12 Best Sailing Adventure Books Every Sailor Should Read
I’ve always loved the ocean. Long before we ever sailed away from it all, I was dreaming about life on the water and reading every sailing adventure book I could find.
When Scott and I created our 6-year plan to retire early and set sail, I became obsessed with learning everything I could about sailing and life at sea. I devoured blogs, watched countless YouTube channels, listened to sailing podcasts, and read dozens of incredible sailing books.
Those sailing adventure books kept me inspired during years of planning and dreaming. Whenever the wait felt long, they let me escape (at least in my imagination) to stormy seas, remote islands, and unforgettable voyages around the world.
Now that we’ve finally sailed away ourselves, I’ve compiled my favorite sailing adventure books that helped inspire this life on the water.
Whether you’re planning your own sailing adventure or simply dreaming about life at sea, these books will take you along for the ride.
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick cheat sheet of my favorite sailing adventure books.
| If you want: | Read this: |
| Best historic shipwreck story | The Wager – David Grann |
| Best solo sailing adventure | Facing Fear – Lisa Blair |
| Best cruising lifestyle story | An Embarrassment of Mangoes – Ann Vanderhoof |
| Best Cape Horn sailing memoir | Cape Horn – One Man’s Dream, One Women’s Nightmare – Reanne Hemingway-Douglass |
Best Sailing Memoirs
1. An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude by Ann Vanderhoof
The author Ann Vanderhoof, and her husband, Steve Manley, quit their jobs and hectic lives in cold, dreary Toronto, Ontario and moved aboard a 42-foot sailboat and set sail for the Caribbean. This book tells stories on their culinary and cultural adventures along the way and gives you a great glimpse into what the liveaboard sailing lifestyle is like.
Why I Loved This Book
This is one of the first sailing adventure books that I read. I loved getting a glimpse into what life is like living on a boat. I’ve met so many cruisers who have also read and loved this book.
2. Swell: A Sailing Surfer’s Voyage of Awakening by Liz Clark
Liz Clark, surfer and sailor, set off on a solo adventure to catch waves and see the world by sailboat. Her story tells about her adventures as she left from Santa Barbara and sailed to the South Pacific and French Polynesia.
Why I Loved This Book
I loved reading about how Liz went out on her own, following the waves and surf. I loved reading about all of her experiences, things that would have never have happened if you don’t take a leap of faith.
3. Plunge: One Women’s Pursuit of a Life Less Ordinary by Liesbet Collaert
Liesbet Collaert plunged into a new and adventurous lifestyle of life at sea with a man she barely knew and his two dogs. How does this story play out? Adjusting to a new lifestyle and new relationship brings several new challenges for Liesebet to overcome.
I found this book to be a dose of reality that sailing off into the sunset is not all sunshine and cocktails. Well written and interesting throughout.
Why I Loved This Book
I loved how Liesbet opens up and tells the reader about the non-sailing challenges of how this lifestyle of living aboard a sailboat can affect your relationship with yourself and your significant other.
4. Sailing Alone Around The World by Joshua Slocum
This is the story about Captain Joshua Slocum, the first man to ever sail around the world solo. He cast off in 1895 and tells stories of pirate attacks, gale-force winds, strange hallucinations, and the ever present threat of being shipwrecked.
Why I Loved This Book
I love that this book is written as a first-person account by the first person to sail around the world alone.
Best Historical Sailing Books
5. The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann
In 1742, a derelict vessel washes ashore on the coast of Brazil. Inside were 30 malnourished men, barely alive, with an extraordinary story to tell as survivors of the Wager, his Majesty’s British vessel that left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. They arrived ashore as heroes. However, six months later, an even more derelict vessel washes ashore in Chili with 3 castaways, and a very different story to tell.
Why I Loved This Book
This is the one book on this list I have not read yet, but Scott has. He loved the unexpected twists and was amazed that this is a non-fiction book and based on real life events!
6. Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing
In 1914, British Explorer Ernest Shackleton along with 27 crew members set sail to Antarctica, where he planned to cross the last uncharted continent by foot. Challenges and struggles arise when the ship gets trapped in ice and they must overcome significant challenges to try to reach help at the nearest outpost some 850 miles away.
