For anyone who has considered spending their retirement sailing, this book has plenty of advice. Even at a young age both Sylvia and I wanted to sail the oceans of the world and when that chance came we didn't hesitate. We sold all we owned to enable us to experience different cultures and the beauty of the South Pacific. Along the way we met other cruisers of all age groups and nationalities, so it seems for us the sea has become a great leveller. Our voyage began with optimism for us both and we were aware of the dangers ahead. We started from Tauranga on the east coast of the North Island in the Bay of Plenty and sailed up to the Kerikeri Marina in Bay of Islands, then after careful preparation Sun Chaser and crew left New Zealand bound for the Fijian Islands. Whilst sailing around these colourful islands we encountered things both good and bad. We found corruption and theft but also the abundant wild life that most people only see on TV or read about. We learned a lot and have included many handy hints at the back of the book. Full colour photos throughout.

In this recollection of a life-time of ocean sailing, Mike Gemus describes his sailing roots racing on the Detroit River, the blinding obsession with sailing he acquired, and the several offshore ocean passages - including three Atlantic crossings - that followed. True stories all of them, Mike brings you aboard to see the storms, the ego-eccentric crew mates, the lunatic captains, and the wonderful folks and experiences that came along during these Ocean Passages. Written for the sailor and the non-sailor alike, Ocean Passages compares with the offshore sailing stories written by the great adventurers. Want to go yourself? Mike tells you how to do it, how NOT to do it, and what surprises to expect along the way.

One of the most famous, controversial incidents in America's Cup history took place as the result of a collision at the start of the second race in the 1970 match between Gretel II (Australia) and Intrepid (US). This is the largely untold story by New York Yacht Club race committee chairman Dev Barker, then age 31, of how his committee dealt with the impossible situation, not of their own making, in which they found themselves.

Much of what happened in these pages could have happened last November or just aboout any November. Most of these events happened in November of 1993, which is significant because of the horrific floods that inundated the Nation's heartland that year. However, little did we think about some of those imminent dangers that awaited us that fall when we steered the "Harper's Ferry" sailboat out of its home port into the mammoth Lake Superior for the last time. We were literally and figuratively launching a journey that, to the best of anyone's knowledge, had never been taken before. No one, as far as we knew, ever piloted a 47-foot, deep-draft Gulfstar sailboat all the way from Washburn, Wisconsin to Freeport, Texas. It was the first leg of a water-logged odyssey that would take "We Three: Fred, the Ferry Boat, and Me" some 2,400 miles through three of the Great Lakes and down the nation's Inland Waterways - the Chicago, the Illinois, and the Mississippi rivers - to the Gulf of Mexico. In making this epic voyage, never did we think we would be risking our lives many times during the month-long journey. I, for one, thought it was simply going to be like a walk in the park. It turned out to be more like a walk in a park full of muggers.

Buckrammer's Tales In the Fall of 2003, Catboat Summers, a collection of boating memoirs hit bookseller's shelves. It quickly became a bestseller among nautical books, praised by reviewers and readers alike. This new compilation continues in the same mold ... but with a bit more edge. As in Catboat Summers, the "Tales" in this book are paced so that each can each be read in "one shot." If you favor ghost stories, near disasters, family boating misadventures and/or tales of buried treasure, you will absolutely find something to your liking in Buckrammer's Tales.

This is a true story. A humdinger of an argument lurches Alana into a vision which is beyond her wildest dreams. Seeing a romantic couple drinking champagne on a yacht, canoodling and eating the faces off of each other; the green eyed monster rears its ugly head. Most women buy shoes or clothes to console themselves after a tiff but Alana sees a 70,000 yacht. Does she buy it? Alana tells this true, hilarious at times story, her life, her journey, her mayhem. Do you have a sense of fun, like a giggle, don't take life too seriously? Then read this. When, where, how does it all end?

"Let me tell you a whale of a tale of two old codgers who liked to sail; one was named Jay, the other one Al. Between them they had 150 years of living and over 100 years of sailing." So begins the tale of the "Green Dragon," a true American blue-blooded gaff-rigged schooner on a peregrinate trip from Spruce Head, Maine, to Fells Point Maryland and the Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Race. But this is no ordinary logbook of a summer cruise. Armchair sailors will enjoy the sights and sounds of sailing and where to find the best bread or pizza or lobster along the way. Seasoned sailors will appreciate the local knowledge of unlit markers and blinding shore lights along with the author's weaving in of historical context, precise use of nautical terms, and practical approach to living with and loving old wooden boats.

Clarence Jones is a writer, inventor, tinkerer, photographer, sailor. He was born in the middle of the Great Depression. When something broke, you fixed it. There was no money for a repair man. He learned as a youngster how to design and make things that worked just as well as those in the store that cost a lot. His inventive creativity was a great asset in his careers as an award-winning newspaper and television reporter. One of the biggest challenges was often figuring out how to hide a camera or a recording device that would capture the evidence to prove his target's guilt. So when he became a sailor in mid-life, it was just natural for him to design gadgets that made his boat work better. The impetus for some of his projects would be a magazine article about a new device for sailboats. Within a day or so, Clarence would have a working prototype that would do the same thing. For a tiny fraction of what the new gadget cost. This book is a collection of those projects, many of them first published in sailing magazines. The guidelines for his sailboat projects - and the writing about them - have always been: Simplicity Ease of assembly Minimal cost Lots of pictures Where to get the materials That's what this book is all about.

In this seventh and last book of the Series, Anne and Martin encounter some of the toughest and most dramatic challenges of their entire voyage, while at the same time experiencing exhilarating highs. Feel the sheer terror when they get caught in a giant fish net on the Arabian Sea; sail with them through the pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden into the dreaded Red Sea feared by sailors for its vicious head winds. Explore with them the mysteries of the Arab world with its mosques and minarets, macho men in long, white robes, veiled women in black abayas, camel crossings, crowded souks with exotic herbs and spices, fragrant perfumes and gold, frankincense and myrrh. Tour the desert accompanied by armed guards, experience traditional coffee ceremonies, witness poverty beyond belief and the last slave trading post in the world. Finally, Anne and Martin battle their way to the safety of the Suez Canal and Israel where they cross their own course from four years prior, receiving a hero's welcome and even meet Shimon Peres. Then, the adventurous couple are homeward bound after 9 fabulous years on the 7 seas The books in the Seven Seas Adventures Series are not just any old travelogues for adventurers. Rather, it is a collection of highlights from encounters with "ordinary" people from different cultures and backgrounds who live a life much different from what most of us are used to. Anne and Martin certainly learned that what we take for granted is an elusive dream for others. The books "answer" a multitude of questions posed by travellers in general as well as prospective offshore sailors. At the peak of their careers, Anne Brevig and Martin Vennesland made the decision of their lives: they chose freedom and a highly uncertain future on the high seas instead of secure jobs and the safety and comfort of life ashore. In order to finance their dream, they sold their house and most of their belongings and moved onboard their 40-foot sailboat, "Nor Siglar." She became their one and only home for 15 years. Neither imagined that they were going to spend 9 years on the 7 seas and sail more than 56,000 nautical miles around the world Anne and Martin's bluewater adventure was not about breaking any records. Its main focus was meeting people from different backgrounds and cultures - encounters that take on entirely different dimensions when sailing off the beaten track far away from the traditional tourist routes. Their 9-years on the 7 Seas circumnavigation onboard "Nor Siglar," which is truly a once-in-a-lifetime adventure packed with drama and excitement, has been documented in books and magazine articles and is now available in the "Seven Seas Adventures Series."