Archive | Books RSS feed for this section

Charts are the first step in navigation but it also helps to have a collection of books and cruising guides to highlight which ports have fuel, where nasty currents are frequent and other tricks the locals know.   The first tool we found is FREE.   My favorite price.   It is prepared by the US government and is targeted for professional mariners so it does not focus on beachside bars and sunset views, but has plenty of useful detail  to keep us out of trouble when coming into a new harbor.

Download it here (value for our taxes)

The cruising community Noonsite sugested “Brazil Cruising Guide” by Michael Balette.   We can only seem to find it in hard copy for about $80.  In one of the Amazon reviews, a customer refers to this as one of the two choices so I suppose the bibliography of this field would be very short.   We will not count on the check-in procedures being current for a 3 year old book in a country where there is regulatory fluidity.   One reviewer did comment that the author’s French ancestry may have biased the historical bits.   No problem for us as our purpose it to find good anchorages and services.

A fellow Antares owner  and Brazilian costal veteran recommended  this cruising guide that gives tips on great anchorages, spots to avoid in heavy weather and must see attractions.   We left a third choice on the cutting room floor as it was written in 2002.  (South Atlantic Circuit)

As for traditional charts, our plan is to source them in Argentina.  Our preference is to be skimpy since we have an almost infinite number of electronic back ups  (Furuno, MaxSea, iOS Navionics, and a handheld Garmin).   Our plan is to have a few small scale charts (small scale charts cover a large area) to track our ocean progress.

In order to comply with the traditional rule that you always need a paper chart, we will buy a more compact chart book.  It will contains multiple charts in a spiral format, sort of like a road atlas book.  We believe these will only be available in South America.  Actually, Gail believes that we should always have a paper chart on which to chart fixes, Jason believes that she lives in the dark ages.

As for beyond Brazil, our plan is to wait to buy the cruising guides and paper charts.   Our electronic charts will be up to date for all of South America and North America.   If we get really lost and find ourselves in a land-locked lake in Minnesota, we should still be able to navigate.

We have a bit more work to do on guides for Argentina and Uruguay so will post those at a later date.

Just Some of Our Books

Books have always been a key part of my life. I must decide what to do with our existing books and which books will come aboard in hard-copy or digital Kindle format. Gone are the days where at anchorage you could see boats struggling to float above the waterline because of their extensive libraries.  Some apartment books are headed for storage and the rest will given away to new loving homes.  I bet the new owner of Numerical Recipes in C++ will be excited to own this dog-eared book.  The huge task of book sorting will start like Marie Antionette’s walk to the guillotine, one step at a time.  One box at a time: books for the boat, books for storage and give away books,  Our sailing reference books will join us on board as problem solvers, except that  I will not  be reading a chapter on heavy weather sailing during the 50 knot storm.  The reference books will be handy for fixing engines and other systems.  There is a spot on the bookshelf reserved for  Jimmy Cornell’s famous world cruising routes and our Yacht Maintenance Handbook. There is also space for South American cruising guides and the unread gems on the apartment shelves that were purchased but never enjoyed.  Moby Dick will be top of that list.  In due time, I will post the full list or our library.   Please use the comment feature below to suggest your desert island books.   Most of the library will be on the Kindle . This will consist of a mixture of more unread classics, books with a South America theme, and perhaps the full set of Robert Caro Lyndon Johnson books.  After I read the first Caro book on Johnson I was irate for months because I had learned what an awful person Johnson was. Maybe at sea I can be a bit calmer.

Please comment with your favorite must-read books and I’ll be sure to load them on to the Kindle before we set sail. I’ll make sure to write reviews of the more notable reads and to keep a widget with Recently Read books on the sidebar. I can’t wait.   — Gail