What keeps the pipe dream alive when one is between boats or hopelessly aground, or otherwise without a sailable vessel - such as we are now with Angels Wings on the hard for several months?

One can immerse themselves in productive boating projects (which right now we have in abundance); however, in the quiet hours it has been books and manuals (and now DVDs) that both nurture and enlighten the dream.

From the earliest days in the 1950s and 1960s hawking newspapers on a North Dakota street corner, I remember setting aside the coins needed to buy the latest issues of Rudder magazine (where I first saw Herreshoff's lovely Rozinante) and Boat Builder (a Science and Mechanics publication that offered DIY plans for the average man).

Since then the boating, and eventually sailing, library waxed and waned depending on how feasible the fantasy seemed at the moment. But in recent years the collection has once again grown to occupy the better part of a bookcase or so, as well as an assortment of volumes handily stashed under the bed for drowsy reflections and of course the required hodgepodge of restroom reading material (usually comprised of the latest marine/tool catalogues and magazines - with books consigned generally to more formal shelving).

Roughly the books seemed to divide themselves into: books of inspiration, usually penned by those who have actually sailed beyond the reach of the internet; books of design, those penned by designers and builders who have earned a place in sailing history; and of course a smattering of books that have to do with the art, navigation, seamanship, upkeep and modification of the craft. So here goes a sample of what is on the shelf,

Those who have been there:

Sailing the Dream: McGrady
500 Days; Serge Testa
My Old Man and the Sea: Hays & Hays
Sailing Promise: Alayne Main
The First Voyage of the Joshua: Moitessier
Sailing to the Reefs: Moitessier
Three Years in a 12-Foot Boat: Stephen Ladd
Maiden Voyage: Tania Aebi
Alone Against the Atlantic: Gerry Spiess
Tinkerbelle: Robert Manry
Sea Gypsy: Tangvald
Gipsy Moth Circles the World: Chichester

Some designers and builders:

Cruising Yachts, Benford
Yacht Design According to Perry, Perry
Yacht Designs, Garden
From a Bare Hull, Mate'
The Cruising Multihull, White
Sensible Cruising Designs, Herreshoff
Cruising Trimaran, Brown
Cruising as a Way of Life, Colvin
Skene's Elements of Yacht Design, Kinney
Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia, Dashew

And some on navigation, seamanship, upkeep and modifications:

Heavy Weather Sailing, Coles
Multihull Seamanship, McMullen
Multihull Voyaging, Jones
Buehler's Backyard Boatbuilding, Buehler
Upgrading Your Small Sailboat, Butler
Devlin's Boatbuilding, Devlin
World Cruising Routes, Cornell
Understanding Rigs and Rigging, Henderson
Sensible Cruising, Casey and Hackler
The Long Way, Moitessier
Elements of Boat Strength, Gerr
Voyaging Under Power, Beede
Sailmaker's Apprentice, Marino
Practical Sail Care and Repair, Carr
Fiberglass Boatbuilding for Amateurs, Hankenson
The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction
Aero-Hydrodynamics of Sailing, Marchaj
Single Handing, Meisel
Ocean Passages for the World, Hydrographer of the Navy
Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen, Blewitt
Self-Taught Navigation, Kittredge
The Splicing Handbook, Merry

Plus, of course, the classic tomes that many sailors (rocking chair or otherwise) started out with, such as Chapman's, Bowditch, the Pardey's many writings -- as well as the Roth's, Hiscock's and the like. Sure seems like a lot of reading just to keep one 24-foot sloop sailing right side up doesn't it?

Ah well, no point in being a rocking chair sailor, if all one does in the chair is sleep !