I've been reading lots about sailors, whalers and pirates lately and would love to read about their lives in their own words. This article about a sailor's journal peaked my interest but I haven't been able to find anything else online, other then some letters of marque which aren't particularly thrilling reading.
It seems my google-fu is not up to the task of finding any more. Can our reddit historians help?
Dampier, William (Ed. John Masefield). Dampier's Voyages (London, 1906).
Exquemelin, A.O. Bucaniers of America (London, 1684). [Note: I've read this one. I think there's a 1920's edition available on Google e-books for free. Great resource but note that the author's surname may also be listed as: Esquemeling.]
The Library of Congress has great primary sources online on buccaneers, and privateers: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/kislak/kislak-interactive.html
Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana, which is about sailing in the 1830s.
The British Library now holds the massive archive of the East India Company. I believe only a portion has so far been digitised, although that it is an ongoing operation. It was more than a year ago when I last looked, at which time indexing was severely limited' but there was a search function. I was able to browse unexpurgated letters from the EIC President at Batavia, Richard Fursland, back to the Board in London, from the period 1615-1623 which I was then researching - lots of complaints of squalid conditions, drunkenness and ill-discipline, plus the high cost of red peppers (the latest culinary marvel). Sorry I can't attach a link, as I'm on my tablet.
Pirate Utopias: Moorish Corsairs & European Renegadoes by Peter Lamborn Wilson
While quite a small book, there's lots of primary source material in here. It's a look at the (largely unrecognized) phenomenon of European Christians who, in their thousands, converted to Islam and joined the navies of the Muslim Barbary States / Corsair States. Some of these men have entire chapters dedicated to their lives, and the author utilizes significant contemporary sourcing.
I learned SO much from this book. There's not a lot of good scholarly stuff on the subject of Pirates and their communities (at least, not much that approached it the way I wanted them to and in a fitting tone), and this quirky little book came from the shelves of the Chicago Public Library like a godsend, at the time.