Every cruising boat out there has one: at minimum a volume of general seamanship and the manual for the boat’s engine, at maximum [...]]]>

For the aspiring Admiral – that is the cruising woman who wants to be as informed and involved as possible in her cruising experience – the onboard reference shelf is an ideal resource.

Every cruising boat out there has one: at minimum a volume of general seamanship and the manual for the boat’s engine, at maximum a mini library.

The ability to reach for a relevant reference to answer a particular question at hand is helpful, but there’s no reason we can’t, at our leisure, read the whole book to expand our overall knowledge base.

How important do these references become? Marcie of Nine of Cups, who sailed this year from Chile to New Zealand, puts it well. “When we started our cruising life, we had precious little experience. We did, however, have a number of very experienced “friends” to rely on.

These good friends – the Dashews, Pardeys, Calders and Cornells, to mention a few – helped us out of more than a few ticklish situations. In reality we’ve never met them, but we’ve read their books cover to cover and hardly a day goes by we don’t refer to at least one of them!”

Based on input from my Admirals, here’s how a typical cruiser’s library today sorts itself out. In some categories, you may just have one title; in others you may have dozens!

General seamanship

The most popular general seamanship books among the Admirals are either Chapman Piloting & Seamanship or The Annapolis Book of Seamanship. These big books give you the fundamentals – from the correct terminology of the parts of the boat to the basics of boat handling and sail trim, navigation, understanding weather, handling lines and sails, engine mechanics, and even overviews of today’s modern equipment. Frequently used as texts in boating education, these books are perfect for filling in the blanks. Also, be sure you have a copy of the International Rules of the Road.

Voyaging handbooks

Several of the big names in cruising have produced voyaging handbooks that many of the Admirals rely on. The crews of Nine of Cups and Ursa Minor recommend Nigel Calder’s Cruising Handbook. “It’s a great reference book covering everything from selecting the right boat to detailed descriptions of most of the systems aboard a modern cruising boat.”

Marcie also recommends Steve and Linda Dashew’s Offshore Cruising Encyclopedia, “a compendium of information on boats and how to live aboard.” Jane of Lionheart relied on Beth Leonard’s The Voyager’s Handbook. “For the newbie I was, it gave a good base to build my own reference material and to think about all the things I needed to prepare myself for, like my home canning. Well worth it, and fun, too!”

Guides to weather analysis

Weather is a tricky category because, of course, it depends on where you cruise. Basics are introduced in general seamanship books, but, for more details, recommendations are Weather Predicting Simplified by Michael Carr or Meteorology Today by C. Donald Ahrens. Crossing into the South Pacific? It’s worth ordering a copy of New Zealand weatherman Bob McDavitt’s Mariners Met Pack before you set out.

Storm management

The classic book for storm management is Adlard Coles’ Heavy Weather Sailing. Largely based on the experiences of high latitude ocean, this was one of the most discomfiting books I ever read!

Much more reassuring and relevant for today’s typical cruiser is Lin and Larry Pardey’s Storm Tactics Handbook.

Maintenance references for the boat

For boat maintenance the one most revered bible is Nigel Calder’s Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual. Nearly every Admiral listed it. Calder has a knack for explaining things coupled with a rigorously thorough mind. His stand-alone books on refrigeration and diesel engines are very accessible as well.

For the rig, Marcie recommends Sail and Rig Tuning by Ivar Dedekam as “a short and concise book that does exactly what it says.”

Equipment manuals

Of course, the most important materials for your boat’s maintenance will be a well-organized, accessible collection of manuals for every piece of equipment onboard. We kept ours in notebooks by category with pocket pages to hold smaller manuals. For some equipment (e.g. engines, outboard motors) you may want to purchase detailed shop manuals.

Catalogs for ordering parts

Right next to all the manuals, most cruisers also carry catalogues from the major marine suppliers, including a Sailrite catalogue for sail and canvas supplies. It greatly simplifies the ordering of parts to be shipped in.

