Like most boats that were in the thick of projects, the boat was in disarray with lockers open and the crew was feeling stressed.

The project list was long and Margaret was very worried that they might not even make it out cruising this year.

Margaret wanted to just GO, and she wasn’t very happy that her new home looked like the storage closet in a West Marine.

Ken wanted everything to be right and shipshape and properly installed. Major stress.

 “Where is your project list?” I asked. They did have one, although there were many important jobs that hadn’t made it to the list.

“And what are your cruising plans?”

• They planned to travel down the intracoastal waterway with some passages out in the Atlantic and make their way before Christmas to Marathon in the Florida Keys.
• They would spend a month in the Keys, then cross over to the Bahamas.
• After a winter in the Bahamas, they would return to the US for hurricane season, and then sail to the Caribbean the following autumn.

Okay, so now let’s start THREE LISTS:

1. Things that ABSOLUTELY MUST BE DONE before we can sail south.
2. Things that we MUST DO before sailing to the Bahamas, and that we could do during our month in Marathon.
3. Things that we COULD do next hurricane season in the US before we set sail for the Caribbean.

List number 1 MUST include those projects that are necessary to safely sail, motor and anchor their way south to Florida.

Ironically, often these safety and maintenance projects haven’t made it to a list.

• Charts, lights, anchoring gear, sailing, reefing and preventing systems need to be installed and tested.
• Often, there are nagging problems with equipment that you keep wishing would just fix themselves – you suspect the ship’s batteries might be shot but, living at the dock, you never test them in a way to know for sure.
• You have had some fuel or overheating problems with the main engine or the generator.
• Pulling up the anchor is almost impossible because the chain piles in a pyramid and blocks the haws pipe.
• Why is it so difficult to furl in the jib? How exactly do you reef? The rigging should be inspected.

Plus all the administrative and paperwork tasks, especially if you will be traveling to another country: documentation, passports, insurance, pet vaccinations. Etc, etc, etc.

Think long and hard about what must be on this list. List number 1 will also require you to do some sailing and take shake-down cruises. You must test your systems and find out what works and doesn’t!

Don’t let yourself start putting the fun sexy projects, the new gear you’d love to have, on List number 1 until you have all the truly, truly essential items noted.

Review List 1.

Can you get those items done in time to leave this season? Hopefully, the answer is yes. BUT DO THEM FIRST. Because as you know, boat projects almost always take lots longer than you think.

Okay, now go down your original list, and add items to your new lists 1, 2 and 3.

Remember, you will have much more experience under your belt by the time you reach Florida, and certainly by the time you return to the US next spring, and you may have better ideas at that point about exactly what and how to install new equipment.

You will have had a season’s worth of happy hours to discuss boat stuff with other cruisers and learn from them as well about what works and doesn’t. You may avoid some costly mistakes by putting off some installation projects right now and saving them for next season.

As you make out your lists, research what you will have available at your next stopping point.

For example, down in Marathon, Florida, you will have access to chandleries, hardware stores, shipping services, supermarkets, mail service, car rental. You CAN work on your love-to-have list in Marathon, if you aren’t having too much fun to bother.

In fact, you will probably revise your lists somewhat while you are in Marathon – again prioritizing the items that ABSOLUTELY MUST BE DONE before you cross the Gulf Stream and sail into a different cruising environment with much less access to marine supplies and technicians.

And you will probably make another three lists the next summer as you prioritize those items you MUST DO before sailing down to the Caribbean.

Here is another scenario when making three lists becomes very important: Leaving Europe and preparing to cross the Atlantic to the Caribbean.

Often sailors will cruise Europe, then sail to the Canary Islands, finish their preparations, then cross the Atlantic in December or January.

So often, I have seen cruisers arrive in Lanzarote in the Canary Islands without having really thought through what they will NEED for crossing the Atlantic.

Their project list is so long that they have been distracted by all the “wouldn’t it be nice” items, and haven’t noted down or planned for the essentials.

Here is an example of the THREE LISTS you might prepare for this scenario:

1. Things that absolutely must be done before leaving mainland Europe (with access to mail and freight service, well-stocked chandleries, marine technicians) – and that must be done to safely sail from Spain to the Canaries, and then across the Atlantic
2. Things that absolutely must be done before crossing the Atlantic, but can be done in the Canary Islands.
3. Things that could be done after arriving in the Caribbean.

