Arts of the Sailor

by Hervey Garrett Smith

2012 Reprint of 1953 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Illustrated Edition. A maritime expert offers boating and yachting enthusiasts a complete course in rigging, working, and maintaining a ship. The perfect shipboard reference, this volume is packed with useful "hands-on" sailor's tools, basic knots, and useful hitches; hand sewing and canvas work; and dozens of other topics important to safety, economy, and efficiency. Over 100 illustrations. Few twentieth-century writers could equal Hervey Garrett Smith's works on the traditional arts of the sailor; none could surpass them. His descriptions of knotting, splicing, fancy work, canvas work, and the practice of marlinspike seamanship are clear, concise, and evocative. So, too, are his drawings, which are technically accurate, easy to follow, and a joy to behold. The "Arts of the Sailor" is Smith's finest book, a compendium of information that runs the the anatomy of rope, sailor's tools, knots, hitches, splicing, whipping, wire and rope service, hand sewing, decorative rope work, chafing gear, reefing, towing, cleats, rope-stropped blocks, and making all sorts of gear, including rope mats, a heaving line, a bosun's chair, and a ditty bag.

Genres: Reference, Nonfiction, Crafts, Art, Nautical

Paperback

First published September 1, 1953

Reviews

[B. Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this thinking, from both the title and the cover, that this was an encyclopedia on knots and how to make them. It's not. It's an overview of yachts and what you should have on them, and when and where knots are used. Now, I did get some interesting ideas while looking at the few illustrations, and learning the names of the knots, but overall this was not what I wanted in a book.

This is not a book for people who don't know yachts. By the time we got to baggy-wrinkle, I thought someone was pulling my leg. But no, it's a real thing that reduces sail chafe. Yeah, I don't know what I just said either.

I guess I should've guessed after the first chapter went into length describing different types of ropes, but I kept pushing through. By the halfway point I was skimming.

[Wayne Geiser · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not a sailor. I fancy myself good with ropes and knots. I expected this book to be all about knots and ropework (as the subtitle seems to foretell). It is much more than that and the author's (at times extremely opinionated) prose was both entertaining and educational.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on knots….. I use It as a learning tool and reference

[Devin Stevenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid orientation and overview of necessary sailor skills as well as a good reference for various knot types and uses

[Sespe · Rating 5 out of 5]

read while working on neptun in mazatlan, lots of useful info and snappy sailor humor

[KennyO · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are the essentials of working with line written for the small boat sailor. [N.B. "Rope" has a narrower definition; "line" is the broader term.] Smith was an opinionated character so if he included it in this book you may be certain that he considers it essential to sailing small boats, i.e. those below about five tons displacement. The illustrations are excellent but the text is occasionally preachy. Still it is my portable subset of The Ashley Book of Knots.