• The Capable Cruiser Lin and Larry Pardey
• Voyaging on a Small Income Annie Hill
• All About Cruising Walt Gleckler
• The Cruising Life Jim Trefethen
• The Cruising Woman's Advisor Diana B. Jessie
• Handbook of Offshore Cruising Jim Howard
• Cruising 101 Amy Sullivan
• There Be No Dragons Reese Palley
• Sell Up and Sail Bill and Laurel Cooper
• Sensible Cruising Don Casey and Lew Hackler

Classic Cruising Reference

• Self Sufficient Sailor Lin and Larry Pardey
• Cruising Under Sail Eric Hiscock
• Wandering Under Sail Eric Hiscock
• After 50,000 Miles Hal Roth
• Basic Astro Navigation Conrad Dixon
• The Circumnavigator's Handbook Steve and Linda Dashew
• Ocean Cruising Countdown Geoff Pack

Pioneers of Sailing and Cruising

Many of these books are out of print.  Look for them in your local library, favorite used bookstore, or amazon.com will find them for you, usually at a very reasonable price.

• Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum
• Trekka Round the World John Guzzwell
• Cape Horn: the logical route Bernard Moitessier
• Around the World Single-Handed Harry Pidgeon
• The Sea is for Sailing Peter Pye
• The Cruise of the Teddy Erling Tambs
• At Any Cost : Love, Life and Death at Sea Peter Tangvald
• Eight Sailing/Mountain-Exploration Books H. W. Tilman
• Adventures Under Sail H.W. Tilman
• A Gypsy Life Clare Allcard
• The Magic of the Swatchways Maurice Griffiths

Cruising Stories

• Maiden Voyage Tanya Aebi
• Dove Robin Lee Graham
• The Hungry Ocean Linda Greenlaw
• The Perfect Storm Sebastian Junger
• Log of the Mahina John Neal
• Mahina Tiare John Neal
• Gypsy Moth Circles the World Sir Francis Chichester
• Sea Change Peter Nichols
• Sailing Promise Alayne Main
• The Hawaiian Voyages of the Ono Jimmy Steve Dixon
• Kawabunga's South Seas Adventure Charles Dewell
• The Thousand Dollar Yacht Anthony Bailey
• Two Girls, Two Catamarans James Wharram
• Rough Passage Commander R.D. Graham
• Honey, Let's Get a Boat..., A Cruising Adventure of America's Great Loop Ron & Eva Stob

Navigation and Seamanship

• Heavy Weather Sailing Adlard Coles
• Celestial Navigation for Yachtsmen Mary Blewitt
• Mariner's Weather Handbook Steve & Linda Dashew
• The Complete Book of Anchoring and Mooring Earl Hinz
• Boater's Bowditch Richard Hubbard
• Chapman Piloting Elbert Maloney, Charles Chapman
• The Ashley Book of Knots Clifford Ashley
• The Coastal Captain's Directions Doug Hines
• Dutton's Navigation and Piloting Benjamin Dutton
• The Manual of Sail Trim Stuart Walker
• All in the Same Boat; Family Living Aboard and Cruising Tom Neale
• Sensible Cruising; The Thoreau Approach Don Casey
• Advanced First Aid Afloat Dr. Perry Eastman
• Standard First Aid American Red Cross
• The Onboard Medical Guide Dr. Paul Gill
• Aground: Coping with Emergency Groundings James Minnoch
• Passport to World Band Radio Lawrence Magne
• The Complete Shortwave Listener's Handbook Andrew Yoder

Cruising Maintenance

• Spurr's Boatbook; Upgrading the Cruising Vessel Dan Spurr
• This Old Boat Don Casey
• Boat Joinery and Cabinetmaking Simplified Fred Bingham
• Brightwork; the Art of Finishing Wood Rebecca Wittman
• Troubleshooting Marine Diesels Peter Compton
• Marine Diesel Engines Nigel Calder
• Practical Junk Rig H.G. Hasler and J.K. McLeod
• The Complete Riggers Apprentice Brion Toss
• Hand, Reef and Steer Tom Cunliff
• The Sailmakers Apprentice Emiliano Marino
• The Complete Canvasworkers Guide Jim Grant
• Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual Nigel Calder
• Living on Twelve Volts with Ample Power David Smead
• Boatowners Illustrated Handbook of Wiring Charlie Wing
• Your Boat's Electrical System Conrad Miller
• Propellor Handbook David Gerr
• Refrigeration for Pleasure Boats Nigel Calder
• The Fiberglass Boat Repair Manual Allan Vaitses
• Sensible Cruising; The Thoreau Approach Don Casey
• Boat Improvements for the Practical Sailor Stephen J. Fishman
• Inflatable Boats, Care Repair, Seamanship Jim Trefethan

Cooking

• The Two Burner Gourmet Terry Searfoss
• Dining on Deck Linda Vail
• Cruising Cuisine : Fresh Food from the Galley Kay Pastorius
• The Cruising Chef Cookbook Michael Greenwald
• Keeping Food Fresh Janet Bailey

