The Complete Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Boating.
I got this with my boat and it looked really old and a bit tattered so I put it away and only now had a look at it.

It is a really interesting read!
Wrote in 1977 by Alan Lucas of the Cruising guides fame it is an A to Z of boating and nautical terms with over 1000 illustrations.




Not sure why photos are on the side...?

Like "Sandbagger" was an early kind of racing boat which used sandbags for ballast, I never heard of that.

Or "Soldiers Wind" is a beam wind, being the easiest course on which to steer a boat so that "even a soldier" could do it!

Great for the newbie or experienced yachtie alike and perfect for reference or just to while away a few hours and maybe discuss over a few rums...

There's still a couple available on eBay for $10 plus.

cheers

Sandbagger is an American racing boat type from a long time ago. L Francis Herreshof talks about them in his books on practical boat design.

The best sailing encyclopedia I ever read is "The Ocean Sailing Yacht" by Donald Street. Far more insights in that book than Alan Lucas ever came up with.

I found Alan Lucas lacking in community spirit not to produce an electronic version of his books freely available on the net like Andrew Evans's book or like Steve and Linda Dashew's 4 books which are available on the net as free downloads.
The Dashew's books, thousands of pages of it, are the best ever compilations of specialised nautical writing as far as l know.
Foolish's "Single handed sailing..." book is also one of those books which should be read and re-read even by experienced sailors!

Grotty Yachites. Want everything for nothing. This is what the guys in slips yards say about most yachties.

I like Alan's work he has been prolific writer & illustrator,over the last say 50 years, specialising on the Australian east coast with detailed charting of numerous little known anchorages.
Our boat was built buy some old mates of Alan's and when he introduced himself to us, as we were working on the boat at a public wharf at the time, he told us the yarn that crusoe was eluding to. That marine services are of the opinion that yachties get the wind for free and expect everything else at the same price

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Crusoe said..
Grotty Yachites. Want everything for nothing. This is what the guys in slips yards say about most yachties.

That is not quite true.

Why should a Grotty Yachty or anybody else have to pay for knowledge that is in the public domain???

Many yachtys will say that most guys in the slip yards are a rip off.

Without denigrating Lucas' various achievements, the fact of the matter is that he makes a lucrative income selling his books that I personally have found to be of limited value and on at least one occasion, erroneous and out of date. That can lead to disaster.

Maybe his son will come weighing in as he did some time in the past with legal and moral threats about how dare I diminish the achievements of one who many regard as a "Legend of Australian Sailing."

Thanks but no thanks, I prefer to make my own discoveries with chart inaccuracies etc. That is what makes life interesting and adventurous.

Each to his own. I found him a unemposing sort of gent whom actively avoided any limelight.
I couldn't imagine that in this Internet age with GPS navigation and apps like Zulu waterways on your phone that he would be selling many books.
when I sailed the nsw coast 2 years ago I had onboard his cruising guide printed 1976, I certainly didn't treat it as gospel but more of a historical insight, some anchorages still there some not, who would of ever thought the bobbin head hotel is now an ice cream shop !

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sirgallivant said..
I found Alan Lucas lacking in community spirit not to produce an electronic version of his books freely available on the net like Andrew Evans's book or like Steve and Linda Dashew's 4 books which are available on the net as free downloads.
The Dashew's books, thousands of pages of it, are the best ever compilations of specialised nautical writing as far as l know.
Foolish's "Single handed sailing..." book is also one of those books which should be read and re-read even by experienced sailors!

Give the man a break. That is how he earns a living.

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Yara said..

sirgallivant said..
I found Alan Lucas lacking in community spirit not to produce an electronic version of his books freely available on the net like Andrew Evans's book or like Steve and Linda Dashew's 4 books which are available on the net as free downloads.
The Dashew's books, thousands of pages of it, are the best ever compilations of specialised nautical writing as far as l know.
Foolish's "Single handed sailing..." book is also one of those books which should be read and re-read even by experienced sailors!

Give the man a break. That is how he earns a living.

Absolutely. The first edition of Cruising the NSW Coast came out in 1976. Pre digital maps, pre GPS Plotters, pre mobile phones, pre digital cameras... The Lucas' spent months, years cruising the east coast of Australia putting the information together and updating it. Their work contributed greatly to the enjoyment and safety of thousands of yachting adventures by thousands of yachties, grotty or not.

Alan Lucas must now be approaching his mid 80's, so I doubt that new editions of his books will be printed. As per the title of his most recent publication ( I think), let's allow him to go 'Off Watch', relax, and respect what he contributed, rather than whinge about wanting freebies.

Things have changed. I used to sail my Top Hat using a compass, depth gauge, charts and Lucas's guides. Now boat has changed, the guide is dated - and not just because of rapid coastal development, but because a Chartplotter/depth gauge, AIS, Tablet with google maps, YouTube content, and a mobile phone have totally changed how we plan and monitor all but well travelled day sails. However, I still like leafing through Lucas' work for his comments and opinion.

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sirgallivant said..
I found Alan Lucas lacking in community spirit not to produce an electronic version of his books freely available on the net like Andrew Evans's book or like Steve and Linda Dashew's 4 books which are available on the net as free downloads.
The Dashew's books, thousands of pages of it, are the best ever compilations of specialised nautical writing as far as l know.
Foolish's "Single handed sailing..." book is also one of those books which should be read and re-read even by experienced sailors!

I find Woolies similarly lacking in community spirit for forcing me to pay for my groceries.

The Dashews only made most of their books available once they'd been selling them for many years and had stopped updating them.

It's a touch harsh to expect a guy who worked as a guide writer to give it away for free .

It reminds me of my time working as a professional muso. After the expense of gear and all that training & practice, we got an awful lot of requests to play for free "because you'll enjoy it". Sure, "enjoying it" keeps instruments in good repair, pays the insurance and fuels & maintains the car!

I am as happy as anyone to get info free from the net, but I am also just as happy to pay for an interesting or informative book whether second hand or new. But then I just love books...
Alan Lucas is clearly a very talented man with a great passion for sailing and if has made a living out of doing what he loves (and got many thousands of others into it as well), then well done I say.

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Cockpit said..
I am as happy as anyone to get info free from the net, but I am also just as happy to pay for an interesting or informative book whether second hand or new. But then I just love books...
Alan Lucas is clearly a very talented man with a great passion for sailing and if has made a living out of doing what he loves (and got many thousands of others into it as well), then well done I say.

I agree Cockpit.
I have an extensive sailing library and have nearly all of Lucas's books amongst many others but I've noticed that over the last 5 years those old sailing books rarely if ever turn up in the varies book sales run by rotary clubs etc.
Now as someone said you can get digital copies online but the're not the same

And as an author I can tell you unless you self publish and organise the printing [cheapest in China ] there isn't much profit to be had.