NEW GEAR
‘That was a mistake. I should have
left well enough alone...’ It’s so
useful to read an experienced
yachtsman’s account of his or her
mistakes. It can save the rest of us
so much time and effort.
Yachtsmen will know Nigel Calder
as the boat systems guru, the sailor
who explained how to bleed our
diesels, balance our electrical
systems and understand vector
charts. But he didn’t spring to these
lofty nautical heights overnight, and Shakedown Cruise
reveals just how much he had to learn when he set off from
New Orleans in 1987 with his wife, Terrie, and one-year-old
Pippin. Their plan was to sail to the Pacifi c aboard their
home-built yacht Nada. They ended up reaching Venezuela
before returning to the US, undaunted, 18 months later.
Shakedown Cruise is Calder’s bare-all tale of learning to
cruise, in which he reveals his introduction to sailing at the
age of 12, his attempt to woo his future wife by sailing her to
Amsterdam and back (and getting their borrowed boat run
down by a freighter in the North Sea), and his complicated
route from a job in a car factory in the UK, via the oilfi elds in
the Gulf of Mexico to becoming a best-selling technical
author and experienced liveaboard cruiser.
Calder’s tale is a paean to an era of simple cruising, before
large, technologically-invested boats became the norm. And
as you will see, he’s an engaging story-teller. Price: £19.44.
Qwww.bloomsbury.comKeep sunglasses afl oat
Spend enough time on the water and you’ll almost inevitably end
up losing a pair of sunglasses. Yacht broker Henry Mackenzie-
Green found himself without eye protection with a week of the
Southampton Boat Show to go and
decided to do something about it.
FG’s are soft styrofoam tubes that
slide on to the arms of any glasses
that help them grip to your head but
also aid fl otation (he is clear not to
guarantee anything – wisely
enough!). The benefi ts over Gill’s
buoyant sunglass neck straps are
perhaps marginal, but neck straps
can be annoying and, although the
Gill product does have a cinch for
gripping the glasses around the
head, FG’s are specifi cally designed
to improve the contact between
glasses and wearer – so when, for
instance, glasses are resting on
your head, the grip is maintained.
Price: £5.99
Qwww.fg1s.comZhik Z-Cru
A new range of lightweight, stylish
jackets from Zhik is designed to keep
the wind off while remaining stretchy
and breathable.
The outer layer features a breathable,
light two-layer laminate fabric with fully
taped seams. The sleeves are lined with
taffeta to make the jacket easier to put
on and take off. The interior features
synthetic fl eece for warmth in some
areas and mesh to improve air
circulation in others, while cuffs are lined
with water-repellent Avlare fabric – a
cross between neoprene and fl eece.
Stowage includes an internal and
external chest pocket with fl eece lined,
zipped hand-warmers for comfort.
Price: from £115.
Qwww.zhik.com
BOOKS
Shakedown Cruise
by NIGEL CALDERSailboat Cowboys,
by Keith Carver
Have you ever wondered if there’s a
way to make a living ‘fl ipping’ boats?
Subtitled ‘the art of buying,
repairing and selling damaged
sailboats’, this 110-page journey
through what the author calls the
American sailboat subculture
suggests that the world of yachts is
ripe for turning a profi t, providing
you work hard and plan in detail.
In the Spring of 2013, after
Hurricane Sandy had decimated
the eastern seaboard of the US in 2012, Carver and his
girlfriend drove from their home in Arizona to New York to
live aboard a Hunter 33, which they succeeded in selling on
for ten times the price they paid. Fifteen boats and fi ve or so
years later, he has written about how the two of them
learned to buy and sell yachts, usually enjoying a good
sailing voyage from the location they did the repairs to the
location they sold the boat.
There are some harsh caricatures of the marina dwellers
and yacht owners he encounters and some equally brutal
comments aimed at the world of marine professionals
(marina managers, boatyard owners and surveyors in
particular), but it’s a rollicking read and food for thought.
Price: $5.78
Qwww.amazon.com