Marlinspike seamanship

You can get the basics of everyday marlinspike seamanship from general seamanship books, but books specializing in all the knots, splices, hitches and rope work we sailors use as well as the energy-saving mysteries of blocks and tackles are very handy to have. Marcie’s thorough list includes Ashley Book of Knots by Clifford Ashley, The Marlinspike Sailor by Hervey Garret Smith, and The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice by Brion Toss. You might even turn decorative ropework into a hobby!

Guide books

Guidebooks of several types help us plan our trips. Jimmy Cornell’s World Cruising Routes and World Cruising Handbook are where most planning starts. Next are wide-area overviews such as Pacific Crossing Guide. Detail you won’t want to be without comes in individual island cruising guides. Some areas like the Virgin Islands will have more than one, each with a different angle. If you stay long enough you might want them all! For land touring most of the Admirals choose Lonely Planet guides, which Kathy of Hale Kai says you can download from the Internet by chapter. In addition to travel info, LP Guides distill a lot of history for every stop,and list recommended reading in local history and literature.

Nature guides for reef fish, birds, marine animals, shells, trees, flowers, the night sky, geology, oceanography!

Because we become so immersed in the natural world, we find ourselves wanting resources to learn more about it. Some references are easy to find as you go, but others are scarce or expensive. If you are snorkeling or diving in the Caribbean, for example, don’t leave without Paul Humann’s Reef Fish, Reef Creature and Reef Coral. He also has books for other ecosystems like Baja, Galapagos and the tropical Pacific.

Fishing guides (not to be confused with fish ID books!)

Today’s cruising fisherman’s bible is Scott and Wendy Bannerot’s The Cruiser’s Handbook of Fishing, best supplemented by plastic fish ID cards (so you can decide quickly if it’s a fish you want to keep!)

Medical references

Mary of Camryka, who spends all her time in remote Panama recommends The Merck Manual and Where There Is No Doctor. Marcie adds The Onboard Medical Guide by Paul Gill, MD.

General references

A current atlas and a flag ID book satisfy a lot of curiosity about unfamiliar ensigns, Hoyle’s Rules of Games satisfies a lot of disputes, and an English dictionary is essential for Scrabble players! I personally like to have an encyclopedia, but it’s the one reference I opt for digital.

Which raises the big question as the waterline sinks: must these be virtual books or will digital do? Until the Internet beams to every anchorage from the sky, I don’t think we cruisers will want to be without our references onboard.

Cruisers are adapting, and, as use of the Kindle expands among cruisers, waterlines may rise. But consider that many of the above are references you’ll either want to check quickly and repeatedly or peruse slowly in the cockpit. I’m a book person, so my prejudice is clear. But the minds of upcoming generations may work differently.

(For a complete list of Admiral recommended references (including cookbooks!) as well as a comprehensive list of online resources, please see www.womenandcruising.com)

This article was published in the March 2010 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.

Related articles (on this website)

• My Bookshelf – A Mental Voyage – Part 1 (Admiral’s Angle column #42)
• Bookshelf – Part Two: Cruising Sagas (Admiral’s Angle Column #43)
• A cruising bookworm loves her new Ebook reader (Women and Cruising blog)
• Boat Maintenance Tip: Download User and Service Manuals (Women and Cruising blog)
• Women and Cruising’s Resource List
• Women and Cruising’s Bookstore

Many of the classic accounts that stimulate us [...]]]> It is the most recurring debate of modern cruising:  Do we keep the boat as simple as possible or do we load it up with all the equipment and systems advertised to make our cruising lives safer and more comfortable?  Everyone you meet will have a different opinion!

Many of the classic accounts that stimulate us to go cruising are told by people who went with the most basic of systems.  They went young, they had their adventure, and they lived to tell us about it.  There is romance to their stories, as there often is to tales of roughing it, and they prove quite categorically that it can be done.  Almost every cruiser I have ever met would insist that it is better to go small and simple than to not go at all.

