New
AcquisitionsPractical Seamanship - Essential Skills for the Modern Sailor; Steve and Linda Dashew; Beowulf Publishing, 2001; 1-930086-01-6 ; $69.95 plus $19-95 for the optional CD/ROM edition; CA 15865
Weighing in at over 600 pages, this is an exhaustive account of its subject. The authors are an Americam couple who have spent much of their lives long distance cruising in large (60 to 70 foot) yachts, and this book, the third of a series, represents a distillation of their knowledge and experience.
Published by the authors, it is presented in a superior rather traditional format with gold blocked titling etc described as ‘reference library’ and, intriguingly, the book is ‘guaranteed for life against salt water damage’. Illustrations are however black and white only (though in colour on the accompanying CD).
Some basic background is assumed. You are not told, for example, how to tack or gybe, but particular techniques for carrying out these manoeuvres with large and complex rigs in ocean conditions are discussed at length, and this sets the tone. There is no nonsense; everything is here in that earnest American way, sailing in ice to anchoring in coral, told in a conversational style with frequent personal anecdote - “the time we were running down to Papua New Guinea . . .”, and with contributed pearls of wisdom from other established ocean cruisers- If, after a while, you start to feel a bit inferior and fancy the complete antidote try a chapter or two of The Art of Coarse Cruising by Michael Green - chances are that your approach to offshore sailing lies somewhere between the two though, to be fair, there can be few sailors who will not gain by reading this book. - BMF
Page prepared 7 July 2001
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