Escape Under Sail


Book Description

Foreword by Laurel Cooper, author of Sell Up and Sail Selling up and escaping to sea on their own boat is a dream that many think they can never make happen. Escape Under Sail is here to show you that it can be done, and for less money that you might think. This book delves to the very heart of what it takes and shows you exactly how you can go from casual cruiser to long-term liveaboard. Escape Under Sail covers all of the crucial topics, including budget and costs, how to choose a boat, making sure crew are equipped and trained, letting go both practically and psychologically, preparation and provisionioning, education and, most importantly, the challenges and rewards of living at sea. The book pays special attention to making the liveaboard dream come true for those with a limited budget, while providing further options for those with the means and desire to spend more and splurge where they like. Written in the voices of both authors, so you can follow their experiences from each of their perspectives, which are sometimes wildly different, this practical handbook is peppered with personal anecdotes and hard-earned wisdom. Light-hearted but informative, it contains all the questions, answers, lists, figures and diagrams you need to make your liveaboard dreams come true.




Escape Under Sail


Book Description

Foreword by Laurel Cooper, author of Sell Up and Sail Selling up and escaping to sea on their own boat is a dream that many think they can never make happen. Escape Under Sail is here to show you that it can be done, and for less money that you might think. This book delves to the very heart of what it takes and shows you exactly how you can go from casual cruiser to long-term liveaboard. Escape Under Sail covers all of the crucial topics, including budget and costs, how to choose a boat, making sure crew are equipped and trained, letting go both practically and psychologically, preparation and provisionioning, education and, most importantly, the challenges and rewards of living at sea. The book pays special attention to making the liveaboard dream come true for those with a limited budget, while providing further options for those with the means and desire to spend more and splurge where they like. Written in the voices of both authors, so you can follow their experiences from each of their perspectives, which are sometimes wildly different, this practical handbook is peppered with personal anecdotes and hard-earned wisdom. Light-hearted but informative, it contains all the questions, answers, lists, figures and diagrams you need to make your liveaboard dreams come true.




Escape from the Ordinary


Book Description

Retire early, sell everything, buy a boat and sail around the world. What could go wrong? Told with great suspense and sparkling with wry humor, Escape from the Ordinary captures the terrors and pleasures that come with forging ahead against great odds on the adventure of a lifetime.




A Sail of Two Idiots: 100+ Lessons and Laughs from a Non-Sailor Who Quit the Rat Race, Took the Helm, and Sailed to a New Life in the Caribbean


Book Description

“It was the best of dreams, it was the worst of dreams, it was an age of consulting the nautical experts, it was the age of landlubber foolishness, it was the epoch of determination, it was the epoch of despair, it was the season of hurricanes, it was a spring of beachcombing...” If you dream about chucking it all away and sailing toward an island life, read this first Renee and Michael didn’t have any boating experience and when their plans to remedy that fell through the two had to learn everything the hard way. Despite themselves they managed to get from Miami to Grenada, eventually dropping the anchor of their cruising catamaran at the island of their dreams. Determined to save future sailors from themselves, A Sail of Two Idiots includes lessons Renee and Michael learned and shares them with you as examples of what and what not to do. This a how-to guide wrapped in a funny story—kind of like getting your serving of vegetables from a slice of pizza. Read this and make your dream of sailing away a reality. Includes: “What Broke?” sections explores the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of a cruising multihull "Island” section provide assessments of the islands of the Caribbean




All about Cruising


Book Description

If you dream of escaping society's web to live a more fulfilled existence. If you fantasize about sailing warm seas to distant landfalls. If you wish your footprints were the only ones on the beach. If you yearn to dive the coral reefs alive with colorful fish. Then All About Cruising will help you plan your escape. Whether for six months or six years, a well planned small boat cruise can achieve all these goals and more. The author, a veteran cruiser, lays out the steps the reader must take to make the transition to cruising sailor and break free from shore. The book runs the gamut from Anchoring to Weather- and everything in between. Complete, thorough, direct and knowledgeable.




