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Cruising (with) Class
by Stan Zimmerman
229 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #01-0055; ISBN 1-55212-654-4; US$22.00, C$28.00, EUR18.20, £12.70
Cruising (with) Class is written in lecture format to help beginning sailors learn the skills necessary to successfully cruise in a small sailboat.
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about the book reviews about the author table of contents and sample excerpts catalogue info
About the Book
Many beginning sailors soon yearn for a larger boat - with a galley, head and berths - so they can extend their time on the water and range of action. However, the simple mechanics of sailing do not include the variety of arts necessary to cruise successfully.
Cruising (with) Class began as a series of lectures at the Sarasota (Florida) Sailing Squadron with the intention of teaching basic skills to beginning cruisers. Comfort on the water is not a matter of soft cushions. It comes from confidence in the ability to voyage safely.
Reading the weather, planting the anchor, calculating the tides, navigating a coast, avoiding fatigue, choosing equipment, coping with storms, reacting to disasters, these are the arts of a cruiser.
Although the book calls on the author's 25 years of cruising small sailboats, it is not a travelogue. Instead, it is a precise iteration of lessons learned the hard way, and presented in sailor-to-sailor fashion so others can avoid disaster and find comfort bred in confidence on the water.
Reviews
Reprinted with permission from Southwinds, August 2001:
Take a Reading, Book review for sailors & their friends, by Amy Smith LintonIt's rare to find a resource book that covers exactly what anyone wants to learn about any given topic. But even if you don't have plans to begin the cruising life on the western side of Florida, this straightforward set of essays will provide a treasure-trove of knowledge.
Zimmerman has been conducting a "Cruising for Beginners" class for nearly 20 years at the Sarasota Sailing Squadron. As Zimmerman explains, "This book is drawn from the class.... I retain the lecture format because it's the way sailors learn." His opening line evokes that club's cozy, friendly setting:
"Come on in. Take a seat. You might want to come closer to the fire and get away from the door. It's cold outside. We only do this in the winter, because we all should be sailing the rest of the year."
The book's tone is folksy and sensible, and while the author takes the occasional sly poke at hard-core racers ("cowboys") and people who "have more money than sense," his lectures are full of positive encouragement for new sailors to get onto the water and start enjoying the world.
He covers the most pressing of issues for new cruisers: from the big questions of navigation, weather and emergencies, to the smaller (but equally urgent) ones like "How do I work the head?" and what's essential gear for your seabag.
There are full discussions of plotting a course, how to anchor correctly, how to avoid the biting insects so prevalent in our fine corner of the country, and what cooking fuels a cruiser can use. Zimmerman leans to the frugal choices, but with good common sense. If you're going to use an EPIRB, he suggests, get the good one. If you want cold drinks, buy ice rather than putting in an expensive and potentially bothersome refrigeration system. If you need a life raft, why not rent a good one for the trip?
An ideal book for the cruising dreamer (and who isn't one?), Cruising (with) Class offers plenty of daydream material as well as a myriad of practical tips.Recommendation on the half-shell: In all, a thorough, sensible, and comforting reference book for beginning cruisers based on 20 years of teaching a beginning cruising class. Cruising (with) Class mixes caution and encouragement with information that is specific to Florida sailing but which can be applied to any body of water.
Reprinted with permission from Soundings Publications, LLC.
Cruising lessons from the classroom
For anybody learning to cruise in a sailboat, the southwest coast of Florida is probably the most benign area of the world in which to start, says Stan Zimmerman. But the lessons learned while cruising there will serve you well anywhere, Zimmerman teaches in "Cruising (with) Class" (Trafford Publishing, 2001, $20 plus shipping costs). Zimmerman's book is based on his lectures for a beginner's cruising course at the Sarasota (Fla.) Sailing Squadron. He has been teaching the course for about 20 years, he says. Zimmerman maintains a conversational approach to teaching his cruising philosophy: "You don't need fancy gear, expensive electronics or a snazzy boat to go cruising. What you need is curiosity, courage and skill." His lessons stay true to that low-tech philosophy:
Despite the lecture style he gives plenty of hands-on advice, and encourages putting what you learn into practice.
- The first decision you need to make in piloting is, "Where are we going?"
- Never rely on a single aid to navigation.
- When it comes to your sail, remember: "When in doubt, let it out."
