Nautical Mind Blog

The Sinking of the Concordia

Peter — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 22:17:36 +0000

The loss of the Concordia in February was a deeply saddening disaster, redeemed by the survival of the entire crew. It is remarkable both that a modern tall ship was lost due to a knock down, and that despite the loss of the vessel, the entire crew survived. Their survival is a testament to the quality of the crew and the importance of safety drills. The findings of Transport Canada and other maritime bodies investigating the sinking will be greatly informative to safety-conscious mariners. In the mean time Tall Ships Down by Daniel S. Parrott, former skipper of the Pride of Baltimore II, is the definitive book on tall ship safety and stability. It is highly recommended reading for anyone interested in the mechanics of nautical disasters and how to prevent them. The Handbook of Survival at Sea is another excellent book, now discounted, detailing methods and strategies on survival once a disaster has occurred.

Toronto’s Inner Harbour, February 18th, 2010

Peter — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:12:01 +0000

Our “brick and mortar” store is located at Harbourfront in Toronto Canada. The sky, water, and city this time of year can best be characterised as “grey”.

Not Pictured: The tropical paradise of Belize where increasing numbers of our local customers are headed.

Cruise Capably with Lin and Larry Pardey

Peter — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:39:33 +0000

For over thirty years, Lin and Larry Pardey have been sailing around the world, writing about their adventures, and showing others how to follow them. Unlike most modern cruisers they sail without any engine whatsoever!

The third edition of their cruising classic, The Capable Cruiser has just come out. It’s fully revised and updated, and has nine all new chapters including: ways to encourage your partner to share your dream; strategies for turning sudden engine failure into a minor incident; choosing safety equipment; repairing rigging at sea; and and “What do people worry about that never actually happens”.

2010 Boat Show Wrap-Up

Peter — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:46:15 +0000

Another exciting boat show is behind us! The Toronto International Boat Show ran between January 9th and 17th and was as fun and action packed as any! The boat show always provides such a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, meet interesting customers from far afield, and check out the latest in boat fashion and tech. This year was no exception as we were joined by some of our favourite authors and sailors.

Sheryl Shard, Paul Shard, and Ann Vanderhoof at our booth at the Toronto Boat Show

Among others, Ann Vanderhoof, Paul and Sheryl Shard, and Liza Copeland all spent some time at our booth. Ann shared tasty recipes from the Caribbean and autographed copies of her new book, The Spice Necklace. Ann’s previous book, An Embarrassment of Mangoes, is one of our all-time bestsellers. Paul and Sheryl Shard, were reeling with the joy of having just purchased a new boat and gave seminars based on their popular Distant Shores series. Finally, Liza Copeland stopped by to talk about her excellent Just Cruising series of books.

See you next year!

IMO Books on CD-ROM

Peter — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:11:19 +0000

Our selection of books for professional mariners is both massive and massively popular. Some of the books are massive themselves — Bowdich’s American Practical Navigator weighs in at 879 pages, 30 x 23 x 6cm, and almost 3Kg — so mariners looking for reference texts but not ballast will be interested in the shift towards digital books.

The International Maritime Organization is among those leading the digital charge, with a number of their books now available on CD ROM (12 x 12 x 0.2cm, 0.2g). Currently available are:

IAMSAR – International Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue Manual
IMDG – International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code
ISPS – International Ship and Port facility Security
MARPOL – International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
STCW – Seafarers Training, Certification and Watchkeeping
SOLAS – Safety of Life at Sea

The IMO is also innovating their distribution and pricing models. Each of these titles is available on free (FREE!) CD-ROMs as a “demo”. Once you’ve decided the book a) Works on your computer; b) Is what you’re looking for; & c) Requires purchase for further use, we can get you an activation code. There’s a 50% discount on additional copies (beyond the first one) when ordering two or more activation codes.

It’s all relatively new and exciting. Let us know if you have any questions.

Of course we’ve still got a full selection of IMO books in paper format.

A New Shipment of Deeply Discounted Books

Peter — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:26:43 +0000

We recently snapped up lots of great books at amazing prices. These great books include:

32nd America’s Cup: A Photographic Celebration, with striking images and five languages (English, French, Spanish, German, & Italian). It’s usually $99.99, we’re selling it for $19.99
Against The Flow, the inspiring story of a teacher turned record-making yachtswoman by Dee Caffari for $8.99
The Complete Yachtmaster, the fifth edition of the comprehensive classic by Tom Cunliffe, for only $12.99

As well as texts for professional mariners like:

Reed’s Marine Distance Tables for $19.99
Reed’s Mathematical Tables and Engineering Formulae for $9.99

And many more. They’re all in our Bargains section.

Welcome to the Nautical Mind Blog

Peter — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:03:26 +0000

Yes, hello, and welcome to The Nautical Mind Bookstore’s new blog! We’ll use this space to keep in touch with you: boaters, readers, and customers everywhere. We’ll keep you up to date on interesting new books, inform you of our latest bargains, and talk about developments in the boating community. You’ll be able to ask questions, gam with other sailors, tell us what we’re doing right, and let us know where we can improve.

Pictured left is our store front. We’re not just a great website that offers an unparalled selection of boat books, cheap and fast shipping, and courteous service, we’ve also got an actual store, staffed by experienced sailors who’d be happy to swap stories the next time you’re in the neighbourhood.