BOOK & MAGAZINE GUIDE
Your guide to sailing related books and magazines.
Now that sailing is my interest du jour, my library is experiencing a healthy increase in related books. If you are interested in sailing-related books, your best bet is to visit your local bookstore or the two LARGE commercial book sites on the Internet: Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
Typically, I visit my local Barnes & Noble store to search for new books. If the price is too high (which it usually is), I'll visit an on-line site to purchase the book and save 20%-50%.
I've listed my sailing (and related) books in the table below. Since I am relatively new to sailing, most of these volumes are of recent "vintage". My very first sailing book, The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, sparked my interest in sailing. And, the many sailing magazines I've read since have added to my passion to sail and own my own boat. Ten years after reading that "first" sailing book, I finally own my own boat. Needless to say, my library will continue to grow and as time permits, I'll add my own review of the books listed below.
(Texas/Gulf Coast)
Attn: Free Subscription Dept.
P.O. Box 580248
Houston, Texas 77258-0248
Business Office: 281-333-4445
Fax Line: 281-333-2219
American Gulf Publishing Company
18065 Upper Bay Road
Suite 230
Nassau Bay, Texas 77058
It includes:
- Navigation Rules
- Lighting Requirements
- Visual Distress Signal Information
- Weather Service Offices
- U.S. Coast Guard Equipment Requirements
- First Aid Information
- Waste Disposal Guidelines
- White Pages for regional boating related vendors
- Yellow Pages for regional boating related vendors
Best of all, it's FREE! Give them a call and get your hands on this valuable resource.
TELLTALES
Yachting Texas Style
A Division of Waterfront Publishing Inc.
228 Marina Bay Drive, Suite B
Kemah, Texas 77565
281-334-2202
Fax: 281-334-2751
Subscriptions:
One Year $15.50
Two Years $27.50
MasterCard – Visa Accepted
This is a "must have" monthly magazine for the Texas sailor, especially for those that travel the Gulf Coast.
Contains many feature articles as well as the regular monthly departments such as "Weather Outlook", "Tattletales" (regional goings-on), "Seamanship", "From the Repair Yard" and the "Racing Scene".
A marina gave me a complimentary copy but it is well worth the subscription price.
TEXAS BOATING
(Formerly Texas Moorings)
P.O. Box 1199
Boutte, LA 70039
(504) 758-7217
Published monthly by:
Gulf Coast Boating, Inc.
14236 US Hwy 90
P.O. Box 1199
Boutte, LA 70039
Subscriptions:
One Year $16.95
Call (800) 538-4355
This is more of a general boating publication but it does have information of interest to area sailors.
In addition to the monthly features, it includes departments entitled "View from the Helm", "Along the Waterfront", "Binnacle to Bilge", "Boater's Cookbook", "Tide Guides", "Getting Technical" and "Boats of the Month".
SOUTHWINDS
Local News for Southern Sailors
Published monthly by:
Southwinds Media
P.O. Box 88
St. Petersburg, FL 33731
(727) 825-0433
Fax: (727) 898-2211
www.southwindssailing.com
Email: dcushing@southwindssailing.com
Subscriptions:
One Year $15 (3rd Class)
One Year $19 (1st Class)
You can pick this up FREE at your local West Marine. Or, subscribe for home delivery.
Each issue contains quite a few interesting feature articles. Of course, the regular departments provide good information as well.
SAIL
Primedia Inc.
P.O. Box 56397
Boulder, CO 80328-6397
(800) 745-7245
One-year rate: $23.94
One of my favorite magazines. Great feature stories and Herb & Nancy Payson's "Things That Work" column. Other topics include monthly stories related to "Electronics", "Trailersailing", "Weather", "Maintenance" and "Skill Building".
SAILING
Port Publications, Inc.
125 E. Main St.
P.O. Box 249
Port Washington, WI 53074
(262) 284 3494
Fax: (262) 284-7764
E-Mail:sailing@execpc.com
One-year rate: $28.00
The subtitle of the magazine, "The Beauty of Sail", describes this periodical well. The large format with beautiful photographs is reminiscent of LIFE Magazine. Most of the boat brokers whose ads appear in the back of the magazine are located in the Great Lakes region.
