r/Tallships • u/Notrollinonshabbos • 20d ago

Research question

Hello all, I am an amateur writer. My current novel takes place during the height of the napoleonic era. Takes inspiration from authors like O’Brian, Lambden, and James L. Haley. And while I understand most of jargon (thanks Falconer’s!) I’m lacking in operational understanding. I could really use a good in depth “how it works” for full rigged ships. I’m more visual than anything else. Studying sail plans is what helped a lot of terminology click. So books or better yet visual media that has a tutorial-esque feel. Anyone have any pointers?

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u/TheSailingEngineer 20d ago

Hi. I'll foremostly suggest Baggywrinkles by Lucy Bellwood because a graphic novel sounds like just what you need.

One of the above YouTube links may be to Irving Johnson's Last of the Great Cape Horners

I have some books on traditional seamanship on my bookstore www.bookshop.org/shop/TheArmchairSailor. That said, the Sheet Anchor is available on archive.org and Google Books for free. Two Years Before the Mast probably is, too.

You may also find Square Rig Seamanship, by Capt Willoughby, helpful. I have a hard copy but no particular idea where to recommend sourcing your own (not on bookshop, wonderbk, or archive)

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u/Notrollinonshabbos 20d ago

Merci! Thanks much for the recommendations. And I’ll absolutely put Bellwood on my reading list. I’m taking a break from sailing books right now (Brandon Sanderson just released Wind and Truth, so that brick is tilling my life for the foreseeable future).