Customer Reviews

The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor : Or a Key to the Leading of Rigging and to Practical Seamanship

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4 star:		(1)
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This reprint of Darcy Lever's 1819 second edition is a true treasure. For those interested in naval history and square-rigged ships, this book is an absolute necessity. His coverage of masts, rigging and seamanship seems comprehensive, and each subject is matched with an elaborate and detailed engraving. Though originally written in 1808, Lever's descriptions of masts, rigging and seamanship are still understandable and enlightening, even to nautical novices like me. Its also fascinating to know that this is the actual book that young sea officers were reading to prepare themselves to face Napoleon's fleet.

It can be frustrating for novices to make sense of the many nautical terms, but thats the task of anyone new to sailing, and square rigged ships in particular. Even so, if you start from the beginning, Lever does patiently explain most of the important terms and concepts, giving you a better overall understanding than if you simply turned to the page with the mast/sail you're interested in and started reading. This is a far sight better than many other books, which presume that you have a complete understanding of all terms and dont provide any explanations. Some may find his language a bit archaic, but I found it to be understandable (in fact, surprisingly so, given that Lever wrote this almost 200 years ago!).

The Verdict: Armchair sailor. History buff. Shipbuilder. Historical ship modeler. If any or all of these fit your description, you must have this book on your bookshelf, and its spine should be cracked and tired from constant reading. (Thankfully, Dover books is the publisher and they do an excellent job when it comes to book production and bookbinding).

I bought this book because I am a recreational sailor and ship modeler. I found this to be an excellent source of information on the rigging and basic operation of 19th century military and commercial sailing vessels, and it answered many questions I have had about older sailing vessels as compared to modern ones.

The subject matter is laid out logically, but must be read carefully due to its original 19th century syntax and language, and the tremendous amount of detail discussed.

The book starts with how strands are laid into ropes, how ropes are made into lines, the basic components of rigging (hooks, blocks, hearts, trucks, cleats), description and tying of basic seaman's knots, moving on to constrction and stepping of the masts, spars and sprits, standing rigging, running rigging, sail construction and rigging for each location on the ship, finishing with anchor rigging. As if that were not enough, the second half of the book is a fascinating treatise on practical seamanship of the day, including coming to anchor, when to use certain sails, reefing, laying to, heaving to and other heavy weather techniques.

The book is illustrated throughout with hundreds of highly detailed period line drawings. Truly an 19th century version of the Annapolis Book of Seamanship and Chapman's Piloting combined, it is an absolute must for any model builder or student of sailing ships who wants to know "how it was".

Once, while travelling, Darcy Level casually asked the purpose of a line on a ship. He was rudely brushed off and told to figure it out for himself. That event started his multi-year quest to document the facts of rigging and handling "ship rigged" vessels. He scientifically studied the subject and the result is this book.

This is a book that was studied by many of those that went to sea in the days of the tall ship. Any books that follow mearly tread in the footsteps of this giant.

If you have an interested in Square Rigged vessels, whether to sail them today or to build models, you will need this book.

The only negative thing I can say it that it is not up to modern standards on illustration, writing style, and terminology. I found some parts difficult to understand because I was unfamiliar with some of the arcane terminology. This, to me, makes the book even more interesting.

Thanks to one rude sailor, who motivated Darcy Lever, we have today this outstanding book written on this subject that was and is the best reference of its kind.

Along with Harland's Seamanship in the Age of Sail and R. C. Anderson's The Rigging of Ships in the Days of the Spritsail Topmast, 1600-1720, Lever's Sheet Anchor is a "must have" in the library of anyone who either sails on, or has an interest in, square-rigged ships. The conciseness of description, the completeness of topics, and the clarity of the sketches make this book a valuable resource for those who have first hand experience on tall ships as well as for those who will never have the opportunity to sail except through the written word.

Judge this book by its cover! It's exactly what it says it is. This book is full of practical knowledge suited for the young naval officer or merchant seaman. It's one of those books that is just fun to read. Similar to "The Art of Rigging," this book has tons of information about the rigging of sailing vessels not in common use today, but it's fascinating nonetheless. A great volume for those enthralled by the sea, or who enjoy model ship building. Looks great on the coffee table, too!

History and ships...
I Love History and ships, and this is simply one of the best and most enjoyable books I have read. I am still reading it, but it is one of those you want to share immediately. My hobby is building 18th century wood static model sailing vessels, and I have learned a few things already (despite my library of 40+ books on the subject). It hurls you back in time, to enjoy details that would have been forgotten, if not for this kind of book. Like the page that tells the strategy that one should use if the wind changed by three points... or taking in a topsail... or tacking expeditiously...
If you are a fan of history and the 1700's sailing... you cannot go wrong with this book (and its cheap!)

This book answered a lot of the questions about how the old ships were rigged. For years I wondered how the mast was stepped. After reading his book I know understand the steps. I would recommend this book to any one with interest in the wooden sail boats.

This is a great reprint of the training manual for a Royal Navy officer. It has helped my presentation for living history of a US Navy seaman incredibly.

This book is a must have for the onboard library of all boaters interested in traditional rigging. And for those of us out there working on the few remaining tallships, this book is a Godsend. An excellent reference.

I race all sizes and ages of sailboats plus I enjoy the history of sailing and ship design. I also enjoy building wooden ship models. This book is a fascinating reference, packed with details. Highly recommended for any nautical buff, but especially for all the traditionalists out there.

I also recommend The Art of Rigging. It takes you step-by-step through the process of rigging a full ship from the planning stages, to selection of sizes for spars and lines, through the prep work, to stepping the masts, fitting stays and setting up the running rigging. Biddlecombe (1807-1878) based this book on material from 1794. Traditional.