The Practical Mariner's Book of Knowledge, 2nd Edition: 460 Sea-Tested Rules of Thumb for Almost Every Boating Situation

by John Vigor

Is this an entertaining book? "The Practical Mariner's Book of Knowledge" is either the most useful boating book ever designed to entertain or the most entertaining book ever designed to be useful. In its alphabetical organization that juxtaposes wildly disparate entries, you can read about the derivation of fi gureheads where you turned to for recommended thicknesses of fiberglass hulls. In between the whimsy, however, is the essence of centuries of seafaring experience distilled into a concise reference for sailors and powerboaters. There may be no substitute for a lifetime of experience, but this book is the next best thing. It should be kept at the navigation station and on every boat.

Inside you will find information that is otherwise scattered through dozens of volumes. If you can't find what you want quickly from the table of contents, there's an exhaustive subject index. If you need more precise data than a rule of thumb can provide, you may very well find it among the 16 appendix tables, which are also indexed.

You'll find rules of thumb for: Changing a boat's name Towing the safest way Burial at sea Preventing wood rot Hull thickness Anchoring rights Jib size Curing mast vibration Time taken for boat tasks Survival rations

And a lot more: open it up and get lost in the sage advice and witty wisdom that will make you long for the sea.

""The perfect, practical gift to give or receive."" -- The Ensign

."" . . reads like a lively conversation with a friendly, seasoned pro."" -- Lakeland Boating

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1994

Reviews

[Charles Rouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went through this at one rule of thumb per day till I finished it. If memory serves, I went through it this way twice. Terrific. I would say, if you have a boat, might get a boat, or are just thinking about it, get this book. It's one of the necessary books, along with nautical rules of the road, and boat maintenance.
Have you ever wondered how much paint to buy to paint your topsides? This book has that and so much more.

[Marshall Edgcomb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

This is a great book to read while tied up, full of reference information and nautical tidbits. This is not the kind of book to check in an emergency. It's laid out alphabetically by subject.

[Alistair Cunningham · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fatally flawed

This book contains plenty of good advice. Unfortunately it contains even more bad advice, anachronisms, and superstitious nonsense. For experienced sailors it's a waste of time. For inexperienced sailors, it's borderline dangerous.