Ocean and Marine Life, Nature

• The Ocean Almanac Robert Hendrickson
• Oceanography and Seamanship William VanDorn
• Clouds and Storms National Audubon Society
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to Weather
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Night Sky
• Encyclopedia of Fishes
• Audubon Society Guide to the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts
• Familiar Marine Mammals of North America
• Familiar Seashells of North America
• Familiar Seashore Creatures : National Audubon Society Pocket Guide
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Fishes, Whales and Dolphins
• Fishes of the Atlantic Coast

Cruising Guides

WORLD
• World Cruising Handbook Jimmy Cornell
• The Atlantic Crossing Guide Anne Hammick
• World Cruising Routes Jimmy Cornell
• Offshore Cruising Handbook Steve & Linda Dashew
• Atlantic Pilot Atlas James Clarke
• National Geographic Atlas of the World
  AMERICA
• A Cruising Guide to Prince William Sound, Alaska - Jim and Nancy Lethcoe
• Tide Tables, East Coast of North and South America
• The Bahamas Cruising Guide Mathew Wilson
• Light List and Waypoint Guide, Alaska to Panama John and Leslie Kettlewell
• Reed's Nautical Almanac - Caribbean Ben Ellison
• Reed's Nautical Almanac - North American East Coast Ben Ellison
• Reed's Nautical Almanac - North American West Coast Ben Ellison
• Cruising Guide to the Leeward Islands Chris Doyle
• Yachtsman's Guide to the Virgin Islands Meredith Fields
• The Exuma Guide Stephen Pavlidis
• The Gentleman's Guide to Passages South; the Thornless Path toward Windward Bruce Van Sant
• The Central and Southern Bahamas Guide Stephen Pavlidis
• Chesapeake Bay Cruising Guide Tom Neale
• The Intracoastal Waterway Chartbook John Kettlewell
• The Intracoastal Waterway, a Cockpit Cruising Handbook Jan Moeller
• A Cruising Guide to the Caribbean William Stone
• A Cruising Guide to the Maine Coast Hank Taft
• The Panama Guide Nancy Zydler
• Cruising Guide to Belize and Mexico's Caribbean Coast Freya Rauscher
  PACIFIC
• Travels of Nhkwazi Pete Grout
• Landfalls of Paradise: Cruising Guide to the Pacific Islands Earl Hinz
• The Pacific Crossing Guide Royal Cruising Club
• Charlie's Charts of Polynesia Charles Wood
• Cruising Guide to the Kingdom of Tonga The Moorings
• Cruising the Coral Coast Alan Lucas
  EUROPA
• Cruising French Canals and Rivers Hugh McKnight

My Favorites

• Ocean Cruising on a Budget, Anne Hammick
  Many people who dream about voyaging with their own sailboat lose their dream as they wait to get enough funds together to actually buy a boat and the time to live aboard without an income. This book describes how you can buy and refit an older, seaworthy sailboat, and how to budget your funds while underway. Probably the most important lesson from this book is the basic equipment and skills required as a minimum for offshore travel by sailboat. How much money do you need? Figure US$ 10 to 20 thousand for initial boat purchase, the same amount again to bring the boat to seaworthy condition. For your monthly budget, figure out how much you spend now on food and beverages, and add a little if you like to go out. It will probably come out to between $500 and $2000 a month, depending upon your lifestyle. Anne's book explains the most likely method for a cruiser on a budget to successfully break ties from land: through the purchase of a used, fiberglass monohull sailboat of about 30 feet in length. Her focus is on sailing from the British Isles to the Carribbean, and other parts of the Atlantic. The discussion includes what needs to be done to the typical "classic plastic" sailboat to make it ready for an Atlantic Crossing. After reading this book, you will want to move on to other books which focus on the details of navigation, provisioning, maintenance, etc., but this book will give you an excellent overview and help you build your plan.

• Voyaging on a Small Income, Annie Hill
  This book amazes me every time I read it. Annie and Pete Hill have been able to live aboard, regularly voyaging in the Atlantic from Greenland to Venezuela, while working occassionally at low paying jobs. They have been able to put enough money away to live off the interest from their savings bonds. They built their own dory cruiser, which is set up beautifully for passagemaking and claim to enjoy the passage as much as the destination. How did they do it? By applying a rational decision making process to every expenditure they make (they pinch pennies to the max). This book will tell you why the best foods for passagemaking are fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, flour, pasta, beans and homemade bread. How they heated their floating home while cruising the arctic. Why an efficient galley may be your most important cost saving piece of equipment. What type of ocean-cruising boat you can build and rig for a minimum of money. After reading this book, I guarantee you will question why you are working and living as you are now.

• Self-Sufficient Sailor, Lin and Larry Pardey
  This book is a classic for those trying to understand what is so appealing about a cruising and voyaging lifestyle. Lin and Larry Pardey introduced many people to the possibilities of crossing oceans on small boats and living a full time cruising life. They are purists in the sense that they have no electrical system, no motor, no two-way radio, no holding tank, no aluminum mast, no modern fiberglass hull. Just a traditional wooden hull, sail and kerosene lamps. The Pardey's show how to live and sail well with a minimum of modern equipment.