Sailing folk are notorious for making lists. Spares, provisions, waypoints, litres used, litres not used (see "liquor consumption"): It's all grist for the methodical sort of mind associated with sailing. It's also emblematic of the aging mind most typical of the cruising set: There comes a point in life, well before one is truly senile, when in order to remember something new, like the code for the critical filter you have to acquire for that...thing...that needs the critical filter, you have to forget some older, arguably less important factoid.
You just hope it's the name of your Grade Two teacher and not how to tie a rolling hitch to snub off a flaying rode.
Someone who appears to have remembered more than me is Beth A. Leonard, who with her life partner Evans Starzinger, has sailed capably around 100,000 NM in what must be approaching 20 years of ocean sailing. She's done it in two boats, a Shannon 37 called Silk, and an aluminum Van de Stadt 47 called Hawk. Both can be considered "nice boats", but are rather different just as our classic plastic sloop is rather different from our steel pilothouse cutter. The couple have an extensive web presence here, so I'll quit with the biography and make with the book review.
Leonard appears to have used the long passages to make notes about nearly every aspect of passagemaking in smaller (under 50 feet) yachts. She delves into the psychology of the successful cruiser, "successful" here implying an enjoyment of the sometimes frill-free lifestyle in a manner not endangering the self or others. Healthcare, watering and feeding of the crew is also covered in details that might not occur to the more casual sailor, such as "keep your own water bottle filled and drained twice in a day and don't share its germs". Medical issues are discussed (perhaps even some related to bottle-sharing), as is the reality of foreign bureaucracies, i.e. when to bribe, who and why it might be a good idea.
She has some great, rarely seen analyses of the true expense of acquiring, fitting out and cruising on yachts (in my ongoing experience, three different and not closely related cost centres) geared to different levels of equipment, luxury and convenience. This is the part (along with the seamanship tips, which I read like it's the wisdom of the boudoir) I really enjoyed: You can extrapolate the numbers in whatever edition you find (I have the 2nd edition) to whatever national currency and/or state of inflation you are trying to flee, but I found the examples of the "budget", "typical" and "high-end" cruisers' budgets to be close to what I read on the blogs, and close to what my current fitting-out expenses are.
If nothing else, those considering the cruising lifestyle could use Leonard's book to test-drive their economic assumptions, as well as their opinions on the level of seamanship required.
Speaking of which, Leonard and Starzinger are quite happy to avail themselves of the armoury of communications and navigational aids geared for cruisers. Seamanship to them appears to be a combination of prudence and familiarity with a variety of "inputs" in order to make the least hazardous decisions. The book is filled not only with their opinions on what works and what doesn't, but "case studies" and surveys from the wider cruising community on what device, technique or habit paid dividends...and which have not. Caveat sailor, I guess. Were I a windvane maker, for instance, I would hand Leonard a plaque, or maybe a free windvane.
The Voyager's Handbook is rightly praised as a "must-have" on the shelves of many a cruising boat and I have to concur: It's coming along not only as an aide-memoire, but as a compendium of nautical tips and ways to think about living aboard in safety and good humour. You can argue that Leonard and her man may not be the best sailors on the oceans, but you would be hard-pressed to find ones who seem to have thought about all aspects of the undertaking. And thus it makes this list.
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