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Sailing a Serious Ocean: Sailboats, Storms, Stories and Lessons Learned from 30 Years at Sea Hardcover – October 18, 2013

4.7 out of 5 stars 139 customer reviews

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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press; 1 edition (October 18, 2013)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 007170440X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0071704403
  • Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.6 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (139 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,920 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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By Piaw Na on October 6, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
Sailing a Serious Ocean is John Kretschmer's memoir about 30 years of sailing as a delivery boat captain and off-shore passage instructor. Along the way, Kretschmer tries to teach about not just passage making, but also how to evaluate and buy a boat for such an adventure, what to do when the ocean becomes "serious", and recommends other books for deeper reading about storm tactics and so forth. But the real reason to buy and read this book is the stories, because while Kretschmer's an experienced sailor and probably a good instructor, he's a lousy technical writer.

Every chapter of the book's anchored by one or several anecdotes or stories. These are really exciting and impressive. When you set out specifically to teach off-shore passage making, your intention is to expose your crew mates (and yourself) to heavy weather sailing. The net result is that you're intentionally making poor sailing decisions like leaving port as a storm is starting. While Krestchmer doesn't go out of the way to tell you how harrowing the passage is, the events that happen tell the story. In every case, there's at least one incident which causes a flooded cockpit. In some cases, the hatch into the cabin was left open so the living space gets a deluge of water as well. (Kretschmer provides good reason as to why this was the case, so he's not entirely an incompetent skipper)

In one story, he tells of a daughter whose father is swept off the boat by a massive wave, and she can do nothing but watch as he drowns as she is unable to pull him back aboard. With reasonable humility, Kretschmer observes that he was more lucky than good: the other boat simply was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
This book is an easy and enjoyable read sprinkled with technical details of how to deal at sea for serious weather. While I am not always in agreement with approaches he does consider that every situation can be unique. But he is spot on about techniques.

Also great to know that even the best sailors make mistakes...he describes his...but its the ability and flexibility to systematically address these mistakes that can make the difference. John has a great life to envy and he does a good job reveling in this as well.
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Format: Kindle Edition
This book chronicles John Kretschmer's adventures offering offshore training passages to all levels of recreational sailors. I've had the good fortune to sail with John on five separate adventures. You can't sail with John without becoming his friend. He embraces sailing and being on the water in the same way a virtuoso probably lives just to perform the next sold out concert. He is passionate about sailing the way an artist is completely consumed by her craft. If you like to sail, and you wouldn't be in a boat with Kretschmer if this weren't the case, then you can't help but be drawn in by the force of his personality and his passion for the sea. John is one of a kind. He can write as well as he sails. He's also the only person on earth who can welcome five to seven strangers onto his boat week after week and give each one the feeling that there's nothing he'd rather be doing than going sailing with them.

Kretschmer's uniqueness comes across loud and clear in this wonderful book--part memoir, part advanced sailing guide, part homage to the sheer magnificence of a life lived on the water (and the joy that comes from being able to share this experience with other sailors). This book has stories for everyone, whether you're a sailor or not. Although it's hard to pick out just one favorite section, I enjoyed the chapter on Storm Stories immensely. Each chronicle is both an entertaining nail-biter and a inventory of potentially lifesaving tips for the offshore sailor. It's amazing to see how detailed John's recollection of storm events are that occurred decades ago. Obviously he's preserved his logs from those many voyages and he's able to look back on earlier decisions and actions with the benefit of hindsight (and the wisdom and self-knowledge that comes with experience and age).
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Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
If you enjoy those 'at 30 knots we shortened sail and prepared for a blow' kind of adventures, you're going to love this. Kretschmer is a terrific writer who has done it all and lived to tell the tale. I read the whole thing in one go, on an iPad, in coach and still enjoyed it!
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Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I was hesitant to purchase a book by Kretschmer because I had the wrong impression of him. He has many books, and I though he was more of an author than a sailor. And add to that, a few reviews were from people who sailed with him (i.e. friends). I down loaded the kindle sample on the way to the airport, and after reading the intro I paid for the book book before my flight flight departed. It is a wonderful read. Full of honest useful information and fascinating stories. I can't stop thinking about forereaching. I am going to reread the book just after reading "The Long Way" by Bernard Moitessier( recommended by Kretschmer & I have been putting it off far too long).

It should be clear that this guy sails for a living doing ocean passages. It just happens that he can write a good book about it too. The author does not know me, but a passage on Quetzal is on my bucket list!
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