Myth, Fact, and Navigators' Secrets: Incredible Tales of the Sea and Sailors - Softcover

Dill, J.

3.14

7 ratings by Goodreads

9781592288793: Myth, Fact, and Navigators' Secrets: Incredible Tales of the Sea and Sailors

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1592288790 ISBN 13: 9781592288793

Publisher: Lyons Press, 2006

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

What's a sailor to do when the sea's at a dead calm and there's no wind to fill the sails? He might just have to pour himself a Dark and Stormy and while away the afternoon in the starboard bunk with Myth, Fact, and Navigators' Secrets, a witty and intriguing compilation of unusual and little-known events in maritime history.

Author J. Gregory Dill has perused many an out-of-the-way bookstore, amassing a collection of books from which he has culled some of the strangest and most fascinating tales ever told about the life aquatic. Here, for example, is the account of the deadly duel between the U.S. frigate Chesapeake and His Britannic Majesty's frigate Shannon, equally matched in firepower and their captains' derring-do, but having no strategic significance whatsoever on the outcome of the war. There is also the story King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, whose order to build the greatest warship the world had ever seen is a wonderful variation on the fairy tale, "The Emperor's New Clothes." Included here, too, is a brief history of the bosun's pipe, that shrill instrument used to deliver instructions to the ship's crew over the din of battle, complete with lessons on how to properly play it.

The result is an informative and entertaining collection of sometimes tragic, quirky, ironic, and humorous twists in maritime history fit for all sailing aficionados, from day sailors to world cruisers. Myth, Fact, and Navigators' Secrets will easily find a place on every sailor's must-read list.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Back Cover:

The sea’s gone dead calm.
The sails lie limp and listless. Now’s the time to collect your rum ration, find a dry berth, and get snug with Myth, Fact, and Navigators’ Secrets an intriguing and witty compilation of true nautical tales fit for any sailing enthusiast, from day sailor to ocean voyager, professional mariner to armchair navigator, or those who have only dreamed of running away to sea.
After culling little-known facts from the world’s nautical heritage, author J. Gregory Dill has written an engaging series of marine stories like the 1813 account of a short and bloody sea duel between the U.S. frigate Chesapeake and His Britannic Majesty’s Ship Shannon, equally matched in firepower and their captains’ tactical skills, but in the final analysis having absolutely no strategic significance in the war’s outcome. Then there is the bizarre tale of Captain John Paul Jones’s 1779 naval raid on a Scottish coastal estate to kidnap the local VIP, Lord Selkirk, in a bid to win release of American prisoners of war. When Selkirk was found to be away, Jones seized instead his intended victim’s household silverware, including teapots and sugar bowls, after having politely declined Lady Selkirk’s kind invitation to dinner.
The tragic and comic, the quirky and curious, the ironic and the blatantly absurd all await discovery in Myth, Fact, and Navigators’ Secrets, a highly readable and entertaining book that will easily find a place on every sailor’s bookshelf.

About the Author:

J. Gregory Dill is a former writer and columnist for Ocean Navigator, and has written for American Yacht Review, Professional Mariner, Ocean Voyager, and Cruising Helmsman. He lives in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with his wife, Donna.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.