It is good to remember how little is really necessary: a boat with sails for going and an anchor for stopping, running lights to be legal and enough battery power (or kerosene) to keep them operational.  You need good charts and the navigation skills and tools to use them, plus some means of getting a fix.  For creature comforts what more do you really need than water containers, a mattress, a bucket, and a can opener?

But, although there are some holdouts for that kind of fundamentalist sailing (I know several people sailing the Pacific with little more), I find it telling that even the authors of those classic accounts, when they go again, upgrade systems and even boats as maturing budgets allow. Camping out, which is essentially what such rustic sailing would be to many of us, can be fun, but it is not how most of us want to live long term.  Remember, one of the great charms of real cruising is “seeing the world from the comfort of your own home.”

There is nothing dishonorable about being comfortable. When you get out there you will see that most cruisers sail with such basic upgrades as pressurized water, plumbed heads and showers, 12v lighting and fans, plus refrigeration and propane-based cooking.   Most also use computers, radios and modems for getting email and weather forecasts; GPS with some sort of electronic navigation – either chart-plotter or PC-based (or both!), as well as autopilots and radar.  Most have watermakers as well as inverters that convert 12 or 24 volt power to 120 or 240 volt, allowing them use onboard of regular household equipment like blenders, microwaves or vacuum cleaners.

These systems make daily life easier and safer, but they do require more power.  Making more power on board introduces another layer of systems, the most common approach being a bigger battery bank charged by a high-output alternator from the main engine, a generator (either DC or AC; inboard diesel or portable gas), a wind generator or solar panels.  Many cruisers opt for combinations thereof, because they do not want to be completely dependent on just one way to power important equipment.  All require power management systems and battery chargers, and when you add in 120v or 240v circuits you obviously add yet another level of complexity.

Furthermore, as we increasingly rely on these extra systems and as we sail farther afield, the more we are likely to want redundancies in place in case of failure — redundancies like complete back-up systems, a good inventory of spare parts and rebuild kits, an alternative way to make power.  It is a very satisfying feeling to resolve problems in remote locations without having to come into port or wait for slow overseas shipments, yet carrying a full load of spares can add huge cost to the cruising bottom line not to mention weight to the waterline. Plus, every time we go to a big shiny chandlery, a boat show, or “The Jones’” boat next door, we are liable see something we can convince ourselves we need, particularly as technology leaps ever forward.

Here’s the rub: At each increase in onboard complexity there occurs an increased commitment to maintenance, both preventative and repair.  At the very least, for the mechanically and electrically-gifted, maintenance takes time away from more pleasurable pursuits.  If maintenance skills don’t come so naturally, breakdowns can turn the onboard atmosphere tense as the frustrated mechanic cusses up a blue storm. At its worst, many cruisers (particularly men) become depressed by the tyranny of maintaining everything –of worrying over what will go wrong next, of having a project list that never gets shorter, of being afraid of getting caught somewhere he can’t get help or parts, or of getting into a situation he can’t manage.  When things are breaking all the time, partners may lose confidence in the boat and feel out of control, not to mention resent the time and expenditures ongoing repairs can take. The burden of maintenance is a common reason cruising plans get derailed.

Can we escape this spiral of ever-increasing complexity?  The first step is to be as far-sighted as possible when equipping your boat.  Try to have an overall plan of what kind of equipment you would like to have aboard, scale it to the kind of cruising you actually foresee yourselves doing and where you plan to go, and figure out how you can most efficiently power everything.  Educate yourself in the “costs” of each system not only in upfront dollars, but in space, amps, integration with other equipment, ease of operation (for captain and crew), accessibility, maintenance, availability of service where you will be cruising, spare parts you will need to carry, and your ability (and willingness) to do the maintenance required.  Consider how you will get along if a particular piece of equipment should fail. Make choices that will give you the most for your investment as it fits your cruising style and budget.

