Overview

Here, from the author of ""Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual"", is a comprehensive and helpful guide to selecting and equipping a cruising sailboat and learning skills to successfully cruise in it. The first half of the book includes an easy-to-use tabular method for evaluating a boat's suitability for cruising; ideas for workable deck and interior layouts and organization; how to choose and configure suitable boat systems for cruising; and how to install gear for trouble-free operation. The book's second half teaches boat handling skills; core navigational expertise; anchoring techniques; weather understanding; heavy weather expertise; and specific skills for long-term and long-distance cruising. This book is, in short, a primer covering the technical and practical side of modern cruising boats, and the skills necessary to safely and enjoyably sail them. As such, it will prove useful to prospective coastal and offshore boat buyers; all those contemplating cruising, whether it be coastal or world-girdling. There are many ideas in this book, refined through years of cruising experience, that should help to improve boats, maximize satisfaction and minimize disappointment. There are also plenty of nuggets of information for the most experienced cruisers. This cruising handbook could only have been written by an author with long cruising experience, a faculty for reducing complexities to simple explanations, and an undying curiosity about what makes things work. This is the book the cruising community has long been waiting for.

Full Product Details

Author:   Nigel Calder
Publisher:   McGraw-Hill Education - Europe
Imprint:   TAB Books Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 21.30cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 27.90cm
Weight:   1.683kg
ISBN:  

9780071350990

ISBN 10:   0071350993
Pages:   608
Publication Date:   16 June 2001
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Replaced By:   0071849556
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   Out of stock  

