Preview: Good Reads: Recommendations by Walt Ansel

OffCenterHarbor.com asked our guides to share their favorite books that should be in every boater’s library…

Dang, I’ve got so many books I love that it’s tough to pick the best ones. But I read these over and over:

Cruise of the Cachalot, by Frank Bullen

Cruise of the Cachalot

This, the most readable of all the whaling books, was written by an eighteen-year-old British seaman who shipped out on a Yankee Whaler from New Bedford in 1875, and covers the art, science, geography and adventure of hunting the mighty sperm whale with primitive weapons from whaleboats as dainty as seabirds.

a href="http://www.amazon.com/Racundras-First-Cruise-Arthur-Ransome/dp/1290351899" target="_blank" rel="noopener">

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2 Responses So Far to “Good Reads: Recommendations by Walt Ansel”

  • Andy Reynolds says:

    Rockwell Kent was one of the main reasons I ended up in Alaska. Thanks, Walt (and OCH) for this mention of North by East, and E.M. Leonard for mentioning Sailing Southward. Two books I must now find!

  • Ellen Massey Leonard says:

    Great to see both Rockwell Kent and Arthur Ransome make an appearance! Ransome’s classic Swallows and Amazons series was for me (as I’m sure it was for many sailors!) a huge part of my childhood. And another Rockwell Kent book I love is Sailing Southward from the Strait of Magellan. Also a great narrative with beautiful woodcuts.