Online Book: Getting Out There Cruising

Are you struggling to get out there cruising? Do there seem to be a million obstacles between you and your dream? We have 10 sure-fire tips that will help you get out there sooner, and have more fun and be safer when you do.

So much of writing on getting out cruising focuses on boats and gear. But, in fact, there is something even more important to think about…you.

The skills required to become a competent skipper of an ocean crossing yacht are not that difficult to learn, but there are a couple of things we must do to attain that goal.

Learning everything we need to go cruising can be overwhelming, but John helps by exposing seven commonly-recommended skills we actually don’t need to master and, better still, sharing simple filters that will help all of us decide what’s not important so we can focus on what is.

Fear, anxiety, call it what you will, most of us have it and going voyaging will trigger those feelings. But fear doesn’t have to spoil your cruise. John shares how he copes with his inner wimp.

Even the most experienced mariners get rusty after a period ashore. Colin shares the process of getting into the voyaging groove.

Thinking of voyaging with children? Aspiring to voyage offshore? Reading this account by experienced wilderness educators about their ten years tackling the same challenges will smooth your way.

Phyllis examines the challenges a woman faces when she goes cruising with a more experienced partner.

Family happiness and crew morale are vital for a successful voyage. During the last three years, while living aboard and sailing 36,000 miles on Sila, a Boréal 47, Molly Barnes and her family have come up with The Three Keys To Cruising Happiness.

The cruising life is full of repetitive tasks. How we think about them needs to be different than the way we are programmed before cruising.

Good anchor rollers are hard to do, but really important. John uses that as a springboard to write about prioritization, the most important skill a cruiser needs to actually get out there.

Many sailing writers claim that both people in a couple should have all the skills required to voyage before setting out, but is that really practical, or even desirable? Phyllis says not, and explains why.

When we think of going cruising it’s often about exotic locations, warm waters, and palm trees, but the process of getting there requires hundreds of good decisions, or at least minimizing the bad ones.

It’s vital that before we head offshore we really think about the watch system we will use. A poor system can be the start of big problems.

It’s all too easy to regard watchkeeping as a hated chore, but these tips will both help to avoid that and make offshore sailors safer and offshore boats less likely to break.

Hard won practical tips from 50 years of standing watches at sea.