Sea Kayaking

Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual

Do yourself a favor: if you own a boat, you should also own the Boatowner's Mechanical & Electrical Manual. Written in a simple, accessible style, the Manual is aimed at helping the nonexpert solve problems in marine systems--think of it as a friendly mechanic. Author Nigel Calder explains how the systems work, helps you troubleshoot and identify problems, and presents clear and concise instructions on how to repair them. Best of all, Calder also offers helpful advice on how to prevent future system failure. Absolutely indispensable for boat owners. --M. Stein

The boatowner's foremost troubleshooting guide, now better than ever

If it's on a boat and it has screws, wires, or moving parts, it's covered in Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual. When you leave the dock with this book aboard, you have at your fingertips the best and most comprehensive advice on:

• Battery technologies
• 12- and 24-volt DC systems
• Corrosion, bonding, and lightning protection
• Generators, inverters, and battery chargers
• Electric motors and electric lights
• Marine electronics, antennas, and RFI
• Diesel engines
• Transmissions, shaft brakes, and propellers
• Refrigeration and air-conditioning
• Tanks, plumbing, and through-hulls
• Pumps and watermakers
• Steering, autopilots, and wind vanes
• Stoves and heaters
• Winches, windlasses, and bow thrusters
• Spars, rigging, and roller reefing

"If you had to choose a single book to help you assess and maintain your boat gear, this would be it."—Practical Sailor

"A truly remarkable bible. . . . This book is the best of its kind."—WoodenBoat

"A major achievement. . . . It would be hard to imagine anything going wrong on a boat that couldn't be figured out with this book."—Sailing World

"The world's best technical reference and troubleshooting book."—Sailing Inland and Offshore

"This manual will be of lasting interest to anyone who wants to know how their boat works, what has gone wrong when it doesn't, and how it could be fixed."—Classic Boat

"Without becoming too complex, the book covers almost every imaginable mechanical or electrical matter in the marine environment."—Work Boat World

"Calder lives what he writes, . . . [and] what he offers . . . is practical solutions to problems associated with increasingly complex marine systems. . . . [A] bargain for anyone in the construction and repair side of the boat business."—Professional Boatbuilder

The Strip-Built Sea Kayak: Three Rugged, Beautiful Boats You Can Build

Although books on strip building canoes abound, this is among the first to adapt the technique to crafting attractive, functional kayaks. Using high-quality, computer-generated illustrations and photographs to explain key techniques, the book provides complete plans and measurements for three different kayaks: 1) A simple solo craft for beginners, 2) A high-performance solo kayak for intermediate paddlers, and 3) A tandem design for two paddlers. With its easy-to-follow guidance and instructions, The Strip-Built Sea Kayak makes top-notch kayaks accessible to budget-minded paddlers.

The Happy Isles of Oceania: Paddling the Pacific

In one of his most exotic and breathtaking journeys, the intrepid traveler Paul Theroux ventures to the South Pacific, exploring fifty-one islands by collapsible kayak. Beginning in New Zealand's rain forests and ultimately coming to shore thousands of miles away in Hawaii, Theroux paddles alone over isolated atolls, through dirty harbors and shark-filled waters, and along treacherous coastlines. This exhilarating tropical epic is full of disarming observations and high adventure.

Sea Kayaking Illustrated : A Visual Guide to Better Paddling

For some learners a picture is worth a thousand words--and this lavishly illustrated volume proves the rule. The expert advice and lively illustrations combine to offer serious how-to instruction in an entertaining fashion to sea kayakers of all levels.

Developed by an ACA-certified instructor over years of paddling and education, this complete program provides a visual tour of all that sea kayaking can offer, including ingenious tips on advanced paddling techniques, navigation and safety, and more.

Understanding Boat Design

For new boating enthusiasts--even if they've been at it awhile--there are scores of burning questions. If one boat has a round bottom and another's is veed, what difference does it make in the way they perform? What are the advantages of a cutter rig over a sloop? Why does one sailor swear by a full keel, while others won't have anything but a fin keel? Why does one powerboat have more flare in its topsides than another? And what is flare? Why do some hull shapes look "right"? How big an engine and propeller will it take to move that powerboat? What elements make a boat safe, or comfortable?

