Table Of ContentThe
O c e a n
THE ULTIMATE HANDBOOK
OF NAUTICAL KNOWLEDGE
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX
CHRIS DIXON & JEREMY K. SPENCER
The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he!
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
Although the authors and the publisher have made every effort to ensure that the
information in this book was correct at press time, the authors and publisher do
not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss, damage, or
disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or omissions result
from negligence, accident, or any other cause. The authors and the publisher
further disclaim any liability from any injury that may result from the use, proper
or improper, of the information contained in this book, and do not guarantee that
the information contained herein is complete, safe, or accurate, nor should it be
considered a substitute for good judgment and common sense.
Text copyright © 2021 by Chris Dixon and Jeremy K. Spencer. Illustrations copyright
© 2021 by Chronicle Books LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dixon, Chris, 1966- author. | Spencer, Jeremy K., author.
Title: The ocean : the ultimate handbook of nautical knowledge / Chris
Dixon and Jeremy K. Spencer.
Description: San Francisco : Chronicle Books, [2021].
Identifiers: LCCN 2020048131 | ISBN 9781452162034 (epub, mobi) |
ISBN 9781452158662 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Aquatic sports. | Boats and boating. | Diving. | Surfing. |
Swimming.
Classification: LCC GV775 .D58 2021 | DDC 797--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020048131
Design: Jon Glick.
Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com
Chronicle books and gift products are available at special quantity discounts to
corporations, professional associations, literacy programs, and other organizations.
For details and discount information, please contact our premiums department at
[email protected] or at 1-800-759-0190.
BOATING Whatever Floats Your Boat: Sea Kayaks 41
1
Ocean Kayaking: Tour Planning and
Things a Coast Guard Rescue Swimmer
Supplies 42
Has Always Wanted to Say As Told by Shannon
Scaff 2 Paddling a Kayak: Going through the
Motions 43
Mau Piailug: The Man Who Restored
Wayfinding As Told by Bruce Blankenfeld 4 Internationally Recognized Hand
Signals 49
Start (and Stop) a Mutiny 8
Wakesurfing, Tubing, and “Towables” 50
Nautical Superstitions 9
Carbon Monoxide Kills 54
“Wonderfully, Essentially Human”
A Chat with Christian Beamish 11 Four Great Uses for a Dry Bag 55
Sailing 101 13 Booking a Charter Boat 56
Take Care of Your Boat 16 Permission to Come Aboard:
Loading, Boarding, and Seating 57
Surviving at Sea: Safe Boating 101 17
Operate a Boat in an Emergency 58
Boater’s Toolbox, aka the “Learn from Our
Mistakes” Checklist 21 Trimming, Planing, and Steering: Essential
Driving Skills 62
Make a Float Plan 22
Going for a Swim: Voluntarily and
Batten Down the Hatches: When Caught in
Involuntarily 63
Bad Weather 24
“Crew Overboard!”: A Rescue Primer 64
Heave a Line and Tie Off to a Cleat 25
Essential Nautical Knots and Turns 68
Driving the Saltwater Highway 27
Dogs on Boats 75
Boating in Big Waves and Heavy Seas 28
Where Am I?: Nautical Charts, Compasses,
How to Right a Small Sailboat 31
and Landmarks 76
Be Shallow-Minded 32
To Become a Sailor, Go to the Sea As Told by
A Jet Ski Is a Boat, Not a Toy 34 Lin Pardey 80
Top Ten Reasons Your Boat Won’t Start 35 The Beaufort Wind Scale 82
Anchors Aweigh 36 Drowning in Ink: Proper Nautical
Tattoos 84
So You Want to Buy a Boat 40 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
SURFING Surfing Commandments, Part II:
87
SUP Rules 137
The Rise of Modern Surfing
Surf Wax 138
As Told by Steve Pezman 88 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Do You Really Want to Start Surfing?
A Chat with William Finnegan 91
The Way of the Warrior Surfer
SCIENCE
by Andrew Manzi 93 141
Five Big Waves to See (and Maybe Surf) Why Ocean Exploration Matters
before You Die 95 As Told by Dr. Robert Ballard 142
The Essential Surf Film Festival 97 Our Fossil Will Be Plastic
As Told by Marcus Eriksen 144
Wetsuit 101 98
A Dip of the Net: Plankton and Plastic 146
“The Most Challenging Simple Thing”:
Bodysurfing 102 Know Your Sea Monsters: The Largest
Creatures in the Sea 147
Boogie, Man: Bodyboarding 103
Tidepools 101 As Told by Dr. Stephen R. Palumbi
Shorebreak, Rip Currents, and Rogue
150
Waves 104
Portrait of a Wave 152
The Ultimate Surf Van 106
Oceans in Motion: The World’s
Auntie Rell, the Queen of Makaha As Told by
Currents 154
Kathy Terada 110
Of Gods and Monsters: The Legacy of the
On Your Feet, Ye Scurvy Dog:
Whaleship Essex 155
Learning to Surf 113
What Is Kelp and Why It Matters
Surfing’s Twelve Commandments 118
As Told by Dan Reed 159
Teach a Kid (or Friend) to Surf 122
Find Work aboard a Scientific Expedition
Know Thy Surfboard 124 As Told by Robert Hueter 161
Don’t Surf Stormwater 129 Of a Feather: Meet the Seabirds 163
Buying Your First Surfboard 130 Why Sharks Matter As Told by
David Shiffman 166
Go Pound Sand: Driving on the Beach 133
The Amazing Rays (and Skates) by Arnold
What’s SUP?: Standup Paddleboards 134
Postell 168
Restoring a Reef and a Way of Life
by Inilek Wilmot 169