CRUISING WORLD
Miller Sports Group, LLC
5 John Clarke Rd., Box 3400
Newport, RI 02840-0992
(401) 847-1588
Fax: (401) 848-5048
One-year rate: $28.00
Special "insert" rate: $14.00
This is what their website says about them: "If you're a cruising sailor, you probably know Cruising World; if you're not a sailor yet, stick around! We write for all those who explore the world's oceans, bays, lakes and rivers under sail. We provide a monthly wealth of timely information for sailors united by their love of cruising, no matter what size boat they own, from small trailer-sailers to large, ocean-going yachts. Our articles cover a wide variety of topics, from easy destination pieces (swaying palms, warm sand beaches; spruce-scented mist...) to fairly complex technical subjects (celestial navigation, marine refrigeration). We always try to strike a balance between the practical and the entertaining, within each issue, and within each article."
SAILING WORLD
Miller Sports Group, LLC
5 John Clarke Rd., Box 3400
Newport, RI 02840-0992
(401) 847-1588
Fax: (401) 848-5048
One-year rate: $29.50
Special "insert" rate: $16.00
This is what their website says about them: "There aren't many performance sailors who don't know about Sailing World (and its incarnations under various other names). For more than 30 years the magazine has been the main source of news and information on sailboat racing at every level -- the America's Cup, the Whitbread, the Olympics; singlehanded and speed-record challenges, PHRF and IMS racing, one-design regattas, college racing and rankings -- the works. We focus heavily on technique, with how-to articles by top sailors like Dave Dellenbaugh, Ed Adams, Ed Baird, Peter Isler, the perennial Dr. Stuart Walker, and leading-edge younger sailors like Morgan Larson, Merritt Carey, Tony Rey.. They're all here. This is the place. Because we've been around for a while, and because we keep our editorial content focused on the interests of racing sailors, the pages of SW have always been fertile ground for new ideas in the sport, whether in the area of design, rating and racing rules, professionalism, safety, rigging, gear and electronics."
SOUNDINGS
Soundings Publications, LLP
35 Pratt Street
Essex, CT 06426
(800) 341-1522
(860) 767-3200
One-year rate: $19.97
Newstand rate: $94.80
Subtitled "The Nations Boating Newspaper", this periodical is large format and includes separate publications "Boats for Sale" (arguably the nation's leading marine classified source) and "Water Front" (waterfront real estate classifieds).
PRACTICAL SAILOR
Belvoir Publications, Inc.
Box 420235
Palm Coast, FL 32142
(800) 829-9087
(800) 424-7887 (for back issues)
Published twice monthly (except March, June, September, and December, which are combined)
Twelve issues (six months): $19.97
This periodical is not generally found in retail newsstands and they take pride in saying they accept no commercial advertising. This is why they can present themselves as an objective third-party when reviewing boats and other related products.
Although "pricey", this periodical is very thorough and gives good reviews of marine-related products. Here is an example of its contents (from volume 25, no. 1; January 1, 1999): "15 Anchors Tested for Holding Power in Sand", "Offshore Log", "Used Boat Survey--The Sabre 362", "Editorial: Fantome", and "PS Advisor: Cutting Rope"
LATITUDE 38
Latitude 38 Publishing Co., Inc.
15 Locust Ave.
Mill Valley, CA 94941
(415) 383-8200
Fax: (415) 383-5816
One-year rate: $26.00
This thick, black & white monthly periodical full of great stories from California sailors. I picked up my first issue "free" from the local West Marine store.
48º NORTH
(206) 789-7350
Fax: (206) 789-6392
One-year rate: $15.00
A monthly sailing magazine from just a bit farther north . . . the Pacific Northwest. Although I haven't yet seen the printed version, I do visit their website.
OCEAN NAVIGATOR
(207) 772-2466
One-year rate: $26.00
They consider themselves the leading magazine for serious, blue-water sailing. Topics include: weather, electronics, boat design, oceanography, destinations, celestial navigation, sail handling, provisioning, route planning & personal safety.
They also publish Professional Mariner (Journal of the Maritime Industry)
© 1999 by Mark T. Melchior 
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All Rights Reserved
Revised: 20 Dec 2007 16:28:42 -0500
"In a powerboat, you get there in a hurry .
. .
in a sailboat, you are already there."