Product Description

Boat noodling. Boat lovers suffer universally from this benign affliction. In its mildest form, boat noodling is nothing more than wondering why that sloop in the next slip is faster than yours. In a more significant manifestation it could mean serious daydreaming--drifting off for extended periods, sketching design ideas on the back of an envelope. Chances are, if you've picked up this book just to see what's in it, you're beyond help.

Naval architect Dave Gerr offers the perfect antidote, a browser's reference to understanding how boats tick: all you've ever wanted to know about boats--power and sail, racer and cruiser; dinghy and motoryacht.

In the clear, friendly, nontechnical style that has made his column for Offshore magazine so enduring and popular, Gerr explains everything from how thick a hull should be to why one sailboat tips less than another, from choosing an engine to designing a rig for your trawler yacht, from building a dinghy to simple rules of thumb for dozens of design quandaries.

Gerr writes for the boat noodler in all of us--those seriously interested in learning and dreaming about all types of watercraft. There is no better way to become a better sailor, equipped to handle any contingency. And there's no better place to start than right here.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #68380 in Books
• Published on: 1995-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 418 pages

Review
"If you are not not nautically obsessed prior to reading this book, you will most certainly be afterword." -- Sailing

"It's quite obvious Gerr understands the weaknesses of those of us afflicted with a passion for boats. Furthermore, he trades on our insatiable appetite for nautical tidbits. And he does it well. There's hardly an aspect of yacht design, construction, and operation that he doesn't touch on in his cheerful, chatty manner." -- Sea

"It's sort of a cross between David Macaulay's The Way Things Work and a volume of Andy Rooney essays. Which means it's fun and educational at the same time." -- Practical Sailor

Review
``It's sort of a cross between David Macaulay's The Way Things Work and a volume of Andy Rooney essays. Which means it's fun and educational at the same time.'' (Practical Sailor )

``If you are not not nautically obsessed prior to reading this book, you will most certainly be afterword.'' (Sailing )

``It's quite obvious Gerr understands the weaknesses of those of us afflicted with a passion for boats. Furthermore, he trades on our insatiable appetite for nautical tidbits. And he does it well. There's hardly an aspect of yacht design, construction, and operation that he doesn't touch on in his cheerful, chatty manner.'' (Sea )

About the Author
Dave Gerr (rhymes with “bear”) is a naval architect who designs both yachts and commercial vessels. Gerr Marine has been in business since 1983 and has designed everything from dinghies to 60-foot around-the-world racing sailboats, an 82-foot aluminum voyaging motoryacht, and currently, redesign work on the U.S. Navy’s nuclear submarines. Gerr is a contributing editor with Boatbuilder, Yachting, and Offshore magazines. HOMETOWN: New York, NY

Customer Reviews

If you like boats (or if you are an engineer) you will like this book
I love books on how things work, and I love books on boats. This one is a great combination of both. It covers a lot of naval architecture subjects and all in just the right depth for the interested novice.

The book begins with a review of different types of hulls and their advantages and disadvantages. That is followed by my favorite section which is the one on the theory of naval architecture - the parameters and how they affect the problem space. After that there is another good section about how to understand a drawing of a hull and relate that to performance characteristics of the boat. Engineers love to talk about tradeoffs and this book covers that really well, including topics like stability and roll resistance, hull strength versus shape and many others.

There is a lot more, but I don't want to spoil the ending, so I will just say that if you are interested in boats as an engineer, sailor or purchaser, then you need to read this book.

Hide this from your spouse!
If my wife read this book, she would divorce me instantly, as she would understand why a Nautically Obsessed person will never change, and will get worse as time goes by.....

Honestly, this book made me realize there are others like me that can't stop thinking about boats and the ocean! It feeds the fire burning in your soul and loads you up with all kinds of facts, concepts, and the author's experience to send you off to the drawing board, the boat show, or maybe West Marine. Great writing and a flow of information that will make you not want to let it down until you've committed to memory. While you're at it, get "Elements of Boat Strength" also. Highly recommended!

Really Funny
Great book for all the same reasons listed by all the other reviews. However I have one to add. At a party, try reading the section titles out loud in a somewhat suggestive tone. It will astound you how almost every single section title can be read literally or perverted. Whether or not the author meant this to be the case he accomplished it quite well as there are many- many sections.