Review

This is a fascinating book written by a (famous, as it turns out) long-time dingy sailor. A sailing dinghy is any small sailboat (say, less than 18’) with a centerboard or dagger board rather than a keel. ‘Cruising’ refers to making ocean voyages. Small boat + big ocean = pleasant adventure in the opinion of the author.

The book is full of apparently practical advice about how you, too, can get the most enjoyment from this activity. Unfortunately, the book is also quite repetitive, as if it were written in small pieces, and those pieces later put together in a book.

Possibly the most interesting parts of this book are the little anecdotes she tells at the end of each chapter - anecdotes that often involve massive storms at sea in which either she or her husband barely escape a watery grave. And this is after spending many pages talking about the pleasures of dinghy cruising, waking up to a pleasant cup of tea while snug in an estuary somewhere.

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