Royal Yachts Under Sail


Book Description

From the time of the Restoration of Charles II, when he returned to England from Breda and was presented with the yacht Mary by the burgomaster of Amsterdam, Royal yachts began to be defined as such in England and built with that special purpose in mind. They were built luxuriously and used for royal visits to the fleet, for diplomacy and for racing and cruising for pleasure. Charles II took more of an interest in the sea than any other English monarch. He built a fleet of royal yachts, fine examples of ship design and decorative art, and he can be said to have been the father of yachting and of royal yachts. His successors were less keen on the sea but traveled to Europe on missions of peace and war; and royal yachts took part in regime change several times. In 1689 Queen Mary was bought over to join her husband William of Orange and complete the ‘Glorious Revolution’. In 1714 George I arrived from Hanover to establish a new dynasty. And in 1814, in a reverse process, King Louis XVIII was taken back to France to restore the monarchy after the defeat of Napoleon. This important new book is the first to describe the building and decoration of the yachts in such detail, using many newly discovered sources; and it is the first to describe their uses and exploits, often taking their royal passengers into controversy or danger. Besides the yachts themselves, it reveals much about the character of the kings, queens and princes involved – the impetuousness of the future William IV for example, or his brother George IV’s surprising love of sailing. It describes the design, accommodation, and sailing of the yachts, as well as their captains and crews. Sailing yachts came to an end when Queen Victoria discovered that steam power was more efficient as well as more comfortable, but they revived in the form of her son Edward’s cutter Britannia, and the Duke of Edinburgh’s Bloodhound and Coweslip. Their legacy can be seen in the widespread sport of yachting today, and in the lavish superyachts of billionaires. This beautifully illustrated book, full of anecdote and containing detailed descriptions of dozens of royal yachts, will fascinate naval historians, ship modelers and, indeed, anyone who sets foot aboard the deck of a modern yacht.




An Embarrassment of Mangoes


Book Description

Under the Tuscan Sun meets the wide-open sea . . . An Embarrassment of Mangoes is a delicious chronicle of leaving the type-A lifestyle behind -- and discovering the seductive secrets of life in the Caribbean. Who hasn’t fantasized about chucking the job, saying goodbye to the rat race, and escaping to some exotic destination in search of sun, sand, and a different way of life? Canadians Ann Vanderhoof and her husband, Steve did just that. In the mid 1990s, they were driven, forty-something professionals who were desperate for a break from their deadline-dominated, career-defined lives. So they quit their jobs, rented out their house, moved onto a 42-foot sailboat called Receta (“recipe,” in Spanish), and set sail for the Caribbean on a two-year voyage of culinary and cultural discovery. In lavish detail that will have you packing your swimsuit and dashing for the airport, Vanderhoof describes the sun-drenched landscapes, enchanting characters and mouthwatering tastes that season their new lifestyle. Come along for the ride and be seduced by Caribbean rhythms as she and Steve sip rum with their island neighbors, hike lush rain forests, pull their supper out of the sea, and adapt to life on “island time.” Exchanging business clothes for bare feet, they drop anchor in 16 countries -- 47 individual islands -- where they explore secluded beaches and shop lively local markets. Along the way, Ann records the delectable dishes they encounter -- from cracked conch in the Bahamas to curried lobster in Grenada, from Dominican papaya salsa to classic West Indian rum punch -- and incorporates these enticing recipes into the text so that readers can participate in the adventure. Almost as good as making the journey itself, An Embarrassment of Mangoes is an intimate account that conjures all the irresistible beauty and bounty from the Bahamas to Trinidad -- and just may compel you to make a rash decision that will land you in paradise.




Time of Wonder


Book Description

Winner of the Caldecott Medal! For fans of Blueberries for Sal, One Morning in Maine, and Make way for Ducklings. "Out on the islands that poke their rocky shores above the waters of Penobscot Bay, you can watch the time of the world go by, from minute to minute, hour to hour, from day to day . . ." So begins this classic story of one summer on a Maine island from the author of One Morning in Maine and Blueberries for Sal. The spell of rain, the gulls and a foggy morning, the excitement of sailing, the quiet of the night, the sudden terror of a hurricane, and, in the end, the peace of the island as the family packs up to leave are shown in poetic language and vibrant, evocative pictures.




The Pearl


Book Description

In the spring of 1848 seventy-six slaves from the nation's capital hid aboard a schooner called the Pearl in an attempt to sail down the Potomac River and up the Chesapeake Bay to freedom in Pennsylvania. When inclement weather forced them to anchor for the night, the fugitive slaves and the ship's crew were captured and returned to Washington. Many of the slaves were sold to the Lower South, and two men sailing the Pearl were tried and sentenced to prison. Recounting this harrowing tale from the preparations for escape through the participants' trial, Josephine Pacheco provides fresh insight into the lives of enslaved blacks in the District of Columbia, putting a human face on the victims of the interstate slave trade, whose lives have been overshadowed by larger historical events. Pacheco also details the Congressional debates about slavery that resulted from this large-scale escape attempt. She contends that although the incident itself and the trials and Congressional disputes that followed were not directly responsible for bringing an end to the slave trade in the nation's capital, they played a pivotal role in publicizing many of the issues surrounding slavery. Eventually, President Millard Fillmore pardoned the operators of the Pearl.




Escape by Sea


Book Description

Beginning in ancient Carthage, this coming-of-age adventure provides fascinating details about what life was like then on the Mediterranean and raises questions about tolerance, morality, and diversity.