Well-known as the editor of the best-selling annual Mariner's Book of Days, Peter Spectre assembles some of his favorite classic nautical material into an amalgam of practical information about boats, anchors, rope, and ballast, cheek by jowl with poetry, legend, lore, superstitions, language of the sea, art, thoughts about literature, and more. Spectre's unique reverence for boats and literature of the sea, and his many years as an editor of WoodenBoat Magazine, make this book a rich collection of maritime knowledge, and an intriguing reference work of sailor's lore. Spectre is more than the editor of this book; he writes with deep knowledge about the topics covered, and presents among other topics many worthwhile facts about clipper ships, rowing boats, seasick remedies, superstitions, navigational lore, and much more. Chapter heads include: Buy a Boat and You Buy the Sea ; Many times, Beauty is the Difference ; The Search for Comfort Afloat ; Nautical Books, Memorable Opening Lines ; Signaling the Old Fashioned Way; and much more. The book is intended to pay homage to the writers and editors that have inspired Spectre over the years, in the hope that its contents will carry new sailors and readers to what Wm. McFee calls harbors of memory, and C.G.Davis calls the ways of the sea.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
The ancient art of seamanship is celebrated in A Mariner's Miscellany, a beautiful collection of poetry and prose about sailing. Composed of memorable quotes, excerpts, historical facts, and practical maritime knowledge, this compendium evokes a nautical world that has all but disappeared. Inspired by his yearly sailing almanac, The Mariner's Book of Days, Peter Spectre pays homage to a rich tradition of naval history and literature in this collection. From old naval slang and sea chanteys to nautical chronologies and sailing tips, this book contains everything an aspiring sea dog needs to know. Discover what sailors used to eat (and drink), learn how to judge relative distances and wind speeds at sea, and absorb the lyrics and lore the sea has inspired over time. If you weren't already infected by the call of the sea, this book will do the trick. --SAIL Magazine
A SLOP-CHEST of a book; a sea-pie, a pot-mess, a lobscouse of a sea-lore gathered by an author with a feel for his subject. It embraces technology, prose, poetry, song, instruction, history, oceanography, meteorology and seamanship, navigation and boats and ships, monsters and sailors and women, albatross and curses, recipes and clothing, splices and drink, sails and artists, rigs and tides, watches and signals, compass work and superstition. In fact, what it doesn't touch upon hasn't been near the sea. --Nautical Magazine
A fascinating compendium of all things maritime. Peter Spectre has assembled an impressive array of facts and information on a huge range of subjects to do with the sea and ships. Many of the myths, legends, traditions and ancient lores of the sea are explained in a concise, clear and very readable format. A must for anybody who claims to be, or wishes to be, an expert on all things maritime. Should resolve many an old 'salts' argument. --White Ensign Association
A SLOP-CHEST of a book; a sea-pie, a pot-mess, a lobscouse of a sea-lore gathered by an author with a feel for his subject. It embraces technology, prose, poetry, song, instruction, history, oceanography, meteorology and seamanship, navigation and boats and ships, monsters and sailors and women, albatross and curses, recipes and clothing, splices and drink, sails and artists, rigs and tides, watches and signals, compass work and superstition. In fact, what it doesn't touch upon hasn't been near the sea. --Nautical Magazine
A fascinating compendium of all things maritime. Peter Spectre has assembled an impressive array of facts and information on a huge range of subjects to do with the sea and ships. Many of the myths, legends, traditions and ancient lores of the sea are explained in a concise, clear and very readable format. A must for anybody who claims to be, or wishes to be, an expert on all things maritime. Should resolve many an old 'salts' argument. --White Ensign Association
About the Author
Peter H. Spectre, a renowned writer with a lifelong appreciation of the sea and its traditions, is the former editor of WoodenBoat, and the current editor of Maine Boats & Harbors. He is the author of A Passage in Time, A Goodly Ship, Different Waterfronts, and Mariner's Book of Days, which every year delights his many readers.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful, Must-Have Book for Any Sailor,
