There Be No Dragons: How to Cross a Big Ocean in a Small Sailboat [Hardcover]

Reese Palley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 4, 1998

This book is written in the hope that those timid of the deep oceans might have fears allayed and thus be encouraged to set sail across the wine dark seas of the world. Reese Palley, by his own account a sailor of no great skill, has managed to circle the globe, taking fifteen years to do so, without serious happenstance. If he can do it, then the basest amateur, armed with the simplest of information and a small, sturdy boat, should be able to follow in his wake.

Editorial Reviews

Review

...a delightful blend of information and stories, with emphasis on the human aspect of sailing. Witty, irreverent, and inspirational with as much 'why to' as 'how to.' -- Cruising World, May 1997

...funny, raucous, insightful, anarchistic, entertaining, instructional; seamanship with a difference. -- WoodenBoat, May/June 1997

Sailors dream of travels to foreign and intriguing ports, but are afraid to go because of imagined fears. But in fact it is more dangerous to sail alongshore than across an ocean. In this witty, irreverent and challenging book, Palley explains why. -- Sailing Inland & Offshore, May 1997

The title of this book came from Portugese charts of the earliest voyages of discovery on which terra incognita bore the legend "beyond here there be dragons." The author wishes to convince timid sailors that they can go places off shore, where there are no dragons beyond the far horizons. It is designed to address the basic problems, imagined and real, that keep sailors from sea. It creates a realistic framework of skills and attitudes into which any sailor, skilled or unskilled, experienced or tyro, young or ancient, man or woman, may realize the dream of passaging a big ocean in a 30- to 40-foot boat....We dread the unknown only because it is unknown. The hardest thing is getting your mind made up to just go do it. -- The Ensign, May 1998

About the Author

Reese Palley is an alumnus of the New School and the London School of Economics. After a successful career as an art dealer, Palley, in his late fifties, decided to go sailing. He made three transatlantic crossings and a circumnavigation in his 46-foot Ted Brewer designed sailboat, Unlikely VII. He is the author of The Porcelain Art of Edward Marshall Boehm, Unlikely Passages and numerous articles in sailing magazines.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Sheridan House (August 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574090100
• ISBN-13: 978-1574090109
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,275,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A no-nonsens guide to the would-be ocean cruiser, August 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: There Be No Dragons: How to Cross a Big Ocean in a Small Sailboat (Hardcover)

Palley goes right to the bone, stripping all fears and speculations away from the subject of ocean cruising. with small anecdotes and subjects not normally discussed in cruising handbooks, like handicapped crew and sexlife aboard, he removes the "dragon's" that keeps people from long range cruising. You will probably not agree with all his conclusions (I know I didn't), but Palley makes you think in a new way, which always is a healthy thing !

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Witty Sailing Wisdom For Adventurous Cruisers, October 27, 1999

By 

Dr. Kirk ([e-mail]) (Alpena, MI) - See all my reviews

This review is from: There Be No Dragons: How to Cross a Big Ocean in a Small Sailboat (Hardcover)

If you are a "bottom-line" kind of person with a good sense of humor you should really enjoy this book! The book is a concise distillation of Mr. Palley's accumulated wisdom from tens of thousands of miles at sea. I am thankful that he has taken the time to write down his wisdom for all to benefit. It belongs on your shelf as "must read" - it is a small jewell in the crown of your offshore cruising library. It is only the second book in my entire life that I started re-reading immediately after finishing the first time (the only other one was "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis). I have a sneaking suspicion that this liitle gem will wind up being one of my favorite books on sailing - I plan on reading it yearly as long as the good LORD gives me the grace.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For aspiring sailors seeking to launch, July 14, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: There Be No Dragons: How to Cross a Big Ocean in a Small Sailboat (Paperback)

There Be No Dragons: How To Cross A Big Ocean In A Small Sailboat is the story of how Reese Palley (a self-admitted marginally skilled sailor) managed to safely complete a fifteen-year circumnavigation of the globe in a very small sailboat. Among other insightful bits of nautical wisdom, readers (and aspiring sailors seeking to launch out into their own nautical adventuring around the world) will learn that its actually safer to sail out into the ocean than to hug the coast lines; that even a rank amateur having only the sketches information can succeed if his small boat is sturdy, his confidence is strong, and he gives a careful reading to Reese Palley's There Be No Dragons with its combination of easily learned skills, identified necessary equipment, and advice for safe sailing.