If sailing's a religion, here's the Book of Common Care

Nigel Calder’s Cruising Handbook,
By Nigel Calder,
International Marine/McGraw Hill,
$78.55, 588 pp.
ISBN: 0-07-135099-3


There’s been dozens of “how-to-sail/race/cruise” books over the years, although some of the best, by authors such as Slocum, Chichester and Moitessier, have been more memoir than handbook. Still, few sailors haven’t read the tales from the seasoned sailors who’ve circumnavigated.

Most of us have more modest goals centered around docking and anchoring properly, and maintaining our boats to a standard that will allow us to enjoy them safely and reliably. Many of us may never sail beyond Lake Ontario—which can be quite an efficient teacher in its own right—but that doesn’t mean we can’t benefit from the knowledge of those who sail in saltier waters. Perhaps even having that knowledge at hand will make going offshore, or South, or wherever, more plausible.

That’s where heavy-duty compendiums like Nigel Calder’s Cruising Handbook come in. The very prolific and thankfully competent Calder, besides being an accomplished cruiser around North America (although interestingly, not so muchoffshore) is well known for his cruising guides, sailing articles, and his clearly written manuals on recreational boating systems, particularly his very popular and complementary Boatowner’s Mechanical and Electrical Manual. Calder’s style is clear, concise and knowledgeable, which makes this heavily illustrated latest work a pleasure to read. Even nearing the decade mark since publication, a quick review confirms that it remains an excellent cruising guide.

Still, it’s a crowded field. I recently picked up a second-hand copy of Donald Street’s The Ocean Sailing Yacht, and despite the fact that it’s as old as my boat (1973), there’s a wealth of solid sailing lore in there applicable to the modern sailor. The same can be said even for the late Eric Hiscock’s cruising manuals, even though they are now about 50 years old. Lots of salty wisdom in the older guides, along with tips and tricks you won’t find elsewhere. Of course, there’s very little on radios, electric bilge pumps, autopilots and cockpit-activated windlasses. There’s a great deal on sextants, knots and the new if slightly suspicious wonder fabric, Dacron. I would have to say the only better book I've read that attempted to touch all the cruising bases was Beth A. Leonard's hulking The Voyager's Handbook, which I reviewed below some time ago.

So, Calder has currency still in his favour. He also has a good handle on the tyranny of convenience: Today’s boats, or older boats being renovated to today’s standards, paradoxically require more of the sailor technically than any recreational boat of even 20 years ago. Today’s boats have powerful diesels, computers, electric heads, pumps and windlasses, radar, radios and GPS. At night, they glow like Christmas trees with cabin, navigation and anchor lights, not all sensible low-amp LEDs.. If they get too hot from the propane ovens, they can fetch a beer from the built-in fridge and flick on the air conditioning. It’s a far reach from throwing a cooler into a Tanzer 22 and heading for Kingston in 1978, but it’s the reality for many of today’s cruisers, and Calder’s “systems” approach shows how best to design, install and service the extensive wires, cables and hoses the modern cruiser requires.

It’s this focus on the cruising crew and their needs that distinguishes Calder’s book from equally good, if more generalist, manuals such as John Rousmaniere’s now venerable Annapolis Book of Seamanship. That worthy volume, now in its third or maybe fourth edition, makes, I think, a better primer for the novice sailor than Calder’s book, which takes as one of its starting points that one has actually taken a few trips in a boat and is ready to consider a longer-term commitment to the lifestyle.

Much of Calder’s commentary, for example, consists of his observations on what makes a good coastal and offshore cruiser (hint: he doesn’t think it’s the same boat). In this respect, he’s the opposite of, say, a new yacht salesman. Calder likes simple, robust, and redundant, and he’s partial to fullish keels, skegs, and cutter rigs with hank-on staysails. From a systems point of view, he’s willing to advise on how to wire a boat for all mod cons, but he’s not a fan of wide boats with a lot of beam aft. In this sense, he’s advising for the true cruiser who needs a safe boat for passagemaking, and not the sailor looking for a boat-shaped drinks patio.

Despite its pure utility as a checklist for cruisers, therefore, I found Calder’s book a compelling argument for the attributes to seek in my next boat, the one I’d like to take offshore, South, or wherever. At nearly eighty dollars Canadian, it’s a pricey manual, but there’s enough common sense and current thinking here to make it a solid addition to those heading out, or just thinking about it.