Every ocean sailor's favorite book, and #1 on my list!

The book that my dad was almost in - only a day behind the ill-fated Carl Wake, the main character of this here story, my dad was on another deliver that nearly sent them into Hurricane Lenny. It didn't but the storm didn't spare Carl, John's friend, and this is the true story. A very sad one at that.

Influenced Moitessier, and one of the great voyages in small boat sailing history. Dumas was known for always keeping some sail up, no matter the weather!

If we ever take Isbjorn to the Pacific, this will be the route we re-trace! Great storytelling on a boat very similar to Arcturus.

Another Moitessier classic! This one famously describes his storm tactics, later dubbed in 'Heavy Weather Sailing' the 'Moitessier Method', though he actually borrowed the technique from Vito Dumas', another on our books list!

David Lewis is one of the unsung single-handers of the 1960s and 1970s - unless of course you've heard of him! This is a survival story as much as it is a sailing story, chronicling his circumnavigation of Antarctica. David Lewis previously had a ketch called 'Isbjorn', a big part of the inspiration for our own Isbjorn.

"Any long voyage should start on a foundation of financial unrest." Well said, sir. If this doesn't inspire you to go, and go now, nothing will.

John rounded the Horn on January 25, 1984, literally the day I was born, on the classic Contessa 32 'Gigi.' This is his incredible account of that voyage, and the book that introduced me to him in the first place. John would later teach me celestial and has become a mentor to me in my sailing career.

The craziest story from the fabled Golden Globe Race of 1968, and probably the saddest. Crowhurst build the 'Teignmouth Electron' trimaran for the race, and never made it out of the Atlantic...the boat today is washed ashore somewhere in the Virgin Islands.

An awesome technical book for ideas to fiddle with the boat, but also a great rainy-day read, as Mate is hilarious in his descriptions! One that permanently occupies bookshelf space on our boat.

The classic adventure story of Thor and his crazy Norwegian friends who set out from South America on a balsa wood raft to prove that the South Pacific could have been populated by South American's. The museum in Oslo is equally fascinating!

From Outside Magazine: "By now, most people know this story down to the last dog and cat, but the immediacy of Worsley's account revitalizes it. If you don't feel his sorrow in losing his ship to the ice pack, share his delirium glissading down to the South Georgia whaling station that would be their salvation (a scene to which Shackleton, ever careful not to seem whimsical, gives only a cursory line in South), or tear up when the two men return to their friends on Elephant Island 128 days after they set out, you don't love adventure."

Alvah Simon heads north in his iconic boat, the 'Roger Henry,' and gets frozen in for a long winter of spiritual inspiration. He nearly dies when his diesel heater basically suffocates him with carbon monoxide. One of several books that has me drawn to the Arctic...

This one was recommended by Bruce M., but I'm also including it in my list, as it's an all-time classic that I had forgotten about! The first real attempt to solo circumnavigate, with one stop in Australia. Set off a lot of future solo voyages.