Sports & Recreation : Boating

There are more than 40,000 members of the United States Sailing Association, and thousands of people take sailing lessons every year. This accessible guide by two championship sailors takes the mystery out of sailing–from choosing a boat, launching it, and maneuvering under sail to charting a course, dealing with bad weather, and docking–even for people who can’t tell port from starboard. more...

Price: $21.99

Offers down-to-earth guidance for hikers, cross-country skiers, ATVers, and other outdoor enthusiasts who own or are thinking of buying a GPS receiver, as well as people interested in digital map-making GPS (global positioning system) receivers draw on satellite signals to precisely determine a person's geographic position; as prices for these devices have gone down-entry-level models now sell for $100-sales have risen dramatically Provides coverage of the increasingly popular sport of "geocaching," in which people hunt for a canister hidden at precise geographic coordinates Explains how to turn cell phones and PDAs into GPS receivers and what hardware is required for connecting a GPS receiver to a PC Shows how to use popular, inexpensive software packages to create topographic, aerial photographs, and three-dimensional maps, and discusses free Web-hosted map services The author's diverse background in archeology, outdoor rescue, adventure racing navigation, and dis aster response set him apart from other people writing about this topic more...

Price: $21.99

"A valuable and lively resource. Jeans sorts truth from fiction with a sure hand and does full justice to both."—Peter Stanford, President Emeritus, National Maritime Historical Society. “A veritable sourcebook of nautical history, beliefs, and heritage. Every true mariner will get lost in this book.”— Boating. Seafaring Lore and Legend is a storehouse of wonders for those who love the sea. From Noah’s Ark to Thor Heyerdahl’s raft, from Atlantis to the Northwest Passage, author Peter Jeans scours the ages and the seven seas for fanciful, inspiring, and bizarre tales of sea monsters, ghost ships, lost continents, castaways, pirates, explorers, superstitions, and customs. Discover the surprising truths behind: The origins of naval salutes and the Beaufort Scale; Flogging a dead horse and other oddities of nautical custom; Sea chanties, scurvy, and the hardships of life at sea; Infamous and noteworthy sea captains and their ships; Famous wrecks and mutinies; Mermaids, sirens, and sea nymphs; Nautical superstitions such as the albatross and Fiddler’s Green; And much more. This is a book you can open anywhere to savor for a few minutes or an afternoon. But be careful: it's easy to lose track of time at sea. more...

Price: $14.95

SAVE TIME AND MONEY WITH THIS STATE-OF-THE-ART GUIDE TO THE LATEST, MOST ADVANCED DIAGNOSTIC EQUIPMENT AND TECHNIQUES. “Ed Sherman is one of America’s great teachers and communicators of marine technology.”--Tim Murphy, Executive Editor, Cruising World. Whether you are a marine electronics professional or a boatowner, Advanced Marine Electrics and Electronics Troubleshooting helps you understand the new, more powerful methods of troubleshooting marine electrical and electronic systems. A modern boat’s sophisticated installations and networked electronics can stretch the traditional diagnostic methods based on trouble lights and multimeters past their useful limits. This book will show you how to: Use microprocessor-based diagnostic tools and techniques from the automotive and communications sectors, adapted for boats for the first time; Diagnose the most difficult AC and DC problems; Protect communications and navigation electronics from interference and lightning; Seek out and eliminate stray-current sources and galvanic corrosion more...

Price: $34.95

The incredible story of the legendary 1905 international yacht race for supremacy on the high seas. Cookman is equally adept at depicting the gut-wrenching tension of ocean racing, the politics, intrigues, skullduggery of billionaires, society snobs, and sailors who make Captain Ahab seem the model of restraint, and a gilded, vanished era under the gathering storm clouds of war. Neil Hanson, author of The Custom of the Sea - 'It was the last and greatest yacht race of a gilded age: the emperor of Germany, two British lords, and eight American billionaires racing 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean to win a solid-gold trophy cup.' more...

Price: $24.95