Understanding Boat Design has been the place to look for quick, uncomplicated answers since 1971. Founder of the Yacht Design Institute, a highly respected designer for more than 30 years, and a frequent contributor to SAIL, Cruising World, and other magazines, Ted Brewer has again revised his classic primer. This new volume has been greatly expanded and contains information on many aspects of design that were not even thought of twenty years ago.

Understanding Boat Design has eased tens of thousands of readers into the complex world of small-craft design. It is the ideal introduction for backyard boatbuilders, students of boat design, or someone looking to buy a first boat.

"This tight little book should be required reading."--Soundings

"A natural for those embarking on a first purchase, or the amateur builder."--Sailing

"One of the cleanest and clearest expositions on the elements of yacht design ever published . . . by a naval architect who knows what he is talking about."--WoodenBoat

The Complete Sea Kayaker's Handbook

The Complete Sea Kayaker’s Handbook is a comprehensive guide to the full sea kayaking spectrum, bringing a fresh approach and a dynamic voice to the subject. Author of the critically acclaimed Sea Kayaking: A Woman’s Guide, Shelley Johnson covers all the bases for beginning to advanced sea kayakers. It’s all here, from selecting the right kayak and gear to preparing and making an extended tour, mastering the strokes, rolls, and exit techniques; navigating; and much more.

Sea Kayaking: A Manual for Long-Distance Touring

Sea Kayaker's Deep Trouble: True Stories and Their Lessons from Sea Kayaker Magazine

This riveting book offers 20 harrowing, real-life tales of sea kayaking accidents that will not only keep readers on the edge of their seats, but also instruct them with potentially life-saving lessons.

The Nature of Boats: Insights and Esoterica for the Nautically Obsessed

Boat noodling. Boat lovers suffer universally from this benign affliction. In its mildest form, boat noodling is nothing more than wondering why that sloop in the next slip is faster than yours. In a more significant manifestation it could mean serious daydreaming--drifting off for extended periods, sketching design ideas on the back of an envelope. Chances are, if you've picked up this book just to see what's in it, you're beyond help.

Naval architect Dave Gerr offers the perfect antidote, a browser's reference to understanding how boats tick: all you've ever wanted to know about boats--power and sail, racer and cruiser; dinghy and motoryacht.

In the clear, friendly, nontechnical style that has made his column for Offshore magazine so enduring and popular, Gerr explains everything from how thick a hull should be to why one sailboat tips less than another, from choosing an engine to designing a rig for your trawler yacht, from building a dinghy to simple rules of thumb for dozens of design quandaries.

Gerr writes for the boat noodler in all of us--those seriously interested in learning and dreaming about all types of watercraft. There is no better way to become a better sailor, equipped to handle any contingency. And there's no better place to start than right here.

The Boatbuilder's Apprentice

Learn the Ins and Outs of Building Lapstrake, Carvel, Stitch-and-Glue, Strip-Planked, and Other Wooden Boats

Whether you are contemplating your first-ever boatbuilding project or trying to decide what design you'd like to build next, Greg Rössel can help. Here's just a glimpse of what's inside this complete overview of wooden boatbuilding:

• How rowing, sailing, paddling, and powerboat designs perform, and how they compare in cost, time, and necessary skills for building
• How wooden boats are built, including the pros and cons of carvel, lapstrake, dory lap, stitch and glue, strip plank, and other methods
• How to choose the best boat and building method for your next project
• How to loft a hull, steam bend frames, scarf a joint, cut a rabbet, laminate stems, and spile planks
• How to take the lines off an old classic whose plans have been lost
• How to make oars, spars, coamings, knees, gaff jaws, cleats, and more

Greg Rössel writes with warmth, wit, and an engaging style. The Boatbuilder's Apprentice is a must guide for anyone planning or even dreaming about building a wooden boat.

“Greg Rössel is a Renaissance man. While there are many talented boatbuilders in the world, only a handful are also good teachers. Even fewer can write or illustrate effectively. Yet this author is highly skilled in each of these areas. . . . The Boatbuilder's Apprentice is a successful blend of technique and wisdom, and is, I believe, destined to become a classic.”-Karen Wales, WoodenBoat Review