Boatbuilding & Boating

This handbook was prepared by Nigel Calder together with some co-authors (Richard Clinchy from USCG, Bill Gladstone from North Sails, Peter Nielsen from The Sails Magazine, and others) who are all leading experts, with the intention to provide all readers with comprehensive info related to the handling of boats, navigation and seamanship. Each of pages in this book has been designed for the max efficiency and easiest use.

The readers will get to know how to handle the boat under power, how to use nautical charts, global positioning systems, VHF and SSB radios, what is sail trim and rig turning, how to make knots and splices, how to care and repair diesel engines, learn the basics of anchoring and heavy weather sailing etc. Particular attention has been given by the authors to the emergency and first aid on board. One of the main advantages of this book is that it can provide readers with all necessary answers to any questions that may arise, very easy and fast. In fact, almost every chapter of this publication (except the third one addressing the nautical charts) may be used as a stand-alone Guide.

We are pretty sure that this interesting and useful handbook will make the boater's time on the water safer, more rewarding and enjoyable.

Well, the title of this book John Finch is quite self-explanatory, The publication was prepared by him with the sole intention to provide the boat modelers with the necessary theoretical information as well as all what is required from practical point of view. As a rule, the racing strategies are usually set forth from design point, and are based on the idea that the boat models, first of all, must be easy to control.

This book starts with the easiest type of boat hulls, the tunnel-like, which is exactly the one for the beginner to start with. Every boat builder must have this book in his collection. You will not only know how to build a good boat but will also learn how to make it fast. In particular, we would appreciate the excellent info on how to properly set-up each type of the hull, for instance catamarans, outriggers, vee-hulls. The essential advantage of this publication is that people can easily build a model boat without struggling too hard with the handling problems.

It is also a very good source of information for those who wish to modify or optimize their "ready-to-run" models of powerboats to make them faster. In any case, this is a must-have source for every boater and modeler.

The content of the present handbook is mainly based on the experience gained by the authors during their in total four-year voyages. The authors express their hope that the information included in the volume will be useful to the people interested in cruising. The book starts with the introductory part providing the general information about the basics of seamanship.

Then, the second chapter named "Starting-off", provides readers with necessary tips on buying a boat and also contains an article covering the cruising life in general. This one is followed by a "How to's" chapter giving the idea of anchoring activities, boat notes, book of lists, deck log and defect book, departure checklist and other relevant paperwork, nautical chart management, equipment instructions, maintenance schedule etc.

Remaining chapters of this interesting and fascinating book shed the light on various possible situations that the seamen may face at sea, including emergency situations, getting aground, fire on board, leaking hull, heavy weather conditions, rigging failures, crew overboard, steering failure etc. The book addresses the marine radio communications, navigation techniques and equipment used, fog and sound signals, medical emergencies, using radar and so many other important and useful topics that would definitely help any cruiser.

This book by Peter Spectre contains the most popular boat designs. It will definitely be very useful and practical for people who intent to construct their own boat and are now searching for some suitable design; it will be also very interesting to those trying to improve the existing boat designs or even trying to create the unique ones. Some of the presented designs come from the past; however, some of them are even designs of the future.

We all know how important the drawings are in the boat- and shipbuilding - in fact, good drawings shall be treated as the essence of any boat review. The publication contains so many excellent and well-detailed design reviews, accompanied by class technical drawings. Most of the designs presented in this book are conventional while some of them are definitely not - the latter ones are very interesting for the boatbuilding enthusiasts.

The idea of the author to supplement the design descriptions with the experts' opinions was brilliant - the reading is now much more interesting and entertaining because of their enlightening commentary. We would say that this book will be very useful for the wooden boat owners; however, some ideas will be of interest and use for all boat owners and builders. 

This is a very beautiful book indeed; it was written by Peter H. Spectre, who is a world popular renowned writer with a really lifelong experience of the sea traditions and a former editor of the famous and respected Wooden Boat magazine plus the author of the 100 Boat Designs Reviewed book - these days, he is the editor of Maine Boats. One of the most important advantages of this publication is that all construction bugs have been cleared out of the boat designs  by the author.

The book includes so many construction plans and detailed drawings, diagrams and materials lists, clear photographs and useful step-by-step instructions. The book contains not only the technical information on the boats but also so many interesting ideas that will definitely be appreciated by the boatbuilding and bat design enthusiasts. It will be equally useful to the boat builder and carpenter.

Even the boat modelers will benefit from having a look in this work. It is a very nice source for beginners and we may consider this publication maybe the best one to start with. Not too much of theory and not full of complicated difficult-to-follow instructions. Quite simple and motivating. The name is pretty self-explanatory - take this book and start. You will not be disappointed with the result.

Most of us are familiar methods of troubleshooting. When something goes wrong, it becomes painfully obvious. There is a horrifying noise, a burning smell, a mysterious appearance of water in the bilge. At that moment, your primary concern is to know what happened and how to fix it; however, good troubleshooting is much more that a gut-level reactive response.

The author of the book has spent more than twenty years performing the maintenance and repair of the boat engines in Alaska. Most of his practical experience is captured in the pages of this brilliant compilation. This book has been found great by the boatbuilders and boaters worldwide due to the practically useful information contained, numerous informative drawings and illustrations - in short, they all treat this volume as a greatest resource to be referred to on a regular basis by all people engaged in boat repair and maintenance. It is an excellent collection of "fast fixes" enabling readers to repair any failed machinery piece using very basic tools and instruments.

The content has been designed bearing non-mechanics in mind and is presenting effective DIY maintenance procedures that would allow to prevent most of the commonly raising problems from occurring, and this is one of the reasons of global popularity of this volume.

In this book the author tells us the biography of a truly remarkable boat and the story of the man who built this boat. It is much more than just a tale of technology - we would rather consider this publication a profile of imagination and hubris of a legendary enterpreneur. The man to whom this book is dedicated, has a dream and that dream was not to get very rich or acquire power.

Tom Perkins was one of the creators of the world famous Silicon Valley and, obviously, already possessed all of that wealth, being a one of the most successful venture capitalists. As he hit his seventies, this man decided to build the larges, highest-tech, fastest and, by the way, riskiest sailboat ever - and called it the perfect yacht. The yacht would be as long as the soccer field, about 42 feet wide, have three masts each having a height of a twenty-storied building... The Maltese Falcon, the world's biggest privately-owned sailing ship.

This book is a really exhilarating account of how this yacht was created. It is indeed revealing and very engaging. The ones who read it will for sure do that with a great deal of interest and will not get disappointed. This eminent person and his boat have been examined in this publication with precision and insight.

This nice guidance for the boat builders with a quite self-explanatory title was compiled and released by the editors team of the world famous Popular Mechanics Magazine who have spent so much of their time and efforts trying to choose the boats to be included in those twenty-three.

The boats that can be constructed according to the plans, sketches and drawings provided in the present publication, are currently in operation in various parts of the United States. The building instructions are given in a very easily understandable way. This book will definitely suit both beginner and experienced boatbuilding enthusiasts; however, people who never dealt with the building of the boats before, would better familiarize themselves with the contents of the chapter nine called "Build Your Boat Right".

The editors of the book do believe that it will offer something to tempt all lovers of boatbuilding and boating. The readers just have to choose their favorite type - for example, sailboat, ice yacht, cabin cruiser, kayak etc. - and follow the clear, simple and perfectly illustrated instructions. Be sure that the kind of boat you would like to have is there in this book - find it and try to build - it is not that difficult.