harbour

Mariner's Library

Here is my collection of marine textbooks and study resources geared towards deck compliment onboard. If you are interested in engineering or regulatory texts, I would check out dieselduck for a much broader and more in-depth library covering these topics. There are also a number of marine textbooks available on rexresearch in assorted categories. I also have a list of marine textbooks on the internet archive available here. PDFs are hosted on catbox because I do not have the site storage capacity to store them onsite- so if for some reason the files become unavailable, just send me an email and I can send you the book that way.

By Topic

Seamanship Techniques 3rd Edition
Seamanship Techniques by DJ House is the comprehensive guide to being a deckhand, outlining all duties that a deckhand may encounter across the industry. Discusses anchoring, ropework, ship husbandry, steering techniques, etc... Aimed at the 'Ordinary Seaman' when studying to attain a 'Bridge Watchman' or the senior 'Able-Bodied Seaman' rating.

Reed's Maritime Meteorology 3rd Edition
This is the most widely used meteorology textbook by my peers in the industry who have self-studied and challenged their meterology examinations. Much of the drawings and long answer work for the meterology examinations can be taken directly from the textbook.
Kemp and Young Notes on Meteorology
This is a more outdated meterology textbook, but it is much shorter of a read than Reed's meteorology and has more simple diagrams and descriptions, which may be valuable for someone struggling to parse Reed's.

Bowditch: The American Practical Navigator, Volume 1
Bowditch Volume 2
Bowditch, by Nathaniel Bowditch, is the comprehensive navigation textbook for those studying to become ships officers. This is a monster 1000 page textbook that can be found in high-quality for free here. Bowditch volume 1 covers practical navigation techniques from dead-reckoning, to coastal pilotage, to celestial navigation and use of the marine sextant. Bowditch volume 2 has a 140 page long glossary of marine navigation terminology, jargon, and acronyms, and focuses on mathematical calucations used in navigation. An invaluable book to the studying watchkeeper. By no means can I claim to have read this whole book, but I did make use of it while studying for my chartwork and pilotage level 2 examinations.

Collision Regulations (with Canadian Modifications)
The international regulations for the prevention of collision at sea. The "rules of the road" and baseline for all traffic conduct on the high seas. This is the version with canadian modifications and comes in english and french. The most recent version is always available in multiple formats for free here on the transport canada website.
The Colregs Guide (Dokmar)
Illustrated guide to the collision regulations. The quality of this particular pdf upload is poor but this textbook helped me so much. Clearly breaks down each rule and discusses the considerations to be had in collision avoidance. Great diagrams of vessel light characteristics and the effect of ship size on perspective.
Guide to the Collision Avoidance Rules (Cockroft)
A practical breakdown and explaination of the collision regulations. Probably the most widely used colregs guidebook for watchkeepers. Also includes a brief summary of STCW watchkeeping conventions relevant to the navigation safety curriculum.

TP2293E Examination Syllabus
This is the guideline for marine examinations in Canada and provides an outline of what knowledge is required to challenge an examination. Used mostly as a guideline when self-studying to challenge an exam on your own. Also provides guidelines for what may be covered in the oral examinations. Goes hand-in-hand with the marine personnel regulations which outline the competencies and certifications required to fill certain positions onboard. The most recent version of this document can always be requested here. This is only relevant for canadian seafarers.

Publishers

*at this time, these links redirect to the internet archive as I am still hunting for reliable pdf copies of most of these titles. If a textbook is listed by topic above this section, then it means that I have a pdf copy up to standard available. More than anything this section exists for recordkeeping purposes.

REEDS / meteorology / ship construction and stability
Reeds series of textbooks are widely used across the industry and are being reprinted regularily. Reed's has a substantial collection of marine engineering textbooks available, as well as plenty for deck work. They also publish a number of handbooks for reference and not necessarily aimed at study. I would consider Reed's the go-to for marine textbooks in-line with current exam syllabus and standards.
KEMP & YOUNG / meteorology / ship stability / cargo work / seamanship
Kemp and Young series of textbooks are a bit dated (~1990s) and are more of an oldschool marine resource aimed at deck compliment. What this means is that while the information inside the texts is correct, it might not be congruent with today's exam syllabus (particularily for cargo) and additional material is needed to gain a full understanding of the topic to modern standards.
DJ HOUSE / seamanship
House is most notable for his widely-used textbook about seamanship.

Where to Find Physical Textbooks

Marine booksellers tend to sort books by the topic they cover, rather than by the publisher (with the exception of Reed's). I personally am a fan of the nautical mind bookstore because they have an extensive collection, as well as a subsection for recommended examination study material, but shipping costs can be a lot if you are not doing a big order. There are some textbooks that are very expensive (due to regulations requiring their carriage onboard and being viewed more as a ships's operational expense than a viable purchase for an indivudual's collection) and hard to find (older texts no longer in print or that have become digital-only`). Marine universities will always have a wide library of textbooks and (in my experience...) even if you are not a student at the university you are usually welcome to enter the library to browse their collection and study. I have also just gone through my public library and borrowed textbooks from the public library system, though in the case of some older textbooks (out-of-print physical copies of regulations that have moved to digital-only publishing) they are often reference-only and you will not be able to sign them out. If you are in a port town, I would also recommend checking out local used bookstores if you know what you are looking for, because I've found some really fantastic titles just by knowing which topics to search for. Sometimes when textbooks or regulations kept onboard come out with more recent editions, the vessel must replace them to maintain compliance and usually the ship's crew will end up inheriting the old textbooks- but they may also end up in secondhand bookstores, so it's always worth a look.