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This review is from: A Mariner's Miscellany (Paperback)
I don't normally have much patience for the sort of "book of lists" that often graces the bathroom--excuse me, the head. But Peter Spectre's collection of a host of mariner's lists, myths, anecdotes, sayings, best of, worst of, be sure you don't do THAT...well, it's hard to describe. You will be entertained, enlightened, and reminded. Fascinating facts abound, nautical language is explained (the seven uses of "foul" or the 27 ways "dead" is used must surely set a record), and Spectre even graces us with his opinion (literary reputation most deserved is Patrick O'Brian's; least deserved is...well, you buy the book and find out). Practical knowledge, literary quotations, artistic allusions, and yes, those all important lists. No boat, no sailor, should be without this gem. Most highly recommended.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Always read your Amazon emails !!!,
By C. Chalmers "yoga trainer/meditation coach" (Georgia....at the moment) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: A Mariner's Miscellany (Paperback)
A Mariner's Miscellany
My husband is an avid boater, sailboats really. He built his own ! Anyway, a tradition for Christmas is to purchase a "Mariner's Book of Days" for him. Based on this purchase, Amazon sent me an email to let me know about the "Mariner's Miscellany" book. I had not heard of it but figured since the author, Peter Spectre is also the author of the Book of Days, my husband might enjoy it for his birthday. Not only was he excited to get the book, he was especially happy as he too had never heard of the book. Amazon enabled me to get the perfect gift by offering ideas based on past purchases.
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First Sentence:
I went aft, and mounted the small poop and looked forward towards the rising moon, whose sinning wake of glow-worm coloured light, sparkled in the small waves that danced in the gentle wind on the heaving bosom of the dark-blue sea, was right ahead of us, like a river of quicksilver with its course diminished in the distance to a point, flowing towards us, from the extreme verse of the horizon, through a rolling sea of ink, with the waters of which, for a time, it disdained to blend. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
stern staff, dear lass, rowing race, rowing regatta, yacht broker, magnetic direction, oar blades, sea song Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United States, Royal Navy, Francis Herreshoff, Herman Melville, Rudyard Kipling, Cape Horn, Joseph Conrad, Long Trail-the, Richard Henry Dana, Felix Riesenberg, Life-Saving Service, Mariner's Miscellany, River Thames, Claud Worth, Hudson River, John Masefield, Sally Brown, Sovereign of the Seas, New England, Nova Scotia, Joshua Slocum, Mister Stormalong, Old Ironsides, Robert Louis Stevenson New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
I went aft, and mounted the small poop and looked forward towards the rising moon, whose sinning wake of glow-worm coloured light, sparkled in the small waves that danced in the gentle wind on the heaving bosom of the dark-blue sea, was right ahead of us, like a river of quicksilver with its course diminished in the distance to a point, flowing towards us, from the extreme verse of the horizon, through a rolling sea of ink, with the waters of which, for a time, it disdained to blend. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
stern staff, dear lass, rowing race, rowing regatta, yacht broker, magnetic direction, oar blades, sea song Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United States, Royal Navy, Francis Herreshoff, Herman Melville, Rudyard Kipling, Cape Horn, Joseph Conrad, Long Trail-the, Richard Henry Dana, Felix Riesenberg, Life-Saving Service, Mariner's Miscellany, River Thames, Claud Worth, Hudson River, John Masefield, Sally Brown, Sovereign of the Seas, New England, Nova Scotia, Joshua Slocum, Mister Stormalong, Old Ironsides, Robert Louis Stevenson New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame on 5 pages
- Wind in the Willows (Penguin Readers, Level 2) by Grahame on 5 pages
- The Wind In the Willows by Kenneth Grahame on 5 pages
- The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame on 5 pages
- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson on page 77, page 84, and page 85
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