I write a lot–it’s my day job. And I read a lot. Consequently, I read quite a bit about sailing and sailboat restoration. I’ve learned a lot of what I know from reading and then backing it up with my own real-world experience. Sharing those experiences is at the core of this blog. In my…
Category: Book reviews
Book Review: 100 Fast & Easy Boat Improvements
Don Casey is the dean of DIY sailboat restoration and improvement in my opinion. He’s a contributing editor of Sail magazine and author of several other books that I’ve reviewed in the past. The sheer expanse of his knowledge and experience comes through in every book. Every subject that he writes about is not only…
Book Review: Sailboat Electrics Simplified
What is the least understood, most dangerous, and pound for pound most expensive system on a sailboat? Electrical systems, without a doubt. Few DIYers understand how to work on them, they are the number one cause of catastrophic fires, and everything about them costs multiple times what the same thing does in an automobile.
Book Review: The Annapolis Book of Seamanship
Most of the books that I have reviewed here on The $tingy Sailor that teach sailing skills have been compact handbooks that are useful to keep on board and cover the most basic of sailing skills. They aren’t intended to be encyclopedias of all sailing knowledge. This book is different.
Book Review: Plain Sailing: Learning to See Like a Sailor
What is the most powerful tool aboard your sailboat? What is the one thing that can make it go faster in any conditions? Without it, the boat wouldn’t move—your brain. The most important asset on your sailboat isn’t a piece of gear, it’s your knowledge of how best to set and trim your sails. A…
Book Review: Mine’s Bigger
Every active skipper takes at least a little pride in their sailboat. That is, if you exclude the owners of those few derelict, abandoned sailboats you can find in any year-round marina. A sailboat is a beautiful, graceful, piece of moving art that almost everyone appreciates. But what happens when pride goes over the top,…
Book Review: Thoughts, Tips, Techniques & Tactics for Singlehanded Sailing
I’ve mentioned here several times in passing that I sail primarily single-handed. That doesn’t mean that I always sail alone. Usually, the first mate is with me but she’s the hands-off type. Oh, she’ll take the tiller if I ask her to in light winds while I attend to something outside the cockpit but she’s no…
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