Help in your pocket when your mind goes blank
Seamanship 2.0, by Mike Westin, Olle Landsell, Nina Olofson, Pär Olofson
This glossy paperback is subtitled 'everything you need to know to get yourself out of trouble at
sea'. Living up to their promise, the authors deliver vital information on the core skills of seamanship in an easy-to-read manner, making this book a good corrective to digital dependency.
Divided into four sections – seamanship, problem fixing, emergencies and first aid – it covers a range of practical skills; anchoring, taking a bearing, repairing an LPG leak, dealing with a man overboard, putting out a fire in the engine room and much, much more. The authors also discuss 'soft skills' that can be just as vital, like building a cohesive crew.
Novices will find it invaluable, but even skilled veterans will pick up helpful (and potentially lifesaving) hints.
Buy this book in the Nautilus Bookshop
While you're there, why not browse the rest of the titles in our unique maritime bookshop, which sells all the books reviewed on these pages.
Buy nowMore Books
New edition of cargo-handling classic
Thomas' Stowage: The Properties and Stowage of Cargoes, 10th editionThe weighty textbook Thomas' Stowage has become the bible of cargo handling, with fresh editions periodically issued to take account of new legislation, new commodities and improved methods of handling and carriage.
Scottish shipbuilding within living memory
Leith-Built Ships Volume 4: Robb Caledon (1965-1984The popular Leith-Built Ships series has moved into a period within the memory of many Nautilus members. The vessels featured this time include the tug Lloydsman, which was involved in the Icelandic 'cod wars', and the Falklands War hospital ship HMS Herald.
Engrossing ship history of a slave transporter-turned-liberator
Predator of the Seas by Stephen TaylorA ship biography like no other, Predator of the Seas has a fascinating subject – the Black Joke, which surely stands out as one of the most remarkable vessels of all time.
Memories of maritime adventures
Across the Edge: Pushing the Limits across Oceans and Continents by Peter ClutterbuckThe new memoir Across the Edge spans several decades of adventures sailing across oceans or crossing mountain ranges and continents.