Customer Reviews

Learning to Sail (Dover Maritime)

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I learned to sail in a 19 foot "Lightning" class sailboat holding this book in my left hand and the tiller in my right hand, while alone in the boat. His homey, unsophisticated descriptions, conveyed the feeling that H. A. Calahan was in the cockpit with me every step of the way. This gave me the confidence to learn the "ropes". In successive chapters he tells you how to buy a boat, how to handle the boat, "17 ways to get into trouble" followed in the next chapter by "17 ways to get out of trouble" with simple easily understood descriptions. There are also many other chapters on subjects essential for safe, trouble-free boating. I subsequently took the basic knowledge acquired from Mr. Calahan and proceeded to successfully sail in many exotic parts of the world and meet and interact with interesting people in the sailing community. Reading this book changed and enriched the lives of my whole family.

Callahan's "Learning to sail" , published first in 1932, is still the best beginner's handbook for the new sailor. This wonderful guide "cuts to the chase", giving the reader the most important information and leaving out the extraneous material that so many more expensive sailing handbooks promote. I learned to sail with this book over fifty five years ago and highly recommend it still. alaskababa

This book is a true treasure. I've read multiple books written for the beginning sailor, but this book is rare in that it is a no-nonsense teaching device. I don't believe it should be used alone for the total "newby" (see "The Complete Sailor" or the "Craft of Sail" for good primers), but it takes a beginning sailor and gives them the solid information that will propel them into the next phase.
The author must have been a remarkable man and his writing demonstates his abilities as well as his strong character.