Table of Contents

Front Matter Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Part One: The Boat Chapter 1. A Boat for Cruising Basic Design Parameters Length-Beam Ratio; Keel Types; Displacement Calculations; Ballast Ratio; Displacement-Length Ratio; Overhangs; Waterplanes and Immersion; Comfort Factor; Sail Area-Displacement Ratio; Stability Curves and Ratio; Capsize Screening Value and STIX Number; Maintaining Control; Speed-Length Ratio; Buttocks, Diagonals, and Aft Sections; Speed versus Comfort Getting Down to Details Construction Materials; Cored Hulls and Decks; Hull-to-Deck Joints; Structural Reinforcements; Keels; Rudders and Skegs; Skegs and Propellers; Bilge Water and Tankage Conclusion Chapter 2. On Deck Rigs and Rigging Rig Options; Masts, Spreaders, and Shroud Angles; Holding Up the Mast; Roller-Reefing Foresails; Mainsail; Odds and Ends Cockpits and Deck Layout Center or Aft Cockpit; Basic Parameters and the Comfort Factor; Steering; Dodgers and Biminis; Cockpit Flooding; Deck Design and Layout; Stowage Dealing with Ground Tackle Bow Platform; Deck Layout; Anchor Wells; Chain Locker; Windlasses Addendum: Carbon Fiber Masts Lightning and Other Survival Issues Chapter 3. Cruising Accommodations: Fusing Functionality at Sea with Comfort on the Hook General Considerations Minimizing Motion; Keeping Things in Place; Insulation; Ventilation; Air Conditioning and Heating Specific Spaces Navigation Station; Wet Locker; Galley; Saloon; Forecabins, Quarter Berths, and Aft Cabins; Head Compartment Conclusion Addendum: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Carbon Monoxide Alarms Chapter 4. Electrical Systems A Balanced System Keeping the Load Down; The Supply Side; Supplementary Sources of Power; Defining the Limits; Miscellaneous DC Systems Issues DC to AC Inverters Sizing an Inverter; DC and AC Installations Over-Current Protection and High-Current Circuits What Size Fuse or Circuit Breaker?; High-Current Circuits; Check Your Own Boat Low-Energy Refrigeration Efficiency; Versatility; Insulate, Insulate, Insulate; Enhancing Performance; Effective Refrigeration Low-Energy Lighting Fluorescent Lights; LED Lighting; Halogen Lights AC Systems Safety; Corrosion; Miscellaneous AC Systems Comments Bonding, Zinc Anodes, and Lightning Protection Stray-Current Corrosion and Bonding; Lightning Protection Conclusion Chapter 5. The Rest of the Systems The Engine and Propeller How Big an Engine?; Propeller Sizing; Propeller Matters; Peripheral Systems; Living with an Engine Fuel and Water Tanks Metal Tanks; Plastic Tanks; Freshwater Systems; Watermakers Bilge Pumps Flooding Rates and Pumping Capacities; Improving Performance: Hoses and Check Valves; Improving Performance: Electrical Considerations; Float Switches; Keeping Dry Below Decks Through-Hulls, Seacocks, and Hoses Quality Through-Hulls and Seacocks; Hoses Propane Installations The Problem of Refills When Cruising Making Equipment Choices What Spares to Carry? Chapter 6. Acquisition Strategies Defining Priorities What Size Boat?; To Build or Not to Build; Commissioning Costs Used-Boat Market Refurbishing an Older Sailboat; Old Racing Boats; A Survey; Go Sailing as Soon as Possible! Cruising-Boat Questionnaire and Checklist of Desirable Features Part Two: Cruising Skills Chapter 7. Boat Handling under Power and Sail Maneuvering under Power Close Quarters Maneuvering under Power; Docking (Mooring) Lines; Docking Situations; The Mediterranean Moor; Getting in and out of Slips; Picking up and Leaving a Mooring Sailing Skills A Little Theory (of Sorts!); Going to Windward; Using Telltales; Adjusting Draft; Tacking; Reaching; Running before the Wind; Double Headsails; Spinnakers; Cruising Spinnakers; Weather Helm and Lee Helm; Motor Sailing Tuning a Rig Preparatory Measurements; Static Tuning; Dynamic Tuning at Sea Chapter 8. Piloting, Navigation, and the Rules of the Road Paper Charts Chart Construction; Chart Terminology and Symbols; Chart Corrections; Other Nautical Publications Buoyage Systems and Lighthouses Lateral and Cardinal Marks; Lighthouses; Picking out Navigation Marks Compasses and Plotting Compass Basics; Compass Installation and Adjustment; Transferring Bearings to and from a Chart; Plotting Positions Basic Piloting Dead Reckoning; Estimated Positions, and Set and Drift; Fixes; Plotting Conventions; Tides, Tidal Currents, and Currents; Keeping a Logbook; Expanding the Piloting Repertoire; Complex Situations, Fog, and Coral Electronic Navigation Chart and GPS Datums; Electronic Charting; Radar Navigation Rules of the Road Basic Rules; Sound (and Light) Signals; Navigation Lights In Perspective Addendum: One Person's Ellipsoid Is Another Person's Shipwreck Newton versus the Cassini Family; From Sphere to Ellipsoid; From Ellipsoid to Geoid; A New Age; Nautical Peculiarities; Avoiding Reefs Chapter 9. Anchoring, Running Aground, and Kedging Off Ground Tackle Calculating the Load; Matching the Components; Chain Rodes; Rope Rodes; How Much Rode?; Anchor Choices Anchoring Anchoring Routine; Setting and Retrieving an Anchor under Sail; Setting More than One Anchor; Retrieving (Weighing) an Anchor Running Aground and Kedging Off Running Aground under Sail; Running Aground on a Rising Tide; Running Aground on a Falling Tide; Running Aground in Tideless Waters; Towing and Salvage Chapter 10. The Ditty Bag Modern Ropes A Look at Construction; Caring for Ropes Marlinespike Seamanship Knots; Eye Splices; Seizings and Whippings; Ratlines Sails Materials and Construction; Maintenance and Repairs Dinghies Hard versus Inflatable; Inflatable Options; Getting a Dinghy on and off a Boat; Miscellaneous Dinghy Thoughts Foul-Weather Gear Features; Layering and the Extremities Safety-Related Equipment Life Jackets and Harnesses; Crew Overboard Maneuvers; Fire Extinguishers Chapter 11. Weather Predictions and Heavy-Weather Sailing Basic Theory Adding Wind and Putting a Spin on These Processes; Pressure Changes, Isobars, and Wind Direction; Relative Humidity, Air Masses, Stability, and Instability; Frontal Systems; The Jet Stream and the 500-Millibar Chart; The Big Picture Coastal Cruising: Putting Theory to Use Onshore and Offshore Winds; Thunderstorms; Fog Offshore Cruising: Putting Theory to Use Things to Monitor; Signs of Change; Ocean Currents Extreme Weather Situations Hurricanes and Typhoons; Rapidly Intensifying Lows (Meteorological Bombs); Microbursts Heavy-Weather Sailing Being Prepared; Heaving-To; Lying Ahull; Running Off; Sea Anchors; Dealing with Flooding; Abandoning Ship Conclusion Chapter 12. Extended Cruising and Staying in Touch Logistical Considerations Provisioning; Ensuring Safe Water; Environmental Issues; Finding Crew; Financial Matters and Insurance; Bureaucracy; Children Onboard Staying Healthy Seasickness; Good Health in Tropical Climates; Diarrhea; Childhood Infections and Infestations; Avoiding Mosquito-Borne and Other Transmittable Diseases; Cuts, Scratches, Insect Bites, and Marine Hazards Staying in Touch Big Ship Developments; VHF Radio; Marine SSB and Ham SSB Radio; Inmarsat; Satellite and Cell (Mobile) Phones; E-Mail; Making Decisions; Snail Mail Postscript Bibliography Metric Conversions and Trademarks Index

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Author Information

Niger Calder is the author of Marine Diesel Engines (1987, 1991) and Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual (1989, 1995), the success of which has made him the most sought-after marine how-to writer in the U.S. and U.K. He has published more than 800 magazine articles in SAIL, Cruising World, Ocean Navigator, Yachting World, etc., and lectures on cruising to sell-out crowds. He is also the author of The Cruising Guide to The Northwest Caribbean (IM, 1991) and Cuba: A Cruising Guide (Imray, 1996). He will be testing his newest ideas with his family during a six-month cruise to the Caribbean and South America this winter.

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