This book is intended as an aid for people who are interested in knowing more about cruising boats. You may have a boat and be preparing for a trip or thinking of buying one. For people who may aspire to live aboard, cruise or cross oceans and want to start researching what the boat needs. Well, this is the place to start. All the details in this book will probably raise as many questions as are answered but questions are good. This book is not technical, (well, not much) and will not talk about repairing an alternator or the like. It will however discuss what you need to know in order to buy and fit one as part of your cruising conversion. Cruising is fun (mostly) and reading about it should be too so I hope you get a laugh every now and then. The author, pictured left (after an altercation with a shaman in Thailand), has lived aboard for over 14 years. He has recently (2014) completed a diploma in marine surveying. www.championmarinesurveyors.com