Here, availability of parts, supplies and technicians becomes more important when making out the lists.

Although there are chandleries and marine professionals in the Canary Islands, they are much more limited than in major European sailing ports.

You may not be able to get flares, a boom preventer, liferaft certification, generator, autopilot or watermaker parts, etc etc etc!

You might not be able to find someone who can diagnose the problem with your autopilot, generator, watermaker, sideband radio or charging system.

And getting parts shipped in is not as easy any more either. Waiting for parts delays many an Atlantic crossing. Sometimes cruisers resort to flying crew home to get what they can’t find locally.

So your List number 1 needs to include longer shake-down passages BEFORE you leave Europe so that you can find out what doesn’t work and make repairs while access to marine services is still good.

Worse, cruisers often begin their Atlantic crossing from the Canaries without ever getting around to the most important projects.

A few very common examples:

• Beginning a three-week downwind sail without any way to prevent the boom from jibing, or without ever having rigged the downwind sails.
• Not having either a working sideband radio or satellite phone to get weather underway.
• Autopilot that won’t steer the boat.
• Inability to charge the batteries sufficiently.
• Bilge pumps that don’t work.

Ken and Margaret did make, use and revise those three lists as they began their first year of cruising.

They noticed that one important item for List number 1 was to get the charts and cruising guides and to research the route they would follow traveling south.

Margaret took that important project to heart and learned about the tides and currents, the low bridges and the safe inlets along their route south. When to travel inside and when to take the offshore route, how to play the currents and tides. By the time they left, Margaret was quite prepared to navigate them south.

And they did negotiate over those lists. Both Ken and Margaret placed items on List 1 and 2 that, though not essential, were important to them – items that made the boat home, that made cruising more enjoyable.

Five years later, Margaret reflects on that first year: “What a lifesaver your visit, and list-separating, turned out to be. It was early November before we got out of there, but we got out We still use that same list, it’s just much, much longer now and has pages and pages of items marked as completed. It’s kind of fun to look back over 5 years of projects…and the beginning 3 lists.”

YOUR lists will vary according to your cruising plans, the difficulty of the various legs of your voyage, the opportunities to get parts and professional help along the way.

But if you are starting out and feeling anxious that you might not get out cruising, or that you might get out there and have forgotten something important, make three lists!

About Kathy Parsons

Kathy Parsons took the leap and went cruising on a sailboat in 1989. Over the next 20+ years she lived aboard and sailed the US, Bahamas, Central America and Caribbean.

Her love for the sea, the sailing life and the countries and cultures she visited blossomed in a number of different ways.

She wrote two language guides for cruisers sailing in foreign countries:
French For Cruisers and Spanish for Cruisers, both widely used by sailors internationally.

She has helped thousands to pursue their sailing dreams through seminars she has developed and delivered at boat shows and sailing conferences. She has given classes and webinars in Spanish for Cruisers, and Women and Cruising, and taught cruising skills, provisioning, cruise planning and cruising the Bahamas and Caribbean. She has assisted in sailboat rallies in Europe, the Canary Islands, Caribbean, Panama and the Galapagos.

She is the founder of the website Women and Cruising, which she developed to give women and families courage and support in pursuing their sailing dreams.

Kathy currently lives on land, in Provence, France, a delightful event that never would have happened if she hadn’t sailed away years ago.

Will she go sailing again? Perhaps… Cruising and cruisers still are close to her heart.

Read more on this website

• Book Review – SeaWise Safety Checklist / Emergency Action Guide for Sailing Yachts, by Gwen Hamlin 
• Oh, no, not another hurricane!
  Pam Wall shares a list of things to have aboard to help you prepare as well as a checklist of preparations to make as a hurricane approaches.
• To Do Lists, Admiral’s Angle #51, by Gwen Hamlin
  When Must-Do’s and Wish-To-Do’s battle for priority before a major departure, what really matters?

Suddenly you notice the _____________ (fill in the blank … refrigerator, watermaker, etc) isn’t working.   Aw crap. What do you do now?

1. Immediately head to your home marina, curse “that damned boat,” tie it up and head home;
2. See if you can find a repairman at the nearest marina, hoping he can fix it in time to salvage part of your vacation; OR
3. Have you planned ahead, with alternatives or parts for most onboard systems, so you can continue to enjoy the well-deserved vacation you’ve been waiting for?

The saying goes, “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade“.  But this assumes that you have water and sugar, necessary ingredients for lemonade.

