DaySailer.org Forum

I have sailed with my grandfather as a child and teen. Now at 42 I have a son 10 who wants to learn to sail and I have aquired a DS1 that we are working on together. It has been so long for me since I have sailed and have never had a Daysailer before. Can anyone recommend good books for me to find to both (re) educate myself and to teach my son?

I am mostly looking for simple sailing instructions, detailed rigging for DS1 and a guide to the correct terms for everything.


Thanks, So many hints, suggestions and help here, I know someone here knows the right books.

A wonderful book for a 10year old is "First Sail" by Richard Henderson. It's a picture book that tells the story of a day sailing trip in a boat very similar to a DaySailer, so all the parts and terms that are introduced alongside the story will be immediately applicable. On each page are sidebars that introduce or summarize concepts. The focus is excellent, nothing that's immediately important to a beginning sailor is left out, but there's no extraneous distracting detail.

The storyline is designed to walk you through a short sailing trip with typical "adventures" (caught in a shower, etc.) and ties things together nicely.

ISBN 978-0870334429
(Even a parent with rusty skills should find this an enjoyable refresher).

For the DS1-specific rigging instructions, see the items under "Technical Info" at the top of this page. Also check out the "measurements" section of the "handbook" under "Day Sailer Association" on this page.

If you are looking for advice on specific items, your best bet is to search this forum. The search function that is built into the forum software is not as powerful as what you are used to from your favoite search engine, so, instead, you can use Google, etc, to search for, say "boom vang" by typing the following example into your search box:

Code: Select all

site:daysailer.org/forum "boom vang"

One of my favorites and one I lend out to first timers interrested in sailing is now out of print but available used from Amazon.com or E-Bay.
Sailing For Beginners by Moulton H. Farnham.
Simple and basic for the first few chapters but indepth enough to cover more advanced learning.
I recently purchased a hardcover copy for about $12.00.
Green Lake,
Thanks for the suggestion, Now I know what my eight year old grand daughter is getting for Christmas.

OK, what to do, when you're over the initial steps and long winter evenings beckon? Here are some thoughts on further reading.

My goal is to only buy books I intend to re-read. Those usually include books that go to some depth on a particular subject. For basic surveys or most beginners' guides, I tend to check the local library first. At that level, reading the material once is usually enough.

Therefore, I suggest that you see what your local library has in stock or can obtain by loan. After that, you will know what topic will interest you more deeply and you can add to your holdings selectively.

Books that caught my fancy over the years and have become members of my bookshelf in good standing, include (in no particular order)

• The Boatowners Guide to Corrosion (Collier)
• The Physics of Sailing (Anderson) (basic intro, well compiled)
• Sail Trim (several books by different authors, same title)
• The Sailors Wind, (Walker)
• Sail Performance (Marchaj)
• Yacht Design (Eliasen)
• The Nature of Boats (Gerr)
• The Book of Knots (Ashley)
• Aero-Hydrodynamics (Fossati)
• High Performance Sailing (Bethwaite)
• Higher Performance Sailing (Bethwaite)

and finally, the

• Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea

for all the nautical terms (great for reading historical novels).

Almost all of these I've pulled out many times to re-read or to check something, so they've been good investments. Gerr's and Anderson's books are accessible to people new to boats, but curious about the engineering and science behind them. Bethwaite's books are for those who like to find out more about really modern trends (combined with a whole lot of good general info). I'm unlikely to ever sail the boats he's built, but I still learned a lot.

(On aerodynamics of sailing, the website arvelgentry.com deserves an honorable mention - even though it's not a book. Very well explained.)

We are in the same exact same boat. Literally. (DSI)

I am 42, have children and just getting back into sailing after a 20 yr hiatus.

After reading/reviewing over half a dozen books, I can recommend 2 books and 1 websight.

The Complete Sailor by David Seidman

The Handbook of Sailing by Bob Bond

http://www.glen-l.com/free-book/rigging-small-sailboats.html#contents

Enjoy!

Thank you everyone. I have ordered several books from Amazon. To whoever started this website.....THANK YOU!

Royce's Sailing Illustrated is a handy little book. Has the best description of splicing double braided line I've seen. Not the best organized book, but fun to flip through.

I second Soctt's reccomendatio of "The Complete Sailor." I've found it to be handy. Somewhat basic, but full of good reminders of stuff. An easy read with lots of pictures that are great illustrations of what they're talking about. as a refresher after a while off the water or as an intro to new sailors, a pretty good one to pick up.

After that, you can step up to GreenLake's post-grad sylabus...