Compulsively Aimless

Sailing has its own language, its own culture and its own traditions.  The combination makes for an entertaining collection of reference books. 1.   Naval Customs Tradition and Usage, Lt. Commander Leland Lovette (1939).   A perennial book updated every few years that includes Sea Manners, Shore Manners loaded with historical examples and illustrated with black and white photos and etchings.  Purchased at the State Department Bookstore. 2.  Bluejackets Manual (1946, 17th ed.).  The guidebook for the US Navy.  A practical guide written for new recruits to old salts.  Bought used somewhere. 3.  Naval Terms, Commander C. C Soule, USN (1926).  If you want to know how to define everything from Keep Her Full to Pinch Her, Naval Terms is your source.   Precise illustrations for all rigs, knots, fittings, compasses and boats.  Bought for a $1.50 somewhere.  There's a history through inscriptions in...

The biggest body of water I've every raced on was the Chesapeake.  Racing around the British Isles or around the world solo is another mater.   Sport quickly becomes a fight for life.  Two stories of that here.   1.  Fastnet Force 10, John Rousmaniere (1979),   Force 10 is a mariner's scale to say a violent storm at sea.  In 1979, a force 10 storm ripped though a storm in the Irish Sea during the Fastnet race.  Forty foot waves damaged over half of the 300 boats.  Rousmaniere who was in the race, assembled the stories into a single riveting narrative.  Bought used at the State Department book store with a book plate from "Jane Murdoch." 2.  Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World's Most Dangerous Waters, Derek Lundy (1999).   The world's most dangerous race is the Globe Vendee, a single-handed sailor around the world with no stops.  During the 1996 race, sailor Derek Lundy, a contender for the lead, turned his ...