Advice to the Sealorn

By Herb Payson

352 pp. 43 b&w photos, 3 line drawings. 1997. Hardcover. $35.00
ISBN 1 57409 008 9





In Advice to the Sealorn, author Herb Payson distills over 25 years of sailing experience into a useful and immensely entertaining compendium for all day-sailors, anyone contemplating live-aboard cruising, and any seafarer just looking for a fun and informative read.

Herb, whose cruising exploits were chronicled in Blown Away and You Can't Blow Home Again, has held many boat show seminars, where sailors from all over the country have sought his advice on a just about every sailing topic imaginable. This book addresses those questions and concerns over the course of fifty Q&A chapters with such diverse titles as "Really Getting Started," "What Is It Really Like Out There?" "Different Rigs," "Motor Mechanics," "Cruising with Kids," and "My Wife Doesn't Want to Go."


“…Payson draws on his decades of nautical experience [and] offers sage advice to beginning boaters and old salts alike…” —Soundings

“…filled with hundreds of answers to questions we've all wanted to ask, and it's funny!… —Latitudes & Attitudes

“…covers a broad range of cruising topics in an informative and entertaining manner. Whether planning to extend your cruises or live aboard, this is good reading.” —Cruising World

“…wit, wisdom and a lot of good, solid information.” —Latitude 38

“…will make good reading on long winter nights and is certainly a volume readers will happily pass on to a friend.” —Journal of the American Sailing Association

“Unlike most authors of boating books, Herb Payson doesn't pretend to know it all (ergo, he's believable). If you always thought that in order to go cruising you had to be capable of stripping an alternator and reassembling it in 17 minutes, Herb says it ain't so. Bless him. What he says you do need are a sense of humor, and an appreciation for the value of a life not wasted–your life! Fire your therapist, buy this book, and go cruising with the money you save.” —Daniel Spurr, Practical Sailor

“No other writer can capture the cruising life – the dreams and reality, the heartaches, the humor, and even the philosophy – the way Herb does. With his ever-valiant wife, Nancy, Payson has cruised the South Pacific in a wooden ketch, the Caribbean in a fiberglass cutter, and North American lakes in a trailersailer, and in this book, he delivers a lifetime of cruising wisdom. From selecting the right boat to dealing with storms, guns, money, and other uncertainties, Payson will calm your fears as he revs up your cruising dreams.” —Tom Linskey, SAIL
  • See what else the press has to say: Reviews
  • To read a selection from this title, please visit our Excerpts page.

Contents:
  • Everyone was a beginner once
  • Really getting started
  • Destinations
  • What's it really like out there?
  • Building your own boat: A fateful decision?
  • Naming the ark
  • What should I look for in a cruising boat?
  • Above decks
  • Below decks
  • Different rigs
  • Roller furling and other aids
  • Water and fuel
  • Juice
  • Watts to nurture, already?
  • The dinghy
  • Motor mechanics - beyond kicking your engine
  • More handy skills
  • Maintenance - the constant survey
  • Repairs - a pound of cure (or was it curare?)
  • More on cures, or a glitch in time saves nine
  • "So now we're going sailing"
  • Self-steering
  • Anchoring
  • A history of dragging: an open letter to the guilty
  • Where are we, already?
  • Radio
  • Information please!
  • Weather
  • Hurricanes
  • Fear and trembling in Culebra
  • Lessons learned - eyewitness accounts of Hurricane Hugo
  • Storm tactics at sea
  • And we shall have lightning
  • Man overboard
  • Abandon-ship bag
  • Insurance
  • Planning the cruise
  • Charts, cruising guides and books
  • "My wife doesn't want to go"
  • Cruising with kids
  • Cruising with pets
  • Money
  • Earning while 'doing it'
  • Cooking and provisioning
  • The Great Provider
  • Guns aboard?
  • Medicine at sea
  • Problems when visiting foreign ports
  • Recreation aboard and abroad
  • Cruising: then, now, and tomorrow
  • Bibliography
  • Index

About the Author:
From their first seven-year voyage throughout the Central and South Pacific, to their 26,000-mile trailersailer cruise of North America, to their nine years spent cruising the East Coast and the Caribbean from Canada to Brazil, Herb and Nancy Payson have grown from stumbling neophytes to experienced sailors. Herb was a professional musician before retiring (ha!) to cruising. Nancy gave up house, job, and all familiar safety nets to join him as a voyaging partner. They've been regular contributors to SAIL magazine for 24 years and Herb is presently editing the popular SAIL page "Things That Work."

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