1. Local Guides
2. Not Quite Spring Thaw Sale
3. New Racing Rules for 2021
4. Bargains Galore!
5. New Books
6. Professional Mariners
Our brick and mortar store is now OPEN again. We are limiting the number of customers in the store. You can also order for curbside pickup, and of course online for home delivery. Thank-you for your continuing support.
The 4th edition of one of our bestselling weather books. In this comprehensive guide to how weather is formed, weather guru Alan Watts helps you to look at the sky and interpret the signs for yourself. See also Instant Weather Forecasting.
Each page covers one knot, with clear tying illustrations. Great variety, great challenge to learn a new knot each day. Besides essential knots and splices, there are sections on craft projects, magic trick knots and everyday fashion knots!
Read one tip per day and see how your sailing improves. Covers everything from boat handling to living aboard, and simple maintenance and repairs. Written by experienced sailors.
Historian R. Bruce MacDonald — former staff member at Nautical Mind—has written a book about two ships that served in the Canadian Arctic. The North Star of Herschel Island (which Bruce owns) and the St. Roch are featured in this meticulously researched book.
In 2000, journalist Bruce Kemp sailed on the Canadian Leader, the last Canadian fore/aft'er built at the Collingwood shipyard. He joins the culture of the Great Lakes Sailor and takes readers on a voyage most will never get the chance to undertake.
See also Weather Bomb by the same author.
Published annually this full-colour directory describing ships of all nations, including stack markings, is great for ship watching on the Great Lakes.
Professional Mariners: Most of the books listed here are primarily of interest to recreational boaters. A large section of our website and a separate newsletter are devoted to the shipping industry.
An independent bookstore and chart agency, The Nautical Mind has been delivering personal and professional service from our storefront in Toronto Harbour since 1980, and from nauticalmind.com since 1995. Our clients range from dinghy sailors on Georgian Bay to cargo vessel captains in Hong Kong, while our staff includes seasoned tug, tall ship, and yacht crew. The selection of marine books and charts we carry is unmatched — if you need any information on ships or the sea, we’ll send it your way—quickly, reliably, seven days a week.