Why I Loved This Book
My favorite part about this book is how Shackleton split up his group, and his reasoning behind it. I don’t want to give away the book, so I’ll say no more…
7. A Voyage For Madmen by Peter Nichols
This is an amazing story about the historical race in 1968 to single-handedly circumnavigate the globe non-stop. The very first Golden Globe race! Nine sailors set out on this daring race. Read about all of their adventures, and who actually made it across the finish line.
Peter Nichols did a great job keeping me enthralled in this book through the end. He also captures well the struggles of the sailors in times before cell phones, satellite dishes and electronic positioning systems.
Why I Loved This Book
I loved reading about all the different sailors, each of their stories, and how they each dealt with adversity.
8. The Skipper and the Eagle by Captain Gordon McGowan
United States Coast Guard Cutter Eagle is a 295-foot three-masted barque that is currently a training vessel for the Coast Guard. This book tells the story of how the USCG acquired the Eagle and sailed her back to the United States from Germany after World War II… through a hurricane!
Scott had the opportunity to sail on the Eagle during a summer at the USCG Academy and we both had the opportunity to tour the Eagle when it was in Pensacola, FL in 2022.
Why I Loved This Book
I loved learning about the history of the Eagle after having had the opportunity to tour the ship.
Best Sailing Adventure Books
9. Facing Fear: The First Woman to Sail Solo around Antarctica by Lisa Blair
Top on my sailing book list is this true story by Lisa Blair, the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica. It is an inspiring story that includes massive waves, gale-force winds and a storm that took down her mast. Through it all she was alone in the most remote parts of the world.
Why I Loved This Book
I loved reading about Lisa’s courage and strength as she battled the waves and wind. I was in awe reading about all of the rough conditions she sailed through.
I love this book so much, I’ve read it more than once. It sure puts things in perspective for me when I get worried about sailing in “big” waves.
10. Cape Horn – One Man’s Dream, One Woman’s Nightmare by Reanne Hemingway-Douglass
Supporting her husband’s dream, Reanne Hemingway-Douglass embarks on a journey with him to round Cape Horn. This “journey” quickly turns into a living nightmare for Reanne that includes pitch-polling their sailboat, and trying to simply keep their boat, and their relationship, afloat.
Why I Loved This Book
I read this book after we left on our adventure, and it has really stuck in my head. It is really well-written and I was unable to put it down. I think of the williwaws they have encountered every time we get in high winds!
11. Desperate Voyage by John Caldwell
Long before our planning (and saving money) to sail away from it all, Scott and I took a vacation to Palm Island in the Grenadines. It is here that I learned who John Caldwell was, the developer of the island.
He wrote this book, Desperate Voyage, about his journey to rejoin with his wife after World War II. He was stranded in Panama unable to secure any other form of transport to his wife, some 9,000 miles away in Australia. So, he set sail on a 20 foot sailboat on a mission to reunite with his wife. This book is full of courage, determination, and even an angry shark!
Why I Loved This Book
I loved reading his first-hand account of being out on the sea in a small boat with a lot of challenges. I also loved reading about the villagers he met along the way.
Best Sailing Fiction
12 The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
This is the last novel that Ernest Hemingway published. This is the only fiction book on my list, so I put it at the bottom, but this list is by no means in any particular order in terms of greatness of the books.
This novel is about an old Cuban fisherman who battles with the fish of his life, a giant marlin, in the gulf stream. While not a long book, it contains several great messages of personal strength and triumph.
Why I Loved This Book
I loved all of the messages I could take away from this book. One of my favorite quotes from this book is “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”
More Sailing Adventures to Explore
Sailing adventure books have a unique way of capturing the beauty, challenges, and freedom of life at sea. Many of these stories inspired us during the six years we spent planning our own sailing adventure, and they continue to remind me why life on the water is such an incredible journey.
If these sailing adventure books have you dreaming about life at sea, you might also enjoy my list of the best sailing movies, which bring many of these adventures to life on screen.
You can also check out my interview with my sister and her boyfriend aboard SV Vagari, where they share their experiences and insights from their own sailing adventures.