Similarly, aboard a boat, if you think through alternative systems or potential extra parts ahead of time, when something breaks, you already know what you’re going to do.  Once aboard, we don’t want to give up a single day of our precious cruising time.

Over the years, my husband David and I have spent time thinking through critical systems to have back up plans so that we don’t have to run for civilization after just anchoring in paradise.

Here are a few examples:

Refrigeration is perhaps the most common system causing cruisers to cut short time aboard.

What a shame if you only have a month’s vacation and the refrigeration goes out after the first week. You could be the hit of the anchorage and host a beach bbq so the unfreezing meat doesn’t spoil.

Or you may be able to use your well-insulated refrigerator as an ice box for the rest of your vacation if ice is available.

Plus we always carry at least two weeks of canned provisions just in case. Our upcoming book, The Boat Galley Cookbook, Summer 2012, International Marine Publishing, devotes an entire chapter to making edible meals with canned food.

Generators cause cruisers to spend a lot of time waiting for parts at marinas rather than cruising in paradise.

Like a diesel engine, if there are parts that are prone to failure, you may want to carry spares.

Other than spare parts, if a generator fails, have a backup plan for all of the functions it serves … how can we charge the batteries (diesel, solar or wind?), loss of ac current?, and so on.  With the right pre-planning, it is possible to continue your cruise without a generator.

Watermaker

… once upon a time cruisers cruised without watermakers, now over and over I hear boats heading back because the watermaker quit working.

Most boats carry enough water to get by for a few days – especially by conserving water more than normal.  You can always do it the old fashioned way and fill up with water at a nearby marina.

If you have a watermaker, you should be familiar with what could go wrong … with spares on hand so that you can fix it yourself.

Out of Propane?

Most cruisers have a spare propane bottle aboard.  Of course, it’s only useful if it’s full.

Or you can use your grill if it has a separate camping propane canister – the exact reason our boat is rigged with the grill separate from the stove’s propane system. Aboard Winterlude, a tiny microwave functions primarily as a bread box, but in an emergency, we could fire up the inverter, and have dinner.

Also consider what happens if something fails in the propane system  – like the solenoid.  Luckily when our propane solenoid failed, we were finishing our six month cruise and back at the marina.  Now we carry a spare, just in case.

Diesel Sputters or Dies?

Check the filters and strainer first.  Be sure to carry a complete selection of replacement filters, the more the better, never take just one.

Beyond clogged filters, know your diesel. Carry spare parts for the most common failings – we’ve replaced a salt water pump, two alternators, a SmartRegulator and many other “marinized” parts with the assistance of other cruisers and Nigel Calder.

Since our diesel is a 1985 Nanni Kubota 4 cyl 30 hp, not a common engine, we asked our diesel mechanic to recommend a spare parts inventory which has come in handy.

Navigation Equipment/Electronics/Communications

… carry backups or spares for all critical navigation equipment – GPS, laptops, chartplotter etc.  We have paper charts and know how to use them. With 4 GPS’s, one should work at any given time. We also have a sextant, but have never had to use it except for fun.

SSB and VHF provide our primary communications, morning nets, boat to boat contact as well as weather charts, NOAA text forecasts and Chris Parker weather. We  carry an Iridium satellite phone as  backup for weather or e-mail, but have never had to use it except for calls home in an emergency. With two handheld VHF’s and one built in, we’ve always been able to talk to other boats.

Someone gets sick?

Bummer!  But if you’ve planned ahead, it might not mean abandoning the cruise.

My husband, David, has an annual bout with bronchitis.  His doctor was happy to provide an “insurance” prescription so we carry antibiotics aboard.  A couple of times we’ve had to use it – once literally the next day after we finally left the Rio Dulce, Guatemala.  But we didn’t have to return to civilization for meds.  If you are susceptible to any routine illnesses, you may be able to save a cruise by talking to your doctor ahead of time.

Of course, there are some systems that the strategy simply won’t work for  – breaking a mast might be an example.  But for everything else, think it through, improvise and enjoy your cruise!

About Jan Irons

Jan Irons and her husband David spent 6 years cruising the Western Caribbean from Isla Mujeres, Mexico to Cartagena, Columbia aboard their Passport 37, Winterlude.  Most recently, they completed a mini-refit of the boat in Southwest Florida and explored the Exumas, returning to the US in May 2012.

