Remote Access - Book Review

Below is a list of books I've read and some very brief comments. I've read quite a few books on sailing. Hopefully the comments below will be useful to others. The list is roughly in the order that I read the books. Note that some books have reference sections that in turn refer to other books with more details in specific areas. Among the books with good reference sections are are The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, and The Voyager's Handbook.

I am by no means a subject matter expert on any of the topics covered by the books above. Regardless, impressions of a non-expert reader might be useful to other potential readers.

Basic Information on Choosing a Sailboat

It wasn't until I was about 30 years old that my wife, Tara, and I were invited to go sailing for the day on a 32 foot Catalina that I discovered how enjoyable sailing could be. Tara had always admired sailboats and had taken sailing lessons as a teenager in a Laser. I had owned a sailboard for a number of years and enoyed that, but this was the first time on a sailboat of this size.

When we took an interest in sailing, it was clear that both Tara and I knew very little about sailing and almost nothing about owning a boat. We looked into the cost of a local slip on Candlewood Lake, looked briefly at some adds for used boats, and bought a few books on boats and boat ownership to get some idea what we'd be in for.

Sailing on a Modest Budget

Our first thoughts were to get a very modest trailerable sailboat. We'd take it to Candlewood Lake which was only a few miles away or take it to Long Island Sound, about an hour away, with some better launch sites about an hour and a half to two hours away. We never did this, but in the process of considering that option, we found two very good books to help us understand the tradeoffs.

I enjoyed reading both of the above books. Both are well written and both authors provide interesting and illustrative accounts of their own sailing experiences in addition to many practical hints. If I were to recommend one over the other, I'd have to go with Handbook of Trailer Sailing since more pages are spent providing practical information. Frugal Yatching has some very creative ideas and suggestions for boating on an extremely tight budget.

Sailing Skills

We set some financial goals among which one was buying a sailboat, but the boat was well down on the list. Such things as assuring that we could afford our childrens education, upkeep and improvement on the house (a fixer-upper) and assuring that we would have enough set aside for retirement had higher priority.

There was a long span where we read nothing at all about sailing or boats. Once we had convinced ourselves that we would not be sacrificing our other goals we again considered boat ownership. Feeling somewhat informed and prepared with regard to the purchase and upkeep we turned our attention to learning how to sail the thing. Our other financial goals had been more than met so our interests shifted a bit. We were not as concerned with low budget sailing and were considering starting out with a larger trailerable and later moving to a coastal or even open ocean cruiser.

Most of what was covered in Chapman Piloting, Seamanship & Boat Handling that was applicable to sailing was covered in The Annapolis Book of Seamanship more thouroughly and the the non-motorboat specific genereal boating topics were covered in The Annapolis Book of Seamanship nearly as thouroughly and more consicely. I strongly recommend buying The Annapolis Book of Seamanship first. I personnally dislike the environmentally irresponsible practice of recreational motor boating and so would not recommend Chapmans to anyone unless they had first read the 450 pages of The Annapolis Book of Seamanship and was so thoroughly addicted to reading general boating books as to want to continue for another 600 pages with marginal new information or want an impressively large and well recognized addition to complete the decoration of their bookshelf.

Crusing and Liveaboard Books

Beth Leonard's book is about the lifestyle of the long distance voyager. The rest are about more stationary liveaboards. The Neales stick mainly to the US east coast. Some of the authors in Gently with the Tides live on houseboats that are permanently moored.

Opinions on any given topic vary and topics covered in these books, such as how to outfit a boat, are certainly not exceptions. It is helpful to sample a variety of perspectives. For example, Beth Leonard writes about keeping the boat simple by avoiding energy consuming non-essential gear such as refrigeration. Her argument is that the complexity of the entire electrical system is greatly increased, requiring larger battery banks, more or better charging equipment, and more run time on the diesel. This translates into more time not spent relaxing, but spent maintaining these systems. The difficulty in getting parts in remote locations means time spent waiting for overseas shipments and dealing with foreign customs. Tom Neale wouldn't live without refrigeration citing a different set of reasons for his choice. The Neales mainly sail along the US east coast with occasional trips to the Bahamas or the Carribean and are a family of four rather while Beth and Evans are a couple sailing all over the world. They have both made the right choice in outfitting their boats. Their needs are different.

Of these books, The Voyager's Handbook is my favorite. All in the Same Boat is also an excellent book and provides essential information to any family considering a liveaboard lifestyle. The others would be good to read as well to get a number of additional perspectives, one of which may align better with your own situation.

Lin and Larry Crusing Books

Lin and Larry have been cruising toether for decades, over 30 years. First it was in Serafyn, a 24 footer, then in Talisan, a 30 footer. Both were hand made wooden vessels which Larry had designed and built. Talisan Larry built himself. Lin and Larry are among the great minimalist world sailors.

Most people that read these books will love them. Some people will find the lifestyle so spartan that they will not be interested. You'll either love these books or be disinterested and you'll probably know which it is before reading them. Its a matter of whether this lifestyle interests you, not necessarily whether you want to mimic it, but whether you feel that you can learn from these experiences. There is a huge wealth of firsthand highly practical experience in these books and they are a pleasure to read.

Navigation

Unlike most of this list, this isn't the order that I read these. Navigation skills are essential. Its nice to be able to figure out where you are (this is an intentional gross understatement). Staying off the rocks is a good idea (same comment).

