Printed in an irresistible new gift format, this pocket dictionary brings new meaning to the things said at sea. The cleverly essential volume defines and illustrates the terms of sailing, from "ahoy" to "zephyr". Drawings throughout.

Quickly and easily master the sailing fundamentals you'll need to get out on the water.

For the first time ever, a comparative survey of 95 percent of the fiberglass pocketcruising sailboats ever built Author Steve Henkel has researched hundreds of cruising sailboats less than 26 feet long--pocket cruisers--to create this definitive gallery and handbook of the small cruising sailboats built in the last 45 years. With detailed plans, specifications, performance indexes, and commentary for every model the author could find (360 in all!), The Sailor’s Book of Small Cruising Sailboats is your ideal core reference for the used and new boats you see on the water.

2012 Reprint of 1952 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "Knowledge of marlinspike seamanship is what distinguishes the true seaman from the man who merely ventures upon the water. No one can become a skipper, or should aspire to that distinction, who has not mastered knots, palm and needle work, and the making of small objects on board as necessary. In fact the few required knots, hitches or bends should be so well known that they can be tied blindfolded or in the dark....The greatest single value of this work is the amazing clarity he achieves in his drawings. He has set a new standard for all time. Rope is a difficult subject to draw. Like the sea itself, it changes its appearance constantly"-From the Forward.

At the height of the Second World War this small pocket-book was issued to all ratings on board ships of the Royal Navy. In straight period prose it outlines all the basic expressions and tasks a seaman needed to know to perform his duties efficiently. Chapters are broken down into: Sea Terms; Navigation; Steering the Ship; Rigging; Anchors and Cables; Boatwork; Miscellaneous (which includes details on uniform and folding a hammock, etc); and Ship Safety. Functional black line illustrations are used throughout, as well as a few pages of colour (used sparingly) for flag recognition. Faithfully reproduced, with a short introduction by Brian Lavery, which explains the importance of a book like this to a navy that had to take on vast numbers of civilians or Hostilities Only men to meet the manning needs of the war, this volume provides a real mixture of wartime nostalgia and historical authenticity. It makes a world now lost to us accessible again, explaining as it does the terms, skills and conventions of ship board life, a life that required a common language, and where failure to respond to orders instantly could mean the difference between life and death. The book is sure to appeal to those who served in the war as well as the current generation who are becoming increasingly interested in the role their grandparents, fathers and uncles played during that time.

The main intent of this book is to prepare the North American sailor for his first crossing of the Atlantic to Europe. It is actually so exhaustive in its coverage that it will indeed help the bluewater sailor to learn how to cross any ocean in the world.

800 pages, 435 illustrations, 94 photographs, index. Handy, fact-filled new boating guide offers, how-to-do-it information and reference facts, figures, formulas, graphs, and tables about boating in a book small enough (about 3 x 5 x 1) to fit in your pocket. This book is for everyone who wants to enjoy being a better, safer, and more responsible boater. If you are new to boating this book is filled with information you need to know. If you are an experienced boater this book can act as a great reference and memory jogger.