Marti Rijken's book list of sailing narratives

• Nalepka, James & Steven Callahan, 1992. Capsized. HarperCollins, New York.

  A not so experienced crew of four sails from New Zealand to Tonga in a trimaran. The boat capsizes and the men are trapped for an amazing 119 days in a small confinement in the hull, in cold weather with limited supplies. It's a fine book about mutual anger and reliance, friendship and hardship - more so than about sailing.

• Newbold Smith, Edgar, 1980. Down Denmark Strait. ISBN 0-316-79958-0. Little, Brown and Company. 209 pages, 11 maps, 26 b/w and 25 color photographs. Bibligraphy.

  After two chapters about racing and going to Labrador, Smith tells of his 1976 cruise in his Swan 43 sloop Reindeer from Newport, Rhode Island via Iceland, the Faeroes and Norway to Spitsbergen, returning via Jan Mayen Island and the ice-packed Denmark Strait. A moneyed sailor, Smith was well prepared and had twenty-seven friends and sons of friends for crew changes, changing in eleven ports. He has political ideas about Russians but can also write like a sailor about historical voyages and settlements, sea conditions, landings, the ports he visited and the people he met.
  [reviewed by Cap'n Horn <capnhorn@juno.com>]

• Richards, Joe, 1956. Princess. McKay Company, New York, reprint 1973.  Dutch: Princess. Hollandia, Baarn, 1974, 1992.

  This book is written like a humorous love story between a man and his classic ship. Like so many man, Richards has a dream about sailing to a tropical island. But before he gets there, numerous funny (at aftherthought) events and adventures happen. After troublesome restoration of the ship, Richards sailes from New York to Florida, where World War II catches up on him. After the war he finally completes his dream, but the sailing in the mean time prooved to be as least as good. Or perhaps better.

• Roos, Willy de, 1979. Le passage du Nord-Ouest. Arthaud, Paris.  Dutch: De noordwestelijke doorvaart. Hollandia, Baarn, 1984.

  De Roos seeks for untracked routes. He finds one in the passage from Atlantic to Pacific, north of Canada. He shows that a (iron) yacht can find its way through the ice - even singlehanded - if well prepared. Imagine that part of the preparation is being ready to hibernate, if necessary. Be sure to sit near the stove when you read it.

• Roos, Willy de, 1985. Inaccessible Horizon. Arthaud, Paris.  Dutch: De ontoegankelijke horizon Hollandia, Baarn, 1990

  Another adventure off the regular tracks by De Roos. This time he travels to Antarctica accompanied by a friend. The story is interlarded with sharp observations about themselves, their surroundings, and society in general. This makes the book more worth reading than just another travel story.

• Scaling Kiley, Deborah & Meg Noonan, 1994. Albatross. Houghton Mifflin, New York.  Dutch: Schipbreuk. Luiting-Sijthoff, Amsterdam, 1994.

  Deborah Scaling wrote this book, as she says, to expel the demons of the past -- the post-traumatic stress that sustained after her horrible experience of shipwreck. Eager to embark to Florida, she took ship on a yacht with a bad prepared captain and three other crewmembers. One of them unknowledgable, an other one totally irresponsible (being drunk in a hurricane could be called insane, if you prefer). When the ship sunk the life raft was lost, but the five managed to hold on to a dinghy. Injuries and insanity lost three of them their lives, before the other were rescued after five days. Horrible was not only the exposure to pain, cold, thirst and sharks, but also the mutual anger and hatred among the crewmembers. Well told. A lesson to be critical whom you sail with.

• Slocum, Joshua, 1900. Sailing alone around the world. Century, New York.  Dutch: Alleen met de Spray de wereld rond. Hollandia, Baarn, 1982. Now online at http://arthur-ransome.org/ar/literary/slocum2.htm

  A classic. Slocum was the first man to circumnavigate singlehandedly. As a retired captain Slocum knows and loves the sea, more than he loves the people ashore. His encounter with Fuegian indians shows that his cautiousness pays off. During the trip he makes for a living by carrying goods and trading. Later on he gains popularity and gives lectures in yacht clubs.

• Slocum, Joshua, 1894. Voyage of the Liberdade.  Dutch: De reis met de Liberdade. Now online at http://arthur-ransome.org/ar/literary/slocum1.htm

  Slocum experiences bad luck in his career as a captain, and gets stuck in Brazil with his family. He sees no other option than to build a boat himself to sail back. Thanks to his skills as a boat constructor and a seaman he succeeds wonderfully. This book makes you understand why Slocum has no faith in people, and, years later, sails off with the Spray alone.

• Stuivenberg, Peter, 1994. 'n Wereld onder zeil. Elmar, Rijswijk.

  A very personal story of circumnavigation that tragically ends in flames. Stuyvesands love sorrows make the trip complicated for him, but they do add to the story. Well written account of modern circumnavigation, with all kinds of joys and problems.

• Tomalin, Nicholas & Ron Hall, 1970. The strange voyage of Donald Crowhurst. Times Newspapers, London.  Dutch: Donald Crowhurst. Zijn laatste tocht. Hollandia, Baarn, 1994.

  Donald Crowhurst was one of the participants in the first non-stop round the world race, with Knox-Jonhston and Moitessier, among others. The preparations for his journey were made in great haste and under great pressure. His new trimaran was hardly seaworthy in its state of preparation. But one of Crowhurst most pronounced characteristics was to enter a new challenge if he couldn't win the current one, so he departed anyway. After some disappointing time at sea he realised his chances to complete the circumnavigation were minimal. Again he jumped to a new challenge: to fool the world that he would win the race, but to hide in the south Atlantic most of the time. This tric prooved to be too complicated, and too much stress for a man so long alone at sea. At last insanity got hold of him, and he ended his life by jumping off the boat. A detective like reconstruction of a gripping true story.
  > Link to EightSea review

• Velde, Henk de, 1990. Een sfeer van onrust. Elmar, Rijkswijk.

  Henk de Velde tries to be the first man to sail a catamaran non-stop around the world, singlehandedly. He doesn't succeed because damage on his ship forces him to accept help and make repairs in New Zealand. His voyage nevertheless is one worth telling, and reading about. Doldrums, gales, broken down material, it is all described vividly, along with the emotions that come with such a voyage. There's one thing I don't like, and that's when De Velde seems to be writing for himself only - referring to memories of the past that the reader has no knowledge about.

• Velde, Henk de, 1993. Zwaaien naar Bluff. Elmar, Rijswijk.

  In a large trimaran Henk de Velde tries to sail non-stop around the world in 100 days. In a former try he had to make repairs in Bluff, New Zealand. This time he just waves at Bluff, but nevertheless can't finish the match in such a short time. Bad luck his generators break up, leaving him without power for the autopilots and without any contact with the civilized world. Great contemporary adventurist, but unfortunately at times he thinks he is a poet   :-(

• Wray, John, 1939. South sea vagabonds. Reissue: Grafton, London.  Dutch: Vagebonden van de zuidzee. Hollandia, Baarn, 1991.

  In New Zealand a young man is determined to build his own boat, although he has no money. He lends a friend's boat to roam the sea for lost timber and starts building in his parent's garden. Improbable as it is, he completes the job and sails off to the Fiji islands. Humorous account of building ones own boat under primitive circumstances.