Jan and David are commuter cruisers for six months a year – they quickly figured out that returning to their home base in Florida would never allow them to reach the San Blas Islands or the coastal Columbian islands in their allotted time frame.  Sailing over 11,000 miles, six months at a time, they gained experience with leaving the boat in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala, Bocas Del Toro, Panama and Shelter Bay, Panama.

Jan’s website, CommuterCruiser.com focuses on useful tips and free downloadable checklists for everything from leaving the country to leaving the dock.  With over 300 posts, the site also contains useful information for women, such as “My Greatest Cruising Fear” and “7 Things We Wished We Had Known Before Leaving the US to Go Cruising.” You may have seen Jan’s articles in Cruising World, SAIL Magazine, Blue Water Sailing and Latitudes & Attitudes.

Her book, The Boat Galley Cookbook: 800 Everyday Recipes and Essential Tips for Cooking Aboard(written with Carolyn Shearlock) will be published in October 2012 and is available for pre-order now on Amazon.com.

Read also on this website

• Tell us what you would do differently: Ruth Allen
• Boat Maintenance Tip: Download User and Service Manuals, by Kathy Parsons

What suggestions do you have for being prepared?

Let us know.

Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

All cruisers are trying to find the sweet spot of “exactly enough” — exactly enough spares, exactly enough gear, exactly enough provisions, exactly enough planning — but we all know, even as we strive, that our careful attempts at finding “exactly enough” are made in changing conditions based on incomplete knowledge and are bound to miss the mark regularly.

With the knowledge that I am going to make mistakes, I have come to the state of mind where I choose, in advance, which type of mistakes I am going to make. In most scenarios there is one type of mistake that will drive me crazy more than another type of mistake. When I come across a dilemma, in which I would normally be trying to figure out exactly the correct solution, I play out the worst case scenarios.

Which will drive me bananas faster: locating, buying and stowing spare parts for my fridge, or turning it off if it breaks? Will I be more irritated if I run out of food, or if I have too much and some goes to waste? Will I be more angry at the world if I carefully plan out all of the documents I need to clear into a country and find that everything has changed or if I arrive without what I need and have to run around searching for a copy machine?

Choosing your mistakes may sound negative, but I find it freeing. If I chose the mistake of buying too much food because I knew that running out would drive me more crazy, then I feel better about having to throw out some food.

Instead of feeling as if I made an error in buying “exactly enough”, I know I made a conscious choice of the lesser of two evils.

I make the same number of mistakes but I make the kind of mistakes I can live with. Know thyself.

About Livia Gilstrap

Livia found the transition from full time work as a professor to full time work preparing a boat to cruise frighteningly easy but sorely misses having minions.

She and her husband Carol have been cruising for more than 600 days aboard their 35′ Wauquiez Pretorien Estrellita and will be heading into the South Pacific from Mexico in a few weeks. You can read more about that unfolding adventure on their cruising blog (thegiddyupplan.blogspot.com).

Read also on this website

• I am not an Admiral! by Livia Gilstrap
• All posts in “Lessons Learned“

More information (external links)

• The Interview With A Cruiser Project: Livia Gilstrap interviewes dozens of cruisers who are out there on the water.
• Livia’s cruising blog: thegiddyupplan.blogspot.com

What have you learned lately?

Let us know.

Email kathy@forcruisers.com or leave a comment below.

Predeparture worries (cont.)

Handling medical issues

• Jack and Marcia Spiess had owned their 44-foot cutter Tracen J for four years before they set sail. They had been cruising off and on since 1988, but this was their first foray across oceans.

“Handling medical issues, heart attack, fractures, and major injuries. That is what concerned me,” said Marcia. But Marcia and her crew, like all of those with whom we spoke, had not had any serious medical troubles.

None had heard of any other voyagers mentioning problems other than two cases of tropical infections caused by cuts that were not treated properly.

• Marilyn Middleton, who cruises with her husband, Glen, and son, Jaryd, on Tin Soldier, a 50-foot steel boat, said health problems at sea had been her worry, too.

Tin Soldier’s medical supplies were rarely used until they reached Neiafu in the Vava’u Islands of Tonga, where Glen decided to join friends on a racing boat for one of the Friday night races organized by a local restaurant owner.

During the race, the boat gybed and the traveler block, which runs on a track across the middle of the cockpit, hit Glen, throwing him against a winch. A broken nose, blackened eyes, and several stitches were much in evidence as we all discussed how much safer ocean voyaging seems to be than living on shore or racing under sail.

