I don't THINK we've done this before - forgive me if so.
I do enjoy non fiction sailing books, always have. I therefore have a few jolly hearty recommendations, maybe if you need a present for someone for Christmas, if not for yourself. Even where the writing clearly isn't professional, the power of the stories overcomes that.
Pacific Ordeal, Kenneth Ainslie. Extraordinary peacetime story, towing some tugs. Sounds tedious, turns into an astonishing tale of endurance.
Kicking the Canvas, A A Bestic. Young lad joins the very last of the square rigged sailing ships in early 1900s, tells us about the journey, which isn't a very lucky one. Enjoyable snapshot of that way of life long gone, and the hardship and privations involved. Incidentally, he was also on (and survived) the Lusitania in later years.
Shrimpy (and Shrimpy Sails Again), Shane Acton. Chap know very little about sailing, buys a boat, starts in Cambridge, goes up the river just to try it out, then goes a bit further, then a bit further...
Ice!, Tristan Jones. Amateur sailor goes north, ends up really North, then the ice starts to come in...
The Bombard Story, Alain Bombard. Journey across the Atlantic to test his theories of survival.
Survive The Savage Sea, Dougal Robertson. Family out on a cruise, boat gets sunk by killer whales(!), and they end up in a rubber dinghy with not much else...
Again, these are all true stories.
Anyway, I'd be glad to hear any more suggestions, if anyone else reads them? Also, I wonder if there's any mileage in a "things wot I have read and think you might too" thread, akin to the "as seen on tv" one?
Last edited by: Crankcase on Wed 2 Dec 20 at 10:51
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I read a book about long distance lorry driving in the 1970's, again probably one on the face of it that doesn't seem that interesting but was a good read. Revolves mainly around goods going to the middle east before the big container ports opened.
The Silk Road and Beyond.
I think I picked it up for a quid in a charity shop.
Last edited by: sooty123 on Wed 2 Dec 20 at 11:10
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I used to live in rural village with a traditional country pub. Many years ago, one of the old worthies who was a regular there was a chap who had been a long distance lorry driver in the 1930s.
He had some fascinating tales to tell of those journeys while sipping on his pint by the fire.
Can you begin to imagine what it must have been like driving a lorry of that era, on roads of that time, from Scotland to Italy and back for example?
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Never mind Scotland to Italy - actually I imagine goods would be transhipped rather than lorried direct. My grandfather used to tell of taking a heavy motor lorry from Huddersfield to Leicester or similarly exotic destinations, and reviving the clutch with the periodic application of Fuller's earth!
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Francis Chichester - first to sail solo round the world, albeit with a stop en-route.
His autobiography also includes flying a Gypsy Moth solo to Autralia and across the Tasman Sea to NZ.
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Thanks Terry. I cant remember if I've read the Chicester book so I'll investigate.
But I thought Joshua Slocum was the first, in the 1890s?
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>> Francis Chichester - first to sail solo round the world, albeit with a stop en-route.
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No he wasn't. That honour goes to Joshua Slocum
Sir Francis Chichester became the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation of the globe from west to east, having made only a single stopover.
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Back in those days, long distance trucking was pretty rare, the railways did most of that.
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Seem to think the concept of shipping containers was supposed to enable integrated movement of goods. Sea to rail and only the last leg by road. But for reasons of economy and or availability the rail bit gradually got left out.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Wed 2 Dec 20 at 13:37
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>> But for reasons of economy and or availability the rail bit gradually got left out.
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...in the UK, with limited mileage of shipments, possibly; in the rest of the world where much longer rail journeys are possible rail still take quite a bit of the "long legs".
Effectively you need a long rail portion to offset the cost of further transhipment (though Government policies across the world are still targeted on increasing rail vs road for containers).
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I used to read a lot of of sailing and adventure books when I was young.
A few that spring to mind
Sailing Alone Round the World by Bluenose Joshua Slocum.
Story of first solo circumnavigation of the world
Two Years before the Mast.
Richard henry Dana
Life in a sailing ship in the 1840s What it was like to go round the Horn. Pre Gold Rush California
The Last Grain Race
by Eric Newby
One of the best travel writers. Life on one of the last sailing grain ships in the 1920s
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Thanks for these, CG - I've read a few Newby's, don't recall that one. Slocum yes, Two Years is again maybe. More delving.
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Non Fiction Sailing books - sooty123
