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Recently while browsing through one of the new books in the store (a definite perk of working at Nautical Mind) I came across a model someone had built of the MV Kalakala. The ship was incredible looking, like nothing I had ever seen on the water.
I decided I had to look into her story. Kalakala was originally built in the 1920′s as the Peralta, but when Peralta burned in 1933 the hull was sold to new owners who decided to go all out with their construction. The new owners happened to be the Puget Sound Navigation Company, and the Kalakala served as a ferry in Puget Sound from 1935 to 1967. Nowawdays the hull is sitting in Tacoma awaiting her fate. The Coast Guard has declared it a hazard to navigation, but there is a dedicated team of volunteers trying to save the beautiful ship. You can read more about the ship and the efforts to save her at kalakala.org
While doing my research I also came across another incredible art deco ship, the SS Admiral. She was built as a Mississippi steamboat, and cruised the river for may years. Unfortunately she has recently been taken to the breakers yard, as it was going to be far too costly to bring the ship back to her former glory and up to Coast Guard safety standards.
I could not find any website specifically about the Admiral, but this page does have some great photos and personal recollections.
To read more about these amazing ships, and others like them, you can check out Ship Style: Modernism and Modernity at Sea
Deep in the cavernous bowels of Nautical Mind Head Quarters lies a dusty, half-remembered vault. Once a year we throw open its creaking doors, shine high-lumen flashlights in to the dank, and haul out a trove of wondrous artifacts. Left-handed marlinspikes, deadlight bulbs, buckets of prop-wash, deeply discounted calendars, all manner of reasonably-priced boat books, and much more are schlepped from the dark into a waiting truck.
Cavernous Bowels
The assembled crew consists of tall ship captains, yachties, software developers, islanders, and sailors of all stripes. Our zeal for the impending Event makes the load light and the work swift, as we sing Broadway show tunes and pack the truck.
 Ramping up the Excitement |
 Treasures of the Vault |
 Zeal |
 Double Zeal |
The truck gets sprinkled with drywall dust, which presumably allows it to pass unharmed through the magical Prince’s Gates and arrive at the fabled CNE grounds. Then, drawing on years of experience helming a tug in treacherous arctic waters, the driver deftly slips 30 tons of truck and bargain down the congested aisles of the Direct Energy Centre. Truly a sight to behold, he manages not to crush a single SeaDoo or shipping pallet of radars. Once at our destination, we resume our joyous box flinging, this time unloading the truck and assembling our pop-up bookstore booth. Within moments, we deploy carpets, bookcases, tables, merchandise, POS-terminals, and the treasures of the vault.
 Watch out buddy! That's 30 tons of truck and bargain comin' at you! |
 Joyous Box Flinging |
 Pop-up Bookstore Booth |
At last, the booth is ready for another year of the carnival atmosphere of the Toronto International Boat Show. Come visit us at booth G545 before sundown on Sunday, January 22nd! We look forward to seeing you!
Booth G545. You should come!
It’s that time of year again! The 2012 Toronto International Boat Show is upon us. This year promises to be one of the best ever, with our much expanded booth, some great boat show bargains, and a host of fascinating authors scheduled to speak and hang out at our booth.
The Nautical Mind at the Toronto Boat Show, booth G545 in the "Mariner's Marketplace"
The Boat Show will be held between Saturday, January 14th and Sunday, January 22nd at the Direct Energy Centre in Exhibition Place. Details about hours, admission, and more are on their site here. We hope to see you at our booth, #G545.
Bargains:
Our booth is always packed with great deals! In addition to our listed, already massively reduced sale books, we’ll be discounting all our remaining 2012 calendars to clear stock, and offering surprise deals!
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Authors:
This year, we’re looking forward to reconnecting with Paul & Sheryl Shard, Liza Copeland, Barb Sprenger, Mike Evans & Jayne Finn , Abby and Zac Sunderland, and plenty of other interesting people. The seminar schedule is posted on the Boat Show’s site, here. Many of the authors will also be hanging around our booth, swapping yarns and autographing books.
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These days, the answer to the question “what is a book?” is certainly changing. And while the Nautical Mind is on the brink of offering e-books, we definitely have some pleasing book book alternatives that are anything but standard size. If you can’t make it to our old fashioned brick’n'mortar storefront to browse, go ahead and browse our online catalogue. Perfect for Christmas stockings, purses, book bags, hand luggage – not to mention cockpits and bunks – here are a few of the best:
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Reeds Knot Handbook, new this year, is a perfect little item for pocket or bag, for anyone who’s trying to learn the ropes. Its step-by-step photos demonstrate how to tie the most useful knots—and also show what the finished product should look like. Reeds Skipper’s Handbook is more of a quick reference, bursting as it is with the critical basics of navigation, weather, anchoring, mooring, and more. The Boater’s Pocket Reference ranges a little further while remaining compact, covering boating terms, design, construction materials, the rules of the road, seamanship, weather, engines, electronics, and even more.