The next step is to not get bogged down in making the boat perfect. There are so many cruisers who have taken years to leave the dock…and some who never do.  There is always one more thing they have to have before they go.  Others are sure they can save a few dollars or a few amps by designing and building various pieces of equipment themselves, but often the result is a system that not only delays departure by months or years, but in the end can only be operated or repaired by the person who built it (usually NOT the Admiral!) In the end, you can’t really know what you need (or don’t need) until you get out there!   Plenty of North American cruisers finish their fitting-out in ports like Trinidad or Ensenada or even back in the US after a trial season.

What it is all about is striking a balance between comfort, expense, convenience and frustration, a balance point that will be different for each boat and crew.  It’s often the case that older cruising couples have more complex boats simply because they have more money to spend, while younger cruisers have simpler ones because they aren’t as well-to-do. Do the younger folks have less fun?   Young or old, choose and build equipment systems carefully so you can manage their operation and maintenance, and avoid being seduced by stuff you don’t truly need or that doesn’t fit into your personal equation.  Be wary of equipment whose failure can bring you to a standstill, and plan for an inventory of crucial spares.  The cruisers’ goal is to spend as little time as possible at the dock or on repairs.  Happiness is being able to continue cruising even when the gizmos let you down.

Contributing Admirals:  Judy Knape,  Ursa Minor; Jane Lothrop, Cormorant; Yvonne Katchor, Australia 31; Ellen Sanpere, Cayenne III;  Kathy Parsons, Hale Kai;  Mary Verlaque, I Wanda;  Laura Bond, Bolero;  Sandy Bullard, Columbine; and others.

This article was published in the February 2009 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.

Not every woman comes with a man attached to her hip.  For some this is a good situation and for others not so good, but for women wanting to go cruising, it could be seen as a handicap.  Certainly the majority of the cruising community is comprised of couples, but it is often surprising to [...]]]>

Not every woman comes with a man attached to her hip.  For some this is a good situation and for others not so good, but for women wanting to go cruising, it could be seen as a handicap.  Certainly the majority of the cruising community is comprised of couples, but it is often surprising to discover that couples you take to be married, not only are not, but may in fact be in arrangements of ease and convenience that have been in place no more than a week, month, or season.  By no means does cruising present a closed door for unattached women.

But first and foremost you must be ready to go.  You need to face all the major connections in your life and see which ones can be cut and which ones can be put on ice for awhile.  Major stumbling blocks to the dream usually are job, family, real estate and relationships.  These are entanglements you need to see yourself clear of before putting yourself out there.

The ideal scenario, of course, is to meet a (nice) guy with a (nice) boat.  In this day and age people are quick to think of internet matchmaking and personal ads.  Perhaps it may work for some, but before she met Dave, Sherry, who was very keen to get back into the cruising lifestyle, tried the internet only to waste a lot of time with guys who weren’t ever going to go.  Before she met Tony, Ellen answered an ad in Boat US – “Popeye looking for Olive Oyl,”– behind which was a guy with a Tayana 37 and a plan to sail to Spain.  Psyched, Ellen commuted on weekends to sail with him and started trying to figure out how to quit her job…. until an old girlfriend of his resurfaced and Ellen was out.  On the other hand, we have known men who’ve placed ads for a cruising companion – essentially a mail-order partner, and we run across them still cruising happily years later.  So it can work.

However, it is far more effective to be in situ, that is, physically be in locations where cruisers congregate, get involved in related activities, and let things develop naturally.  “Thirty years ago I had a dream of sailing around the world,” says Judy, who was then a lawyer with the IRS, “but my only sailing experience was on small boats on lakes in Michigan.   I knew I needed experience on bigger boats on the ocean, so when I couldn’t get the dream out of my head, I took a leave of absence, hopped a plane to the Virgin Islands, and, soon found a job on a charter boat.   If you’re a decent cook, it’s fairly easy to find work, and if you’re not, there are boats with larger crews that need stewardesses or deckhands.  I really enjoyed working on charter yachts. Sure, I met some pretty weird characters and suffered through a few less-than-ideal jobs, but I also found jobs with great teachers who were happy to show me the ropes.”

