Whether you are a novice about to buy your first boat or an old salt who wants to add a little more practical knowledge, this is an excellent book. Some of the recommendations may seem like overkill for the casual weekend sailor, but it is best to be prepared, if not in equipment then at least in knowledge, for the worst conditions. There is a big difference in knowing and not knowing how much your boat falls short of ideal preparation. This book could give you a sense of where to set the standard.

A good well written book with essential information clearly explained. If you know exactly what type of characteristics you want in a boat (performance, safety, etc) then this book will help in finding the right boat though the criteria laid out in the boat by various authors are not easily found or reconciled in one boat design. Will make further investigation more productive to be sure. Certainly a jumping off platform for the first time buyer and more reading is needed for a true understanding of the concepts resented in the book.

This book is incredible. If you are a complete novice, in the market for your first boat - or an experienced sailor preparing to go to sea - this should be required reading. There is an incredible amount of experience behind this book, making it the authority on sailboat configuration and equipment. Illustrated in all the right places.

My goal in assembling this log book was to provide the blend of practicality, flexibility, thoroughness, and personality that I've long thought has been missing in log books. I've included an innovative way to record weather observations and plenty of open space so navigators can enter the information that's important to them NOW. I've also included safety skills, a summary of the rules of the road, pages for recording the names of your gear, a section for listing guests -- and dozens of funny or inspiring quotes by great boating writers. Norton has packed all this into a great looking book. John Rousmaniere, author

For me, a recreational sailor of over twenty years, this book has been like the bible. I've used it for voyage preparation, to teach new sailors and, when I wrote my sailing mystery novel, Inner Passages, this book was my first and primary resource!

Sometimes, late at night, nostalgic for the sensation of a sailboat deck underfoot once more, I pull it off the shelf and just dip inside. It evokes memories, reminds me of trips gone by, and I cam almost smell the sea air. This latest edition, replete with fine illustrations, should be a primary addition to any sailor's library.

John Rousmaniere has created a comprehensive text on the sport of sailing and seamanship which is enjoyable to read and very authoritative. By their nature, sailors have strongly held opinions on most subjects, but virtually every sailor I know of who has read John's book holds it in very high regard. The illustrations are clear and not too busy to get in the way of showing the frequently complicated topics which are inherent in the sport. I also find that Seamanship is not just a repeat of tired old sailing methods of 30 years ago, but rather integrates the classic techniques (storm tactics, navigation) with the modern (Crew Overboard Recovery, modern anchors and electronics).

I highly recommend this book, and encourage anyone to buy it if they want to improve their sailing skills.

This updated (1999) version of The Annapolis Book of Seamanship is a wonderful volume for both the new and more experienced sailor. With clear, lucid text and wonderful illustrations, Mr. Rousmaniere and Mr. Smith have created a truly useful guide. In particular, I found the section dealing with the "physics" of the boat to be very enlightening. I also was pleased with the strong emphasis on safety throughout the book. All around, one of the best books available on the topic, and highly recommended.

I read this book a couple of years ago and still think about it often. It is meritorious on two levels. First, it is a gripping account of ocean racing in fierce storm conditions, and secondly, it is a dramatic series of the personal stories of the various people who survived, died, completed the race, and won the race. Most memorable was the author's description of media tycoon Ted Turner (who was at the time also an expert sailor) and his response to the race and it's disastrous aftermath. I wont spoil it for you, but that section really was illuminating. The pictures are incredible

From reading Perfect Storm two years ago I have started reading adventure stories at sea. This is a fascinating race in extreme conditions which the author describes very well based on his first hand knowledge. But he also analyzes what went wrong and where the blame should be placed if anywhere. The pictures are exceptional and this is an excellent read with a few slow spots.

However, it is not my favorite sailing adventure. That would be Fatal Storm, the Inside Story of the Sydney-Hobart race. While it may not have taught as much, the stories were more in-depth and mesmerizing.

This book has historical importance from a sailing perspective as it was one of the first races of the modern era with catastrophic results and much was learned for equipment development. A must read for sailors and adventure junkies. Also good for someone wanting to learn about the technical side of racing and weather.

This book is superb, the best I have ever read on sustained rough weather sailboating and what really happens onboard 30 to 80 foot sailboats in very strong storm conditions at sea. The book is very well written and the author's words allowed me to come quite close to feeling the wet, windy, bouncing, noisy and scary conditions experienced by the people on the boats in that terrible storm. It is highly gripping as an adventure, and unusually informative on how to properly prepare a yacht for offshore sailing where threatening storms are always a real threat. Very enjoyable. by Allen Hobbs, Lt. USN (ret)

Thanks for taking my return. The book was not well written.

While this is a decent, yet simple, dictionary of boating terms, it is certainly misleading to call it an ILLUSTRATED dictionary. For the "2000 Essential Terms for Sailors", there are less than 100 illustrations (yes, I counted them).

A very good book. The only critical thing I would say is that it lacks boat building terms and does not use WoodenBoat magazine as one of its many fine references. I saw the book advertised in the WoodenBoat catalog and assumed it would help in my new boat building project. I am still looking for a resource. It still has 2000 other terms. Not bad.

I enjoy reading sea stories such as "Working on the Edge", but it was a real chore to get through the maze of details which seemed to be included just to make the book 'thick' and did nothing to really add to the 'story'. Pass on this one and spend your money on something written as less of a text book.

Be forewarned if you purchase "After the Storm" expecting it to be another in the recent spate of books recounting tales of nautical disasters. It does focus on ten seperate instances of seaborne mayhem dating from the 1820s to the 1990s. But instead of including straightforward narrative accounts, author John Rousmaniere is more concerned with the literary and spiritual aspects of such events. The common thread that runs through these tales is that for the most part they all either affected or were commented upon by notable literary personalites, from Mary Shelley to Robert Louis Stevenson to Joseph Conrad and others. So much so that the accounts of the disasters themselves take a back seat to describing their social, psychological, religious and even political effects.

All in all there is nothing necessarily wrong with Rousmaniere's approach, except that its appeal will be limited to the interest that the reader has in the exteraneous subject matter. Unfortunately, the book's subtitle, "True Stories of Disaster and Recovery at Sea," leads one to believe that it is a collection of adventure tales, which is really not the case.

Overall, I would recommend that potential readers closely scrutinize the summaries of this book's subject matter to determine if it will appeal to them.