­loting instructions, approaches, routes, anchorages, dive sites, and history. In addition, the book contains information on Puerto Plata and Luperon, in the Dominican Republic, with chartlets and photos. In this book, as in all other books by Pavlidis, the chartlets are extremely accurate and provide close-up views in much greater scale than standard navigation charts. The color scheme of the chartlets in this new book is designed to make navigation easier than black & white ones. Accurate chartlets of Luperon reflect the latest changes as of 1998. Altogether, the book has over 30 detailed chartlets of the region.
 

#382 Softcover, 8 1/2" x 10 1/2",  133 pages, b&w photographs and color charts …$22.95

 

 

 

 

Two Girls, Two Catamarans

by James Wharram
 

First printed in 1969, this popular book is in its fourth edition for 2001. Learn the history from when James Wharram was just a newcomer to the boating industry to his becoming a sea-soaked multihull pioneer.
 

#196 Softcover, 181pp, many b&w photos …$22.50

 

 

 

 

Using GPS – 2nd Edition
by Conrad Dixon

This book aims to help owners get the best from their sets and make full use of the facilities available, whether simply position fixing and course setting or interfacing with navigation systems.

Detailed coverage includes: The Garmin 12XL, Micro­logic Admiral, Eagle Explorer, Valstat SP, Raytheon NAV 398, and Apelco Fish­finder/Plotter.
 

#373 Softcover, 112 pp, 6" x 9", b&w photos, charts and illustrations …$16.50...Now $10.00

 

 

 

 

The Virgin Islands Illustrated – A Sailing Odyssey

by David and Nancy Harris
 

Join David and Nancy as they sail through one of the most beau­tiful cruising areas in the world on their 32-foot PDQ. The Virgin Islands Illustrated describes in words and pictures a voyage through these spectacular islands, including:

• exploring the sea caves of Norman Island

• snorkeling Anegada’s beautiful coral reefs

• a visit to The Baths on Virgin Gorda

• diving the reefs in the Dog Islands

• a sightseeing trip through Road Town, Tortola

• discovering St. Croix by land and sea

• touring the Virgin Islands National Park on St. John

• strolling the beaches of Jost Van Dyke

• a road tour of St. Thomas

The Virgin Islands Illustrated provides a wealth of helpful information for readers planning a trip to the islands and a delightful way to revisit them for those who have already been there.
 

#386 Softcover, 6" x 9, 192 pages; full-color photographs and some color maps... $24.95...Now $15.00