The Ultimate Bathroom Book for Watermen has Arrived: The Ocean

What We’re Reading…The Ocean: The Ultimate Handbook of Nautical Knowledge

Sailors, swimmers, anglers, surfers, sandcastle builders—anyone who’s passionate about the sea, its treasures and lifestyle—will find something to love and share in the newly released tome, The Ocean. This is the ideal coffee table or washroom read…you can absorb some amazing and titilizing knowledge on any nautical topic in just a few minutes, and come out feeling refreshed and ready to wow your friends.

Or, read the whole thing cover to cover and become an overnight expert or fill in knowledge gaps, before your next big adventure. This impressive volume is a treasure chest of information, inspiration, and wisdom—rich with actual how-to advice as well as with great stories from renowned experts of the sea.

Whether your goal is shucking an oyster, or catching that first wave, casting a fly rod, or righting a kayak, everyone from nautical nobodies to salty scallawags will relish learning real-world skills and ecology and rediscovering their love for our planet’s awe-inspiring seas.

Chapters and content include: 

// Boating: essential knots and turns; heave a line, tow off to a cleat, international hand signals
// Surfing: wetsuit 101, surfing’s 12 commandments, learning to surf, buying your first surfboard
// Science: plankton and plastic, meet the seabirds, how does a flying fish fly?
// Scuba & Snorkeling: spearfishing and free diving, throw a cast net, diving hand signals
// Fishing: tackle box gear list; saltwater fly fishing and flies; clean, scale and fillet a fish
// Survival: beach flag warnings, jellyfish dangers, escape a tsunami, maritime first-aid

The Ocean features hundreds of illustrations and deep-dive reads from heroes and experts like big-wave surfer Laird Hamilton, marine archeologist Robert Ballard, and famed sailor Lin Pardey — presented in a handsome foil-stamped cover to make this the definitive go-to guide for anyone captivated by the wonder,
power, and mystery of the ocean.

Author Chris Dixon is a contributing author of Surfing: 1778–Today, The Big Juice, and New York Times Best Seller The Southerner’s Handbook. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Outside, Popular Mechanics, Garden & Gun, and Men’s Health, among others. The founding online editor of Surfer, he once spent a year documenting the life of singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with his family.

Jeremy K. Spencer is an award-winning writer and editor whose work has appeared in publications like Men’s Journal, Wired, Vice, The Millions, and Outside, where he was a longtime senior editor. He has edited books for all of the “Big Five” publishing houses, including multiple New York Times Best Sellers. As a creative director, he’s helped dozens of top global brands tell their stories. A native of Memphis, he now lives with his family in Portland, Oregon.