I love books about sailing, those of the narrative variety. I don’t mind having around the ‘how to’s’, but I can’t read them from cover to cover. I do, however, enjoy stories about sailing adventures. Here, then, are a few I’ve read over the past year and my thoughts on them:

Bound for Roque Island – Sailing Maine and the World by R.j. Rubadeau. ISBN: 1935098330

Rubadeau is preparing his old wooden sailing vessel for what may be the last summer sailing the family does together. His daughter is married, pregnant, and living in Alaska. His son is finishing up a high school program on the high seas (what a way! wish I’d known about such adventures when I was a kid!) and getting reading to start college.

The book glides back and forth between the present time and stories of how he got into sailing and many of his early adventures. Thrown in is alot of advice on preparing the boat, and things he’d done right and wrong througout his sailing career.

A very easy read. I really enjoyed the trip! The time leaps didn’t leave me lost as to where we were. And I appreciated that he let it be known that this first person narrative was definitely his own viewpoint of events.

Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana. ISBN: 1593082703

From every old salt to whom I mention I read this, I get a knowing smile. This classic was originally published in 1840 and is still a delightful tale. A young man is recovering from an illness that prevents him from continuing his college studies. At the time, it was felt that sea air had curative powers. As a member of a Brahmin family in Boston (the ‘old money’ families), he could have travelled as a companion to a wealthy friend and spent his time with little to do but find his own amusement. Instead, he signs on as crew on a sailing ship bound for California. The book is the story of his travels, and was the first sea narrative written from the point of view of a crew member; previous novels had been written by officers or by passengers.

The author explains every part of his voyage in detail, understanding that most of his readers will have no experience on a sailing ship. He describes the crew’s quarters – before the mast – and their conditions. He explains about ‘good’ officers and ‘bad’ officers that he serves under. He talks about his duties and his own progression from greenhorn to seasoned sailor.

But the most interesting, to me, part of the book, are his descriptions of the California ports that he visits: San Diego, Los Angeles, Monterey and San Francisco. It was fascinating to hear about these places 200 years ago, when they were still Spanish territory.

The author does return and complete his studies, and becomes an attorney. He is well known for defending sailors against brutal officers in court. He is also responsible for writing some of the U.S.’s early maritime legislation.

The link I’ve provided is to the free Project Gutenberg edition. But that version doesn’t include the illustrations and diagrams. The free Kindle and Nook editions do. But I think I may just break down and buy myself a hardcover version, just for the chance to re-read passages from it over and over again.

Tales of the Seven Seas: The Escapades of Captain Dynamite Johnny O’Brien by Dennis M. Powers ISBN:1589794478

This book, chronologically, takes off where Before the Mast ends. It tells the life of an Irishman who had set off to become an intern for an office job. On the way, he meets a sailing captain who regales him with his adventures. Much to the family’s chagrin, the boy signs on as crew on a sailing vessel and never turns back.

The difference with this book over the other is that O’Brien stays a sailor, working his way up to captaining many vessels, from sailboats to steam engines. His voyages take him all over the Pacific, to Hawaii and the Far East. We learn of his family as well as his adventures.

This is a fascinating book about an amazing man.

The Motion of the Ocean: 1 Small Boat, 2 Average Lovers, and a Woman’s Search for the Meaning of Wife by Janna Cawrse Esarey ISBN: 1416589082

This true story is about a woman who tells people in college that she’s going to live on a boat. Living in Washington state, I wouldn’t think that would be a big deal. But this person has never even been on a boat before. Fast forward through college, girl meets boy, girl loses boy, girl finds boy again and marries him. He has grown up with boats and, at some point, they decide to take off in said boat and sail to the Far East.

It is nice to read a book written by a woman who actually knows something about sailing. She describes its beauty, the frustrations it can be, especially on a long haul with many miles between ports and nowhere to go, and the fear when things go wrong.

This book is written as a series of essays. There is a timeline to it, but not the flow that a novel should have. Esarey writes stories for sailing magazines, so I guess she’s still more comfortable with that shorter format.

Sex, Lies and Spinnakers by Steve Van Slyke ISBN: 0982554907

This is the only fiction book of the bunch. This story is also about a couple that decides to go cruising to the Far East. In their case, they’re going to follow friends down to Mexico and hang out for a bit before they determine if they’re ready to cross the ocean.

But, in Mexico, the friends they’re sailing with are murdered. A local is arrested for the crime, but neither our protagonists nor the police chief believe the local guy did it. But it’s bad for tourism to say otherwise.

That means one of a handlful of Americans must have done it, all cruisers themselves. And they’re all heading east. So our protagonists decide to follow and try to figure out who the murder(s) are.

I liked the first half of the story. It was well written. There was a definite sense that  the person knew what they were talking about regarding cruising and boats. The interaction between the characters was good. But the second half of the book was difficult to read. It’s as if it was written by another person. The characters move from being very 3-dimensional to being very flat. The personalities change with no good transition to show how/why. I’m not sure whether it’s because the author should have just stuck with a good sailing story because he didn’t know how to write a good mystery, or because he got tired of the novel and tried to get too much in just to finish it.