Seasickness

• Linda Levy, with her partner Michael Gilbert, left from Florida on board B’Sheret, a 37-foot Najad sloop they bought at the Annapolis Boat Show. Linda listed seasickness right after nasty weather and pirates as a worry that was now relegated to a more comfortable place in her mind. “I was lucky,” Linda said. “I heard all the horror stories but I never got further than anxiety nausea.”

• Interestingly, when I asked others about seasickness, about 60 percent of the interviewees had found they either felt fine or suffered only for a few hours during the first day or two of a passage. The other 40 percent (me included) had found ways to control or cope with seasickness.

Although we met several people in Apia and Tonga who were planning to end their cruises sooner than planned, not one of them said it was because of seasickness.

Running out of food

Market scene in Western Samoa

• The crew of both Tracen J and Argonaut listed “running out of food” as something they worried about before they set off.

• But when I look over the answers to the next question we asked, “What did you put on board that was not used?” I realize that this was an almost universal concern. Many lists included comments about carrying too much basic food.

Marcia Spiess stated, “I overprovisioned. All of it took up too much needed space and we ended up giving much of it away. We found that basics, such as flour, rice, etc., were usually available, even in the smallest island shops. Same with meats, fruits, and vegetables. Maybe they were not what we were used to, but it was fun to enjoy the local items.”

• On the other hand, two couples wished they had carried more “comfort foods”—things that would be easy to grab for a snack, specialty items to make real at-home-feeling meals, favorite cookies or dried fruits for nibbling on night watches. These definitely are hard to find or very expensive once you sail far from home.

• Linda Levy from B’Sheret said, “Yes, we overprovisioned, but even without a freezer we were able to eat quick meals from a can and have hot soup all the way to New Zealand. That made me happy when the seas were not happy and all I had to do was open a can, throw it in a pot, heat and eat.”

Most favored gear on board

• Eight out of 10 couples listed their windvane self-steering as the “most favored gear on board.”
• The other two listed their autopilots.
• Six listed their watermaker.

When there was any discussion between husband and wife as to whether the self-steering gear or the watermaker was most important, the answer seemed to split clearly along gender lines, with women strongly in favor of the watermaker.

Best memory

The most enjoyable part of each interview was asking, “What is your very best memory so far?” The answers proved to us that even though there are a lot more folks out here than when we set off 42 years ago, cruising is still a grand adventure.

• Tom Collins and Colleen Wilson, who sailed on 8-ton Mokisha, a handsome 1980s-style S&S 38 built by Catalina Yachts (see fig. 18.1), said, “Nothing compared with the awe of being out at sea, far from land, on a starry night.”

• Linda and Steve on Linda repeated this sentiment, adding, “Catching mahimahi! And we loved Penrhyn Island. It was just about a hundred miles off the normal route, yet we were the only cruisers there and we were shown a wonderful time by the island folks.”

• The Middleton family spoke of spending time at one of the isolated atolls of the Tuamotus and staying with a Polynesian family for a week “There were only two families on the atoll, yet there was a church. The three of us made the Sunday congregation 30 percent larger than normal.”

Marilyn and Glenn Middleton with their son Jared wanted to get to know more about the real Tonga. They invited a woman who befriended them at the market place to come out for a Sunday sail. Big Mary arrived with 8 children plus husband. (Marilyn and Jared are wearing the orange T shirts in this photo). This was the beginning of an amazing friendship.

• “The Pacific Arts Festival,” stated Jack and Marcia Spiess, “It was in American Samoa—only happens once every four years and 27 island nations sent their dancers and singers for 10 days of performances.”

•  Several others said, “Beautiful anchorages,” mentioning places as diverse as Hiva Oa in the Marquesas, Niuatoputapu in Tonga, and the eastern side of Bora Bora. “Suwarrow Atoll,” said Michael Gilbert. “It was described as magical by everyone we’ve spoken with and we all believe that the most magic was due to the Cooks Island caretaker and his family who live there.”

The boats they chose to cruise

The boats in which these 10 interviewees chose to cruise ranged from 28 feet in length to 50 feet on deck. All but two had been bought secondhand; two were more than 30 years old. The purchase prices listed ranged from $35,000 to $400,000.

But in spite of their divergent boat choices and budgets, these folks all had one financial reality in common: The cost to upgrade and outfit the boat once they decided to go cruising ran an additional 25 to 35 percent of the purchase price of the boat.

