And The Winner Is...

First, I want to thank everyone who entered the first book giveaway.  My wife and I both enjoyed your stories and I'm sure they are inspirational for others contemplating this crazy idea of throwing off the dock lines and sailing away.

I wrote the names from each entry on slips of paper and literally threw them in a hat. After shaking them up, I drew the winner.

Drum roll please....

And the winner of the first giveaway is....

Andy A.

Andy, if you could send me an email (feel free to use the form on the right side of the blog) we can get those books on their way to you.


Don't forget, this is just the first of the giveaways.  There will be one or two more (depending on how fast I can read the remaining books), so watch for future posts when they become available. The next giveaway will include titles like "The Capable Cruiser" from Lin and Larry Pardey.

Thanks again for all that entered and good luck to all who are pursuing their dreams on the water!

Paying It Forward - Book Giveaway #1

Wow, it's been a year and a half since I was so graciously awarded a slew of sailing related books from my friends at The Retirement Project.  Guess I must be reading at a first grade level...or at least speed.  Actually, I think I've just been too busy to find much time to read.  In any case, I've managed to make it part of the way through the collection.  So, in the tradition of cruisers helping cruisers and the book swaps often found at marinas (not to mention our downsizing efforts), it is time to pass those along.

The original book donors, The Retirement Project

So, here is part 1 of what I'm calling The Retirement Project Sailing Book Swap (yes, it is a giveaway).

What You Get

I'll call this the "Basic Boat Info" set, although it is not a strict theme.  The winner of this set will receive the following titles:

• Cruising Catamaran Communique - Kanter - 2007
• The Best Used Boat Notebook - Kretschmer/Sailing Magazine - 2007
• Inspecting The Aging Sailboat - Casey - 2005
• The Essentials of Living Aboard A Boat - Nicholas - 2005
• Do Dolphins Ever Sleep - Bely - 2007
• A Year In Paradise: How We Lived Our Dream - Watterson - 2001
• One or two more surprise titles.

Da Rules

I would like to pass these books along to someone that is starting to prepare or seriously dreaming about going cruising.  So, to toss your name in the hat for this giveaway, tell me your story of why you would like the books.  I think it would be fun for people to hear about those of us following this cruising dream.  You will also need to promise to keep the  "tradition" going and pass the books along when you are done with them.  In a week or so I'll choose from the entries and send out the books.

Here are a few more details:

• I would prefer that you post a comment to this post to enter the contest.  Please include a name but no e-mail addresses (you probably don't want the spam that could be generated by the web crawlers from a public posting of your email address).  If you are uncomfortable with commenting, you can also use the "send me an e-mail" form found on the right side of the blog page (but don't be surprised if I ask you if I can post excerpts from your email on your behalf).
• Entries should be submitted by Wednesday, November 5th.
• I will choose from the entries and post the winner on the blog within a few days of the date above, so give me some name or ID that you would like me to use to identify you.
• I will contact the winner (or if I don't have contact information will ask the winner to email me) so we can arrange for the shipment.
• I will ship the books to U.S. postal addresses for free.  If there are overseas entries, I will need to check on the costs to ship, as it may be cost prohibitive to ship to some overseas addresses.
• The winner must agree to pass the books along to others once they are done with them in the spirit of cruisers helping cruisers.  This can be done via a blog contest like this, donated to a book swap or marina library, etc.  If possible, please provide credit to the original donors of the book, The Retirement Project (a worthwhile blog to put on your reading list if they aren't already there)...and I wouldn't object to a shout out as well.

I'm looking forward to hearing from you.  Good luck!

My Sailing Library Groweth

Wasn't it just the other day when I wrote about starting to sell stuff in preparation for our move onto a sailboat?  Well, one exception to this is that my wife and I are trying to learn all we can about our soon to be new lifestyle.  When possible we've checked out books from the local library (not that you can find a lot of books about cruising or sailing at a library in Colorado...skiing maybe, sailing not so much) and we've slowly started picking up books such as "Inspecting the Aging Sailboat" as we started shopping for a boat.

Well, one of the blogs that I regularly read (the entire sailing list is on the right), "The Retirement Project"  posted that in their cleaning up to get ready to go, they were going to give away a number excellent sailing books, many of which were on my must read list.  Well, in a complete reversal of my recent luck, I actually won the book giveaway.

I'd like to thank Deb and TJ of The Retirement Project for their help in advancing our dream towards reality.

One of the things I've always heard about the cruising community is that they are kind, generous, and willing to help.  I think that this giveaway is a nice example of that mindset.  In that spirit I fully intend to pay this gift forward when we are done with them.  Meanwhile I will soon have an expanded library of sailing books to read.

The Annapolis Book of Seamanship

It's winter, we're in Colorado, and I'm trying to find a buyers agent (thank you to those who suggested it) so we can purchase our first sailboat.  Unfortunately, as is usually the case this time of year, it's been cold and snowing and just not conducive to anything sailing.  Trying to keep something sailing going on in my life while we try to locate a good agent, I stopped by the local library to see if I could at least find a little light reading.  As you might imagine, libraries in a land-locked and rather arid state don't have a lot of titles on sailing, but I did manage to find The Annapolis Book of Seamanship.

I would not consider this book to be "a little light reading" (although the hardcover version might be useful as a self-defense weapon).  It seems to be more of a reference for everything you need to know as a sailor. While I haven't read through it all yet, what I've read thus far seems to provide more detail and theory than the textbooks we used during our sailing classes (so it appeals to my engineering side that loves to know how things work).  I now better understand the sail plan/rig options and the concept of hull speed and am getting a jump on understanding the use of a spinnaker (one sail not covered in any of our classes yet).

While I would prefer to have electronic copies of most books that will be going on the boat (they can be heavy you know), there are some that I think we want in print so we can access them even if we have no power or charged batteries.  I was thinking our class texts would be good candidates for print copies, but maybe this one will take the place of a couple of the other books...if I can find a paperback version.

A Good Book on Cruising in the Caribbean

There has been a book that has been mentioned on several blogs that I follow.  I finally got a chance to read "An Embarrassment of Mangoes: A Caribbean Interlude" by Ann Vanderhoof.

The book chronicles the real-life two-year trip of Ann (a publisher) and her husband as they put their careers on hold and sail from Canada thru the Caribbean and back and how that trip changed their perspective on a great many things.  You are introduced not just to the locales that they visit, but the people they meet along the way and the challenges of making a lifestyle change like this.  At the end of each chapter you are also introduced to some of the local cuisine they encounter in the form of recipes.

It is not the typical travel book and is a very good read for anyone that is considering this sort of lifestyle.