Much happier sailing than trapped in an office, Judy eventually became a licensed captain, a well-known charter chef, and executive director of the Virgin Island Charteryacht League. “Once you have some experience and are living the life, all sorts of opportunities open up, including finding like-minded potential significant others!”

Sherry met Dave through SSCA friendships, Ellen met Tony after a race from Annapolis to Solomon’s Island, Judy met Bryan when she signed aboard as chef after he’d brought his boat into charter, and, for that matter, I met Don after we sized each other up on the dock.  All four of us met compatible partners by being where sailors congregate, and all of us are since married and out cruising full time.

But do you have to get married to go cruising?  I’ll confess this was something I worried about.  Would officials in other countries care?  Would I stand out as some sort of social pariah?  The answer is NO. No one asks, and no one cares.  Ellen and Tony sailed together for four years before marrying, Judy and Bryan for three, and Don and I for seven!  As in any relationship, when the time is right, the time is right.  As Ellen so nicely puts it, “By then, we knew we were committed to each other as much as if we were married.”  So, I am appalled when I hear of women, particularly first time cruisers, who insist on being married before setting sail with a boyfriend. What if it doesn’t work out?

What you do need is a binding financial arrangement that covers your you-know-what if things don’t work out, especially if you are out of your home country and most especially if you become a financial partner in the boat (in which case, be sure your name is on the vessel’s document).  I recently met Janet who several years ago joined her money and hard work with a guy fitting out a boat to cruise around the world, only to have him tell her, one year into the cruise and in the middle of the Pacific, to get off.  And they’d gotten married at his insistence!  It’s no easy thing to fight for your rights so far from home.

If you’re not ready to make the kind of jump Judy made thirty years ago, there is an alternative.  Crewing.

Most all the major passage-making rallies have provisions for matchmaking extra crewmembers to boats that want them.  Alternatively, there are internet-based crew-finding opportunities.  Neither of these are paid, professional crew situations, but opportunities to be a watch-standing hand on boats making ocean passages.  Arrangements are different in every case, but usually you are expected to pitch in for food expenses and of course you are responsible for you own airfare to and from the rendezvous point.

Recently I met Ruth, a 26-year old woman from Oxford, England who flew into Fiji to crew on a Hallberg Rassey 49 headed on a fast track to Indonesia, the Red Sea and Europe, an ideal-sounding slot she found through www.findacrew.net.  Unfortunately, the boat had unanticipated problems coming out of cyclone-season storage, and, after a month of twiddling her thumbs waiting to go, Ruth eventually flew back to New Zealand.  However, there she hooked up quickly with another boat passaging north to Fiji with two other hitchhiking crew (including the above-mentioned Janet who refuses to be daunted in making a circumnavigation, even if it has to be piecemeal!) and then in Fiji quickly found another boat sailing on to Australia.  Again, the unequivocal advantage of being in place.

Ruth’s experience is a perfect example of the plusses and minuses of crewing for unattached women.  For relatively little investment and a lot of flexibility, you get the adventure of long-distance sailing, the chance to learn a great deal about ocean sailing, and the luxury of experiencing a variety of different boats.  On the other hand, just as Judy observed, you may have to put up with some weird characters and suffer through a few less than ideal situations, something single women do need to be cautious about.

The biggest negative about being temporary crew is that you are often required to sign off the boat upon arrival and so miss out on the fun, island-hopping part of cruising.  You also miss out on the particularly special aspect of traveling the world in your own home.  For this reason, some single women take the big step of sailing the world on boats of their own.  Stay tuned for Part Two.

Contributing Admirals:  Judy Knape, Ursa Minor; Ellen Sanpere, Cayenne III;  Sherry McCampbell, Soggy Paws; Ruth Williams and Janet Garnier, crew at large; among others!

This article was published in the October 2008 issue of Latitudes and Attitudes.

Related articles (on this website)

• Single Women Sailing – Part 2 (Admiral’s Angle column #28)