Customer Reviews

Ocean Cruising on a Budget

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

 

 

Plenty of general information is presented in a reasonably fluid style, but when it comes to the nitty gritty - like costs, as mentioned by another reviewer, Anne Hammick takes the easy route.

The book is also beginning to date, and some of her admitted personal bias is even less appropriate now than it was when the book was first written.

A capsize phobia is understandable (I suffer vertigo myself) but to dismiss multihulls so casually indicates a partiality that defeats the object of a book with this title. For example, a snide comment about Wharram cats spending time on the beach reveals her ignorance of the prime uses of shallow-draught multis.

If you are already determined to go cruising in the exact same manner as Anne Hammick, this book will reinforce your decisions, but it lacks the balance and depth to be a serious work of reference. Could do better.

Althought this book is interesting it really doesn't cover the subject of budget the way I had hoped. Most of the information in the book has been written before by many others and so I found it to be a little redundant.

This is one of my favorite books, and not because it has 'new information', covers multihulls etc. There's not a lot new about sailing anyway. But the portrait of the sailor seen in Anne - the caution, judgment, prudence; the careful weighing of risks and strategies to abate them; her firmness in instructing you that mechanical MUST be chosen over electronic aids in the dangers of the sea; the constant concern about economizing wisely - these are gifts the sea gives to character, and hers shines through brightly from her lovely, unassuming writing. Very highly recommended, esp. if you haven't been ruined by lots of money.
S. Sittler

Many people who dream about voyaging with their own sailboat lose their dream as they wait to get enough funds together to actually buy a boat and the time to live aboard without an income. This book describes how you can buy and refit an older, seaworthy sailboat, and how to budget your funds while underway. Probably the most important lesson from this book is the basic equipment and skills required as a minimum for offshore travel by sailboat. Anne's book explains the most likely method for a cruiser on a budget to successfully break ties from land: through the purchase of a used, fiberglass monohull sailboat of about 30 feet in length. Her focus is on sailing from the British Isles to the Carribbean, and other parts of the Atlantic. The discussion includes what needs to be done to the typical "classic plastic" sailboat to make it ready for an Atlantic Crossing. After reading this book, you will want to move on to other books which focus on the details of navigation, provisioning, maintenance, etc., but this book will give you an excellent overview and help you build your plan.

A good book if you're planning a cruise. Anne does a good job of laying down some guidelines for future cruisers, and although the dollar figures are a little out of date the information is no less valuable.

I accidentally bought this book when I was actually looking for a book by another famous Anne. Most of the material is from the late 80's, but there are some gems inside that make the purchase worthwhile. As a dreaming rat race escapist it gave me insight to a world that is completely foreign; that of ocean cruising and island hopping in the Caribbean and Bahamas from the perspective of a woman and her sister. Annie explains their experiences and how they came to buy a solid used boat. She delves into what it takes to prepare the boat and the sailors for the coming voyage. Her technical descriptions of various boats and their seaworthiness had me researching some older vessels and thinking that maybe someday I really could afford to take an extended cruise. Many seem to think that her idea of a budget is extravagant, but the more I research the more I find that she is quite accurate. There are always compromises in life, but they should never cost you your life. She and her sister seemed to have found that good balance necessary to safely cruise with peace of mind.