Showing titles in Water Sports

Helen Olson and her husband, Elmer, retired in their late 40s to sail the Pacific Ocean from 1979- 1989 on a 50-foot yacht they built themselves. Sailing Elysium is a personal account of that 10-year adventure, as they immersed themselves in the cultures and traditions of the local people, venturing to 27 major stay-overs in 21 countries.

Waterman is the first comprehensive biography of Duke Kahanamoku (1890-1968): swimmer, surfer, Olympic gold medalist, Hawaiian icon, waterman.

What makes for a surfing life? With a blaze of groundbreaking performances and a swag of titles claimed from all over the world to his name, Australian world champion surfer Nat Young might know. His 70th birthday inspired some reflection on exactly that, and on the waves and characters that have marked his remarkable life - Miki Dora and Midget Farrelly to name a few. But surfing for Nat Young - and so many like-minded surfers - has never been about winning, never been about the sport. It's a calling, an endless quest, a philosophy, a religion.

Two Years Before the Mast is a book by the American author Richard Henry Dana, Jr., written after a two-year sea voyage starting in 1834 and published in 1840. While at Harvard College, Dana had an attack of the measles that affected his vision. Thinking it might help his sight, Dana, rather than going on a Grand Tour as most of his fellow classmates traditionally did (and unable to afford it anyway), and being something of a nonconformist, left Harvard to enlist as a common sailor.

At middle age, Herb and Nancy Payson decided they needed a change. Why not give up life on shore, quit their jobs in the smoky nightclubs of Los Angeles, and take up the cruising life? In Sea Foam, their 36-foot ketch, the Paysons and their large brood of teenage children cruised the Pacific for six and a half years. They experienced a certain amount of stark terror, but their delights far outbalanced the drawbacks. This special 35th anniversary edition is enhanced with a foreword by Lin Pardey, plus Herb's reflections on how cruising affected his children and his relationship with his determined, lifelong partner/wife Nancy.

Dive deep into the world of swimming with open water swimmer and coach Mikael Rosén as he explores the sport through eight different perspectives. With topics ranging from the vigorous mental and physical demands of the sport to gender and race politics, no listener will be left treading water. Rosén also provides a look into the lives of professional swimmers such as Michael Phelps and Sarah Sjöström, sharing insights into what makes these greats super swimmers. Packed with interesting history, science, and trivia, as well as useful charts, maps, sidebars, tips, and strategies.

Bob Shepton is an ordained minister in the Church of England in his 70s, but spends most of his time sailing into the Arctic and making first ascents of inaccessible mountains. No tea parties for this vicar. Opening with the disastrous fire that destroyed his yacht whilst he was ice-bound in Greenland, the book travels back to his childhood growing up on his family's rubber plantation in Malaysia, moving back to England after his father was shot by the Japanese during the war, boarding school, the Royal Marines, and the church.

A Speck on the Sea chronicles the greatest ocean voyages attempted in the littlest boats.

In his number-one best seller The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger describes Linda Greenlaw as "one of the best sea captains, period, on the East Coast." Now Greenlaw tells her own riveting story of a 30 day swordfishing voyage aboard one of the best-outfitted boats on the East Coast, complete with danger, humor, and characters so colorful they seem to have been ripped from the pages of Moby Dick. The excitement starts immediately, even before Greenlaw and her five-man crew leave the dock.

Named one of Time Magazine International's 30 most important people of 2005, Maud Fontenoy presents us with a terrific, entertaining adventure story on the high seas as she challenges the Pacific Ocean - a feat no woman before her ever accomplished. Already the first woman to row alone across the North Atlantic, Maud raised the bar to defy the elements, the daunting solitude, and the circling sharks of the South Pacific on her second solo voyage.

Bareboat Cruising Made Easy is not only the official textbook for the ASA Bareboat Cruising Standard (ASA 104), but also the definitive go-to resource for all sailors who enjoy cruising and destination oriented sailing. It is an all-in-one reference book that includes everything a cruising sailor needs to know, from general planning to technical guidance to sailing advice.

Narrated in his own voice, in this third book about his travels aboard the 28-foot sailboat Atom, James Baldwin creates an ode to the sea and to those who venture upon her in small voyaging sailboats. The Next Distant Sea continues the memoir of his second adventurous circumnavigation as begun in his earlier book Bound for Distant Seas.

Normality is so over-rated. Boat life is better. In her debut memoir Narrow Margins, Marie Browne saved her family from financial ruin by moving her long-suffering husband, three children, and a dog on to a houseboat called Happy Go Lucky in search of a less stressful, alternative way of life. Now in Narrow Minds the family find themselves sucked back into normality, they’re pretty much back where they started: horrible house, no boat, and the kids are beginning to threaten mutiny.

Erik Weihenmayer is the first and only blind person to summit Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Descending carefully, he and his team picked their way across deep crevasses and through the deadly Khumbu Icefall; when the mountain was finally behind him, Erik knew he was going to live. His expedition leader slapped him on the back and said something that would affect the course of Erik’s life: “Don’t make Everest the greatest thing you ever do.” No Barriers is Erik’s response to that challenge.

Steve Haywood has been cruising the inland waterways for 50 years, and has amassed a following of readers and listeners keen to hear about his travelling tales on Britain’s beautiful canals and rivers. Tales from the Tillerman is both his tribute to Britain’s canals, rivers and countryside and a celebration of Britishness in all its eccentric glory. Unlike Steve’s previous titles, Tales from the Tillerman is casting the net wider and drawing from his full 50 years of experience, recounting the many hair-raising escapades he’s had up and down the country.

Admiral Stavridis, a leader in military, international affairs, and national security circles, shares his love of the sea and some of the sources of that affection. The Sailor's Bookshelf offers synopses of fifty books that illustrate the history, importance, lore, and lifestyle of the oceans and of those who "go down to the sea in ships." Divided into four main categories, Admiral Stavridis's choices will appeal to "old salts" and to those who have never known the sights of the ever-changing seascape, nor breathed the tonic of an ocean breeze.

Following a year of record numbers of shark attacks, Sharks Never Sleep takes us around the world to meet shark-attack survivors, shark lovers and shark hunters, who tell us of the primal fear of being eaten alive by a wild animal, the unimaginable grief of losing a loved one and extraordinary stories of encounters with sharks.

By age twenty, at the height of the Jazz Age, Trudy Ederle was the most accomplished swimmer in the world. She’d won Olympic gold and set a host of world records. But the greatest challenge remained: the English Channel. Only a few swimmers, none of them women, had ever made the treacherous twenty-one mile crossing. Trudy’s failed first attempt seemed to confirm what many naysayers believed: No woman could possibly accomplish such a thing. In 1926, Ederle proved them wrong.

Whether you want to explore remote beaches and mountain lochs, improve your confidence in open water, refine your swimming technique, or have a race or long-distance swim challenge coming up, How to Wild Swim offers the perfect practical foundation to help you find your perfect adventure and achieve your goal. Expert wild swimmer Ella Foote offers the ultimate guide to mastering the practicalities and techniques, and answers your most frequently asked questions so that you can feel safe, have fun, and re-energize.

Florida's government is building a bridge to North Captiva Island, which will ultimately result in a second bridge to Cayo Costa. Breeze takes action as only he can. He finds himself in an unlikely alliance with the governor as a result. He's given another assignment that appears to be out of his league. Can he pull it off, or will it be his downfall?