Customer Reviews

All About Cruising: Prepare Yourself - Equip Your Boat - Plan Your Escape - Live Your Dream

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Very practical and written in an easy-to-read style. We've done local cruising, but I wasn't sure what I should be concerned about for our upcoming cruise to the Caribbean in '01 or '02. I now know what classes I personally need to attend, that my time at the gym is a good investment in my safety, I don't need to know how to tie every blasted knot known to mankind, windvanes are worth looking at, what goodies to put on my Christmas and birthday list(!),what to bring for sail repair, medicine, etc. Since I'm usually in charge of food for short cruises, Anna Gleckler's notes on preserving cheese, bread, juice and eggs without refrigeration AND making jerky and corning beef were, well, things my mother didn't teach me and I probably wouldn't have thought to ever ask her! I just feel more at ease and I anticipate that in the next year or so that I will be better prepared if I act on the advice in this book. I plan to re-read it every six months or so to make sure I'm working on those things (health, reading, education) to make our trip the best it can be.

If you've just bought a boat and you have this notion to go off cruising, this may be a fun book to feed your mind. But it's awfully basic. Gleckler does take you by the hand and deals with the most fundamental questions. But there's no real "beef" in this volume. You'll need to read a lot more than you'll find in here. And the photographs are just AWFUL. Why is it acceptable to print photographs in a book that are so dark it's impossible to see what's going on?

All About Cruising is a fun and easy way to get answers to questions about cruising and the cruising lifestyle. The book systematically works through the myriad of topics applicable to getting offshore in the fastest and safest manner. It is crammed with information and the graphics, photos, and cartoons make it fun and relaxed. A great way to start a complex and consuming process!

Walt Gleckler's "All About Cruising" is an enjoyable and easy read that broadly covers just about all the important topics for offshore cruising. I particularly liked the appendix that includes a thorough medical kit list as well as a list of what to put in an "abandon ship bag". However, the body of the book reminds me of something a high school English teacher once told me. "If you've got a small number of pages to work with, you can choose to go for depth or breadth, but not both." Walt went for breadth. The book skims over many topics that deserve more in-depth treatment. To the book's credit, it doesn't omit important topics, it instead says (figuratively) "This is important, you can find out about it somewhere else". Another gripe I have about the book is that the pictures are pretty poor in quality. A couple of them are so dark that I can't identify the subject. Nonetheless, this is a good book if you're looking for something to get some info on offshore cruising without having to slog through a lot of detail.

However, if you are looking for detail, an excellent book on the same topic is Bill and Laurel Cooper's "Sell Up and Sail", now in its third edition. But to get the additional depth, they add 100 more pages and a much more dense print font (about 650 words per page instead of 450 on a page without pictures) and far fewer pictures. Bill can get preachy about certain topics, but overall the book is filled with a ton of good info.

The author takes a very practical approach to offshore, blue water cruising in both sail and power boats. In addition to the expected chapters on boat selection and boat preparation and outfitting, there are chapters that address the preparation of the crew and a countdown departure that lays out a typical scenario for the 18 months of activities that need to be addressed to be able to leave.

The author has had 2 successful cruises on 2 different boats in 2 different decades - so he is well versed in the practicalities of cruising - and on doing it on reasonable budgets for the boat and living expenses. His first cruise took him into the South Pacific; his second to the Caribbean and East Coast of the US.

The author's wife and cruising companion contributes inportant insights on many aspects of cruising - and these could be important in balancing the goals and conduct of your cruise by keeping the entire crew happy - and the cruise ongoing and successful.

This book answers many questions that any cruiser(novice or experienced) would have before escaping to the wonderful world of cruising. It simplifies many areas of concern and opens ones mind to others. This book appears to be written "cook book" fashion, making it easy to reference different areas in the book.

In "All About Cruising", Walt Gleckler has compiled a guide that should be on every prospective blue-water cruiser's library shelf. As an editor, and first mate on a similar sailing vessel, I can certifiably attest to Walt and Anna's comprehensive knowledge and-perhaps as important--their ability to present this information in a readable, step-oriented format. In fact, this cruising guide will be of interest not only to "wanabees", but to the "been there, done that" crowd who can share many of the experiences related in the book...Marty Campbell

Walts experience teaching sailing at Orange Coast College has taught him how to write a book on cruising that breaks it down into simple realistic situations you will encounter on your cruise; everything from Anchoring to Zinks with wonderful additions from the gally by his wife Anna. I thought I knew it all until I read his book and found out what I needed to learn. I am now one step closer to that "cast off" party.

This book was an awesome overall introduction to the things that need to be considered.