More Good Reads

As noted on Monday, we’re doing quickie reviews this week of some of the new books we’ve received over the past year, the idea being that they might make nice gifts for the sailors on your holiday list. Yes, we know you can download the entire works of Shakespeare onto an iPhone these days. But there’s still a lot to be said for shutting off all electronic devices — except lights —  and curling up for a good read the old fashioned way.

• We’ve often wondered why anchoring, one of the most common and important acts of cruising, is often done so cluelessly. One reason might be the stodgy and impenetrable tomes that have been written on the subject over the years. Thankfully, this isn’t one of them. Happy Hooking — the Art of Anchoring (White Seahorse, Inc., $15.95) is well organized, well illustrated, user friendly in its delivery, and even fun — authors Alex and Daria Blackwell even tell you the proper way to organize one of those round ‘sunflower’ raft-ups. Reading just a few pertinent chapters in this easy-to-understand book will not only ‘clue you in’, but help guarantee that your boat will still be there when you come back from a trip ashore.

• The world is going ever greener — well, the nation, at least — and there’s lots boaters can do to help. In Boat Green (New Society Publishers, $17.95), author Clyde Ford addresses dozens of ways to do this, from wind and solar power, to getting the most out of batteries, to safe ways to encounter marine mammals — even a bit of philanthropy for those interested in joining or organizing ‘green marine’ movements of their own.

• Arcadia Publishing specializes in local history books. Three in the series that might be of interest to local boaters are The California Delta, Point Cabrillo Light Station and The Houseboats of Sausalito ($19.95 apiece). The latter was authored by the late Sausalito historian and cartoonist Phil Frank, and is as fascinating as his periodic lectures on local history used to be. All three books are heavy with photos tracing the subject matter from the early days until the present.