Heavy Weather Sailing

The best tactic is to avoid heavy weather but in the event that you ever encounter such conditions it is better to be informed and prepared. This is a topic I'm interested in reading about but I hope not to have to apply until I am a far more experienced sailor. The more severe conditions described in these books I would prefer not to experience at all, but would rather be prepared if I do.

Both of these books are excellent. The Pardy's book is more concise and it seems that for full keel boats and the smaller cruising boats the Pardy methods may be the best option. According to the Adlard Cole book, the Pardy method may not work for some boats and conditions, particularly for lighter displacement cruiser/racers any light and beamy fin keel boats, or for very large and heavy boats due to the forces involved in laying to a large sea anchor. The best option is to read both books.

Reading the accounts in these two books, including the descriptions of storms and the struggles of crews, not all of whom lived through the experience, should provide a healthy respect for the demands of heavy or extreme weather. This should reinforce any inclination to exercise caution and avoid such situations. Recognizing the imperfect state of weather forcasting, the longer one ventures out, the more like heavy weather will be encountered. Even when coastal cruising it seems that it would be wise to be prepared for at least gale conditions, since these can occur suddenly, if not prepared for storm conditions. Summer coastal cruising in the northeast should give at least days of advanced warning of tropical cyclones, and it would be foolhardy not to stay out of the water as weather that severe makes its way up the coast.

We're hoping to be well prepared for a gale. We hope not to experience anything more severe and are willing to limit our travels until we have the more experience and greater confidence in ourselves and our very small vessel.

Boat Maintenance

Maintenance is the topic of the next batch of books I bought and read. This seemed like a good winter reading topic. So far I've read Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual. and a few books by Don Casey.

What motivated me to read about fiberglass repair and refinishing is simply that I wanted to install a knotlog and depth sounder and would need through hulls for the transducer. Whether I do it or someone else, I want it done right. Reinforcement or stiffenning under the winches and if I install a traveller, under the traveller mounts, might be a good idea. There are a number of things I'ld like to do. Some are listed in my projects pages.

Sail Trim and the Wind

It is one thing to make a sailboat move. It is another to very efficiently harness the wind. We've found ourselves sailing in some challenging wind conditions, and wanting to be able to trim sails more optimally and better trim to sail more comfortably in heavier conditions. The next few books I looked at were related to better understanding sail trim and the behaviour of the wind itself.

I didn't notice at first that the author of both of these books was the same person, Stuart H. Walker. The inside flaps of The Sailor's Wind provides a brief bibiliography. Briefly, Stuart Walker is a reknown racer with over 50 years of racing experience.

These books were both difficult reading. Some readers will find them too difficult to comprehend. The persistent reader may not finish either book fully understanding its contents on first read but will be rewarded. A significant amount of background is assumed in each of these books. The background is not introduced in common terms and built apon as is commonly done in texts to gradually immerse the reader new to the subject. Despite the difficulty in reading them, I feel that I got a lot out of these books and would like to read both of them a second time.

I found both of these books not only informative but applicable. A Manual of Sail Trim provides information that I have already found useful in deciding what modification to make to my boat's sails and sail controls. The Sailor's Wind has given me insights into the behaviour of the winds where I sail (though this exact area was not specifically covered in the book). I look forward to paying closer attention to wind direction and speed and small regular changes in wind direction and speeds over the course of the day in order. Through these observations I expect to gain a better understanding of the factors at play in the typical winds where I sail and become better equipt to predict changes in wind that will occur over the course of the day or days to come.

Cruising New England

Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island are considered to be Southern New England. Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine are Northern New England. Most of our sailing has been in Nantucket Sound. We have ventured a little further south to Vineyard Sound and Block Island Sound, but have not sailed in Buzzards Bay or Narragansett Bay. To reach Cape Cod Bay we would have to sail north over 30 miles past Provincetown and then south into Cape Cod Bay even though Cape Cod Bay is less than 5 miles away by land. Good cruising further to the north is Maine. Further to the south is Long Island Sound which though quite populated has its share of cruising destinations.

From the Connecticut side of Long Island Sound to the north end of Massachusetts Bay is all considered Southern New England. Therefore all of our sailing for some time to come will be in one part or another of Southern New England. Reading up on cruising destination within this likely sailing area seemed like a good idea.

I also have a copy of Maptech Embasy Guides: Atlantic Coast though I haven't read it cover to cover. This covers such a broad area that coverage is patchy at best, but it does provide some insights into other potential areas to sail.

New England Coastal Interest

Cruising The Caribbean

I've only been to the Caribbean twice. Tara and I spent our two week honeymoon on Antigua where we didn't sail except as passengers on a touristy "pirate boat". So maybe that shouldn't count. My son Daniel and I sailed for two weeks in the Virgin Islands as part of a boy scout trip. I skippered one of the three boats. I was part of the planning process on this trip, and read up on the area. A few of the scout leaders had sailed in the Virgin Islands before.

I'm certainly not an expert in the Caribbean having only been there twice, only sailing once. Nor am I well read in Caribbean cruising guides. So please take my impressions of these books as just that. If this helps, great. If not, please excuse my inexperience with sailing in this region. I'll very likely buy one of more cruising guide for any area that I visit in the future and again read it cover to cover before arrival.

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