How Does a Flying Fish Fly? 171 Seasickness: The Seafarer’s Curse 212
Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay, Watchin’ the The Bug-Out Bag, aka Life-Raft
Tide . . . 172 Supplies 213
Barrier Islands, Dunes, and Tidal Marshes Stranded: Island Survival 215
As Told by Orrin Pilkey 174
Message in a Bottle: A Brief History 221
Mangrove Forests: Essential and
Ultimate Maritime First-Aid Kit 222
Endangered 177
The Deepest Cut: Treat a Laceration 224
Reading the Weather 178
Cold Shock and Hypothermia 226
Become an Ocean Warrior: A Chat with
Samantha Siegel 185 Cold-Proof Yourself: Wim Hof’s Breath
Technique 230
Get Informed, Get Involved:
Sea Saviors 188 Too Hot: Hyperthermia and Heat
Stroke 232
Behold the Octopus 189
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Unleash Your Inner Seal: Increase Your
Lung Capacity 233
“Mayday! Mayday!”—Distress, Urgency,
and Safety Calls 236
SURVIVAL
191
S.O.S.: Signal for Help 238
Take Control when Panic Strikes
Abandoning Ship and Boarding a Life
As Told by Brian Keaulana 192
Raft 242
Beach Flag Warnings 194
Survival Hydration 245
Save a Drowning Soul: Drowning
Life-Raft Cuisine 247
Rescue 195
Seeing Stars by Greg Noll 249
Save Your Skin: Sunblock Savvy and
Sunburn 201 Climb a Coconut Tree 250
Bad Seafood and Deadly Fish 203 Nautical Lore: The Pirate Code 252
Open Stuff without an Opener 204 Surviving Kidnapping and Dangerous
Ports of Call: A Chat with Michael Scott
The Sting: Jellyfish Dangers 205
Moore 254
Spinal Tap: Don’t Step on that Fish! 207
Bad Water: Red Tides and Algae
Deadly Strikes: Sea Snakes, Cone Snails, Blooms 256
and Blue-Ringed Octopuses 209 XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Escape a Tsunami 211
SCUBA AND On and Off the Hook: Saltwater Fishing
Hooks 311
SNORKELING
259
DIY Angler: Make a Fish Hook 313
Getting Schooled As Told by
Saltwater Fly-Fishing: A Primer with
Morgan Mochester 260
Jimbo Meador 314
My Body Lies under the Sea 262
Seven Saltwater Flies 316
Snorkeling and Scuba Gear 265
Types of Bait 318
Plan the Dive, Dive the Plan 273
The Strange Life of a Fish 319
Getting In, Out, and Around 274
What’s the Best Time to Fish? 320
Diving Hand Signals 276
How to Catch a Crab 321
Dive Dangers 278
How to Kill Fish and Crustaceans
Creatures and Coral: Leave Nothing but Humanely 323
Bubbles 281
Catch and Release and Controversy:
Swimming with Sharks 282 Letting Them Get Away 325
Spearfishing and Free Diving by Mark Clean, Scale, and Fillet a Fish 327
Healey 284
Fishing from a Kayak or SUP 331
Rules for Found Objects 288
Pole a Boat and Gig a Flounder 332
How to Become a National Geographic
Catch Shrimp Near Shore 334
Photographer As Told by Brian Skerry 289
How to Throw a Cast Net 336
A Brief History of Time—Underwater 292
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Fishing Spots and Techniques 340
Eight Places to Fish Before You Die 342
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
FISHING
297
How Smart Is a Fish? by Culum Brown 298
Selected Experts and Sources 346
Ten Essential Fishing Knots 300
About the Artists 348
Your Tackle Box: The “Must-Have”
Our Contributors 349
Gear List 304
Acknowledgments and About the Authors
Catch a Fish with a Handline 305
350
First-Time Anglers: The Rod, the Reel,
the Cast 307
INTRODUCTION
A few years back, on a bluebird day in Folly Beach, South Caro-
lina, we walked into local favorite the Lost Dog Café and, note-
books in hand, ordered a couple of beers. It was early spring,
the best days of the year were ahead of us, and we were intent
on laying the groundwork for a new project. We wanted to cre-
ate something we’d gone looking for but had never found: one
of those books that might be considered the one. You know the
kind. It’s the first book that comes to mind when you need a gift
for a friend with a particular passion. Think Julia Child’s Master-
ing the Art of French Cooking for ambitious home chefs. Or Dale
Carnegie’s How to Win Friends & Influence People for determined
business types.
Our subject? The ocean, of course. So we got to talking about
all the maritime lessons passed along by family and friends, all the
insights gleaned from natural experts we’d met on our respective
watery adventures and journalistic endeavors around the world.
We also recognized, as we discussed how much we’d learned
about the all-important ocean over the years, that there was so
much more that we didn’t know. As fathers with children who
joined us on the waves and on deck, that was kind of a problem.
When one of your kids asks you a question or wants to learn how
to do something, it feels great to share the answer with them in a
way that cracks the world’s mysteries open, even if just a little bit.
We decided that whatever we didn’t know, we’d learn from the
best. And then we’d pass all that knowledge along to our loved
ones—and you. But we had to go even further, confirming what
we did know (or thought we knew). As we drew up a skeletal plan
of attack and hashed out our approach and dream collaborators,
Chris relayed a recent conversation with his surfing buddy Jimmy
Buffett, the famously salty bard of the sun-soaked life. One day,
after a long morning among the swells, they’d sat right at that very
bar and caught up. Between spoonfuls of steaming shrimp and
grits, Chris brought up the idea we’d been kicking around.
viii The Ocean
