A recent read is “The Shipping Man”, a novel about ship finance and ownership. For what would seem to be a dry, boring subject, the novel is VERY entertaining. It is a great perspective with regard to how ship owners view mariners and their vessels. It is also a reminder that mariners cannot live without the owners and bankers, either. He does a great job with the different characters; many of which I seem to have run across in my varied maritime career. A VERY entertaining read.
I believe anything with a coi is free of osha (but uninspected towing vessels are subject to them), but I was mainly making a point. I’m sure osha does influence the shipping industry even they do not have direct jurisdiction and they have jurisdiction in shipyards.
A couple of light, fun and enlightening reads:
[U]And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails[/U], by Wayne Curtis.
[U]Rum: A Global History[/U], by Richard Foss.
There is a lot of interesting history behind the alcoholic beverages of choice over the years.
And it explains where the term “at loggerheads” came from.
The Voyage of the Rose City by John Moynihan. GREAT story, all true, and a fantastically entertaining look into the day to day life of the United States Merchant Mariner. It was reviewed in “Professional Mariner” magazine, which is where I saw it and decided to read it.
Sorry if there are repeats here. I read through the thread and don’t think I saw any of these:
[B]A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea[/B] by Richard Phillips
[B]Skeletons on the Zahara: A True Story of Survival[/B] by Dean King
[B]The Truth About Cruise Ships: A Cruise Ship Officer Survives the Work, Adventure, Alcohol, and Sex of Ship Life[/B] by Jay Herring
Not a maritime book but a book of survival that I’d put up there with Shackleton is [B]Four Against the Arctic: Shipwrecked for Six Years at the Top of the World[/B] by David Roberts
[B]A Voyage for Madmen[/B] by Peter Nichols
[B]Lusitania: An Epic Tragedy[/B] by Diana Preston
[B]Halsey’s Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, and Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue[/B] by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin
[B]Coming Back Alive[/B] and [B]Working on the Edge: Surviving In the World’s Most Dangerous Profession: King Crab Fishing on Alaska’s HighSeas[/B] by Spike Walker
[QUOTE=PaddyWest2012;91200]The Voyage of the Rose City by John Moynihan. GREAT story, all true, and a fantastically entertaining look into the day to day life of the United States Merchant Mariner. It was reviewed in “Professional Mariner” magazine, which is where I saw it and decided to read it.[/QUOTE]
I may be wrong, but I believe that is the same SS Rose City that later became USNS Comfort. Getting to the engine room was an experience the first time I visited- partly because of the layout.
Patrick O’Brian’s series is very nice. I have only read three so far and hope to eventually read them all.
And to help with the lingo, try this: A Sea of Words
I just finished Sea Travels - Memoirs of a 20th Century Master Mariner by J. Holger Christensen. Good stories about sailing in the Pacific pre WW II and during the war too. Lots of info on how things were done in Puget Sound and Alaska back then.
Another vote for “The Glencannon Omnibus” by Guy Gilpatrick. Out of print but I picked up a copy online for 7 bucks.
[QUOTE=catherder;91442]I may be wrong, but I believe that is the same SS Rose City that later became USNS Comfort. Getting to the engine room was an experience the first time I visited- partly because of the layout.[/QUOTE]
That is indeed the same SS Rose City that eventually became the USNS Comfort.
I also suggest the book “Damned by Destiny” which is both an interesting and impressive compilation of several different planned, but never built, ocean liners from the first half of the 20th century.
Hear is a nonfiction book about crossing the Humboldt Bay bar… Night Crossings by Jon Humboldt Gates (Oct 1990) I can say from experience that crossing that bar can scare the hell out of you. Also the book about the USN Aircraft carrier Forrestal fire disaster. Sailors to the End : The Deadly Fire on the USS Forrestal and the Heroes Who Fought It by Gregory A. Freeman (Jul 6, 2004)
Bowditch vol II.
Just perusing this thread again and thinking over what I need to add to my own reading list.
I see multiple mentions of Two Years before the Mast but Dana also wrote The Seaman’s Friend: A Treatise on Practical Seamanship which is interesting because it was intended to be a seaman’s manual and shows what knowledge was deemed important for a merchant seaman of the time. If the whole Bounty saga has made you curious about the nineteenth century seaman’s skill set it might be an interesting read. If you are truly obsessed you’ll need to scour used book shops for a copy of Masting and Rigging: The Clipper Ship and Ocean Carrier by Harold A. Underhill.
Want to chat about Nautical Books?
Here’s a new book by Erik Larson I just finished and rated 5 stars:
[B]Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania Hardcover
[/B]
A good review: On May 1st, 1915 the Lusitania set sail on its final voyage. That it was sunk by a German U-boat will be news to few—and Larson’s challenge is to craft a historical narrative leading up to the thrilling, if known, conclusion, building anticipation in his readers along the way. To his credit, he makes the task look easy. Focusing on nautical craftsmanship and strategy, and on key players in the eventual attack and sinking of the “fast, comfortable, and beloved” Lusitanin. Dead Wake puts readers right aboard the famous Cunard liner and keeps them turning the pages until the book’s final, breathless encounter. – Chris Schluep
[QUOTE=fourdegreesc;7672]Ugh, most of these were in the literature of the sea sylabus, the reason I never took it.
Try some better stuff:
Civil War Adventures of a Blockade Runner, William Watson, A&M Press
In Peril: A Daring Decision, a Captain’s Resolve, and the Salvage that Made History, Skip Strong
If you want older material read:
The Loss of the Ship Essex, Sunk by a Whale, Nickerson and Chase (the cabin boy and the first mate). I think the captain wrote an account too.
Lt. Bleigh’s account of his longboat voyage is great too. I forget the name though.
Obviously I have a slant toward stuff written by folks who were there, with due respect to Conrad, etc.
Happy reading.
-dennis[/QUOTE]
The [B][I]Bounty Trilogy by Nordhoff and Hall[/I][/B]. Great read! Footnote (without spoiling the story), there is still much disagreement about how Fletcher Christian really died. Nordhoff’s story is one version, but there are those who believe otherwise.
I’m not normally into books historical fiction about sailing ships but this one is excellent:
Hell Around the Horn Paperback by Rick Spilman
Here’s the full review I submitted to Amazon and posted to my Goodreads account:
[I]As a ship captain, blogger and tech geek I prefer modern fiction to old sea tales so I was a bit wary after the third reader of my blog mentioned this book but once I discovered it was written by Rick Spillman I immediately purchased a copy. For those who don’t know Rick hosts one of the first and most respected maritime blogs and he is considered by many to be the preeminent maritime book reviewer of our time. The list of nautical books he has read and reviewed is impressive and the lessons learned from all those books provides the background for this story which proves to be well written and flawlessly executed. Well done Rick![/I]
The bucko mate! I just read it an it is great
Just finished it! Amazing book.