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Archive for April 13th, 2008

From Publishers Weekly
A mid-life crisis and a latent sense of adventure caused book editor South to give up her life in publishing and take up residence on the Bossanova, a steel-hull trawler she bought before knowing how to captain it. The subtitle is largely hyperbolic-South’s time “at sea” was really a short, if perilous, sail from Florida to Sag Harbor, where the boat is now docked-but South makes an interesting memoir from her skillful observation of the sailing life: “Good seamanship isn’t the thoughtless instinct that salty dogs make it seem to be. It’s the good habit of always asking yourself the right questions in the right order and answering them thoughtfully.” Sometimes, she seems to have forgotten landlubbers might pick up her book; a sentences like, “One danger is that your bow will slow and your stern will get kicked out to the side, causing you to be beam-to,” is just one head-scratcher of many for the uninitiated. She can be clumsy when transitioning between sailing stories and other aspects of her life (”This sailing was happiness. For a time, happiness, too, had been Leslie.”), but her clear-eyed perspective and involving stories keep the narrative moving. This small but well-observed memoir is a worthwhile read for anyone stuck in the workaday rut.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. –This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Description
Everything you wanted to know about the mysterious art of rigging but were afraid to ask.

Rigging covers every aspect of standing and running rigging on a boat, explaining the role of every part and how they influence eachother. Easy step-by-step guides explain how to choose and fit your equipment before going on to describe how to tune your rig to achieve better performance. Alternate configurations are examined and the bewildering array of lines simply explained. Where calculations are used they are kept easy and straightforward to understand.

Table of Contents

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Review
“It’s a hell of a story.” (Yachting Monthly, January 2008)

“This beautifully illustrated book is the definitive history of Gipsy Moth IV…” (Devon Today, January 2008)

“If you are a photographer or a yachting enthusiast, this book is a must.” (Amateur Photographer Magazine, Saturday 19th January 2008)

“The book is well illustrated and is a good piece of journalism-as you would expect from the author” (Sailing Today, March 2008)

Product Description
The dramatic story of Gipsy Moth IV from her epic first circumnavigation to her restoration, wreck and triumphant return.

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