Other advice for those waiting to set sail

What other advice did these cruisers add to their questionnaires for those dreaming of setting off across oceans? Here’s the list:

• Do it sooner rather than later.
• Quit talking and get out here!
• Know your boat, test your gear.
• Buy the best dinghy you can afford.
• Have confidence in your boat.
• Don’t overload your boat or you will feel cramped and uncomfortable.
• Weather will become your life; study and learn about it.
• Once you have prepared thoroughly, relax and enjoy it all.
• Keep a realistic perspective on being out here—far from family, far from easily available materials, equipment, and skilled labor.
• Be mentally prepared for being at sea a long time. “It was better than I thought it would be,” said one cruiser.
• Slow down!
• Learn a few words of the local language. Even saying hello, thank you, and good-bye can open new worlds to you.
• Be wary of the herd mentality. Remember that it’s your dream, your itinerary, and ultimately your decision.
• Get away from other yachties so you experience the local culture.

The last two suggestions are possibly the hardest ones to put into practice. As our three-week stay at the marina in Apia showed us once again, the cruisers you meet “out there” can be a fascinating group of people. Someone will always be coming up with an activity to add to the day’s entertainment—be it a potluck, a diving expedition, a night on the town, or an evening of sharing stories and singing shanties or old favorites. At many cruising crossroads, there are special places where cruisers gather. The Yacht Club restaurant at Vava’u was one. Unfortunately, it can be so easy to spend the majority of your time at places like this, that you have no time left to meet local folks. Over the years, Larry and I have often written, “Go small, go simple, but go now!”To that, we both would like to add: “Do anything necessary to split your shore time 50/50 between getting to know local people and enjoying the company of other cruisers.” No matter how fine your voyaging turns out to be, if you don’t occasionally break away from your newfound cruising friends, you could look back later and find that there was one thing you didn’t worry about that did actually happen. You could come to realize that the only Polynesian people with whom you had contact were customs and immigration officials and vendors at the local marketplace. Larry and I had been to Tonga 23 years previously. At that time we were adopted by a wonderful family. On our return we joined them for the village feast. Though we invited several of our new cruising friends to join us, almost all had made previous commitments among the fleet. They missed some great food, enjoyable people who were ready to welcome them into their lives and homes.

About Lin and Larry Pardey

Lin and Larry have voyaged more than 200,000 miles together on self-built engine-free wooden boats. Their voyages have taken them around the world, both east-about and west-about, including counter-to-the-prevailing-wind passages south of the great southern capes.

Their 11 books and four DVDs include narratives as well as highly useful information on voyaging, storm tactics, boatbuilding, and seamanship.

The Pardey’s have been credited with launching thousands of dreams by inspiring and empowering generations of sailors. Together and separately they have been honored with many awards for their contributions to cruising and sailing. Most recently, in 2010 the Pardey’s were awarded The Cruising Club of America’s prestigious Far Horizons Award.

Currently they have just returned from exploring the waters of New Zealands Hauraki Gulf and will be flying to the US to present seminars and introduce Lin’s newest book – Bull Canyon, A Boatbuilder, a writer and other Wildlife. Monthly newsletters and cruising tips can be found at www.landlpardey.com.

Capable Cruiser

This revised and expanded third edition of The Capable Cruiser includes 10 completely new chapters with such advice as: sixteen ways to encourage your lover (partner) to share your dream; strategies for turning sudden engine failure into a minor incident; choosing safety equipment; repairing rigging at sea. All of the original chapters have been updated to ensure that the information will be helpful for everyone who dreams of cruising—whether now or soon.

The Capable Cruiser is a logical extension of the Pardeys’ Self Sufficient Sailor, with more emphasis on seamanship underway, including careful analysis of extreme anchoring situations and solutions for mitigating them. Underlying each and every chapter is the warmth and encouragement that spurred Herb McCormick, former editor of Cruising World magazine, to label Lin and Larry Pardey “the enablers.”

Read also on this website

• First-time voyagers — What did they worry about that never happened? (Part 1), by Lin Pardey
• Join Lin and Larry Pardey at US West coast seminars as they introduce new book
• Seasickness (Admiral’s Angle column #18): The most asked-about issue of cruising! What are the realities and how can you combat it?

More information (external links)

• Capable Cruiser is available at Lin’s website: www.landlpardey.com and amazon.com