Sharon Green’s Ultimate Sailing calendars are by far our most popular calendars, and it’s easy to see why! Each photo is full of energy, motion, and beauty. This year, marking the 30th Anniversary of her calendar, Sharon Green says:
The amount of time and energy spent gathering these images is mind-boggling. Traveling to out-of-the-way venues, editing and shooting (not to mention waiting for the right shot ) we log thousands of hours and ten times as many miles in our quest to bring you the Ultimate Sailing Calendar. Like snowflakes, no two shots are ever the same. Our ‘playground’ is a myriad of ever-changing shapes, color, motion, angle, and light, and this year’s selection of images proves that.
The 2012 calendar is available here.
Over the past couple of months I have had the privilege of helping build a North Carolina Sharpie right here in Ontario. The boat, Civil Disobedience, was built by Driftwood Analog Sailing Company, a local sailing charter company.
Chris Chafe, the founder of Driftwood, was the main force behind the construction. Doug Jones; boatbuilder, master craftsman and solutioneer, provided guidance and shop space for the build. The rest of the labour came from Chris’ friends and family who came as they could to work on the boat and the rig. Overall it took about 6 months to build, though that was far from a full-time process.
Howard I. Chappelle’s Boatbuilding was referenced when necessary, but a strong point of the Sharpie design is the relative ease of the build, as they were constructed for years by less-skilled boatbuilders with little access to proper facilities. The simple elegance of these boats as well as their speed and seaworthiness made them popular for decades as workboats and yachts up and down the coast of America. For those interested in more info about these remarkable boats check out Reuel B. Parker’s The Sharpie Book.
Scribing the stern frame, with the plans.
Civil Disobedience at the early stages of construction. The stern frame has just been installed, and the hull is still upside down on the construction frames.
The hull after turnover, installing the centreboard trunk.
The recently glued mast, right after the clamps have been removed.
Getting the boat ready for her maiden voyage. Notice how shallow the boat is, and the sweet, sweet sheerline.
Keep on eye on the blog, I will be posting pictures and video of the maiden voyage soon. Check out Driftwood at: http://driftwoodsailing.tumblr.com/
We’ve added a section to our site to help you keep your IMO codes and regulations up to date. This area has the latest updates, supplements, errata, and corrigenda from the International Maritime Organisation available for free PDF download. Let us know what you think and if you’d like to see the same thing for other publishers.
We’ve also made some IMO Digital Books for PC available for purchase and download. These e-book applications run on Windows PCs or tablets and contain the complete texts of important IMO Codes such as IAMSAR, IMDG, and SOLAS. They are available as free downloads but require activation codes which can be purchased through our regular site.
 IAMSAR e-book |
 IMDG Code e-book |
 SOLAS e-book |
We received a passel of new books this month, as diverse and varied as they were all about boats and boat-related activity. Here’s a sampling of some of our favourites:
 International Code of Safety for High Speed Craft |
 Leviathan - The History of Whaling in America |
 International Business Trade Terms and Abbreviations |
Celestial Navigation by Frances W. Wright – $15.95
Sealed by Time: The Loss and Recovery of the Mary Rose by Peter Marsden – $49.95
The Ditty Bag Book: A Guide for Sailors by Frank Rosenow – $16.95
Command by Julian Stockwin – $15.95
International Code of Safety for High-Speed Craft, 2000 by nternational Maritime Organization – $40.95
Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America by Eric Jay Doplin – $17.50
Shipboard Operations by H.I. Lavery – $79.95
Dictionary of Shipping: International Business Trade Terms and Abbreviations by Alan E. Branch – $108.95 Continue reading »
Herb McCormick, author of the recently published Gone to the Sea writes:
Herb McCormick
Though I was raised in Newport, Rhode Island, I didn’t grow up sailing. All that changed when I landed my first real job, the receptionist (!) at Cruising World magazine. But it literally changed my life. I was surrounded by great, nurturing sailors and writers, and after a promotion to the editorial department, I soon found myself delivering sailboats to the Caribbean, racing to Bermuda, cruising the Bahamas, and even getting the opportunity to write about it all. It was a dream job for any sailing nut and I count my blessings every day.
“Gone to the Sea,” the title of my new book, has two meanings. It’s one of the chapters in this anthology of my favorite articles, profiles and voyages, the story of solo sailor Mike Plant’s tragic final voyage. But it’s also an apt description of my own lucky journey as a yachting journalist and sailor. For once I truly discovered the sea, well, I was long gone…
Marine historian and author Skip Gillham writes:
I grew up in Toronto and often made a weekend trip to the waterfront with my father who kept a record of the ships we saw in port.
After graduating from Victoria College, University of Toronto, in 1963, I got the opportunity to spend part of the summer as an “oiler” on the Great Lakes tanker LUBROLAKE. The St. Lawrence Seaway was now in its fifth season and the nature of Great Lakes shipping was changing. The old ships he remembered were disappearing and, as a history major, I began to research their fates.
 Pre-Seaway Salties |
 The Ships of Collingwood |
 Liberties on the Lakes |
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