Darcy Lever: The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor

[Writer44]

I've been researching a new novel and was seeking first hand accounts of late 18th century early 19th century naval activities. This is the time of Patrick O'Brian's hero Jack Aubrey, among others.

"The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor" by Darcy Lever is about the best book I've ever found on the subject. He starts with rope and works all the way to the details of sailing a ship. I thought this would be dry stuff and to some it may be. But if you've ever wondered just how those maneuvers are pulled off by a crew this is the book that explains it all, written by a person who did it.

I've never been a big fan of O'Brian or Kent or any of the others novelists who write series for this time period. After reading Darcy Lever's book, I understand why. I think they could do more to heighten the drama of what it takes to make a ship move with the wind, the risks involved if it is not done properly, and the thrill of being part of a massive crew all working together to achieve a goal.

Any other readers looking for exact explanations and details with illustrations, this is the book for you. Enjoy.

 

[sparkchaser]

Thanks for the suggestion. I am going to get this and put it up in front of HMS Surprise on the TBR pile.

 

[Writer44]

Supplementing the above mentioned book, I'd like to also recommend "Before The Wind" by Charles Tyng. Penguin published this book a while ago. Worth a look, again, if you're into the sailing Genre. Tyng was sent to sea early in his life, from Massachusetts to China, around the world a half dozen times in his career from 1808 to 1833. What an amazing life. And his book laid in storage until his descendants found it and got it published. Lucky for us they did.

 

[Robert]

I have been meaning to pick up a copy of Lever's book, but it's never in the book store when I look for it and I never bothered to buy one online. Perhaps it's time that I did.

 

[Robert]

By the way, The Art of Rigging by George Biddlecombe is also suppose to be very good.

 

[Writer44]

Robert,

I ordered both books from Amazon. Funny you should mention The Art of Rigging. I have that and a few others, some about building model ships that actually show great details with explanations about these ships. Fascinating stuff. I have a photo from Lever's book on my blog if you want to see how it looks. It seems to be reprinted plates from the original.

These books and others provided great research material for a the novel I'm working on. It's only sketches and outline now because I have a deadline for another one. But I think this one will be next.

 

[sparkchaser]

Sunday I finished H.M.S. Surprise and decided to give Lever's book a whirl before reading the next book in the series. How I wish I had read this book before I started reading O'Brian! The Young Sea Officer's Sheet Anchor has made so much stuff clearer and the numerous illustrations are invaluable.

The Dover edition of this book uses the edition that was published during the time of the Napoleonic Wars because of the Aubrey/Maturin, Hornblower, etc. series of books.

If you don't have this book, you should get it. Many thanks to Writer44 for pointing this book out to us.