Things I Wish I'd Known Before I Started Sailing, Expanded and Updated

by John Vigor

Aimed at sailboat owners of all kinds, this reference book contains 200 entries packed with solid practical advice and valuable tips. Each entry is categorized alphabetically and prefaced by an arresting statement, such as "People always lie about how fast their boats are." The reference format offers readers the opportunity to open the book at any page and browse endlessly. Cartoons by SAIL Magazine cartoonist Tom Payne enliven the text. A comprehensive appendix covers some 50 technical topics. Includes a Foreword by Don Casey. "...it is always interesting and very readable." -- Sailing "Filled with practical advice, this book is a winner." -- The Ensign "Vigor, who's written for several boating magazines, has brought his experience and sense of humor to bear on the less than ideal experiences of sailing--and he's even alphabetized them...It's fun to page through and you just might learn a thing or two."-- Soundings: An Interdisciplinary Journal "This book is easy to read. It imparts some very valuable information in a fun package." -- Good Old Boat "This is a great reference book for those just entering the world of sailing, and entertaining." -- Latitudes & Attitudes "Vigor, who's written for several boating magazines, has brought his experience and sense of humor to bear on the less than ideal experiences of sailing--and he's even alphabetized them...It's fun to page through and you just might learn a thing or two." -- Soundings

Genres: Nautical

236 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jeff Garrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I should have read this book ten years ago. Instead, when I started sailing, I picked up a copy of John Rousmaniere, The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, which is very serious and covers a little of everything. Since then I picked up a few other books that deal with sail shape and racing techniques, which I can only take in small chunks at a time (or I can read them and quickly fall asleep). But this book was fun to read. It’s sort of a dictionary to random things about sailing. Each entry, which appear alphabetically (there are approximately 200 of them), covers different topics. By drawing from a variety of entries, one learns incredible things. Like the chance of a boat being hit by lightning is 6 in 1,000 (according to the insurance industry). But you’ll probably not be hurt, but you might if you’re hugging the mast or holding on to a wire shroud. But it’s more likely that lightning will blow out your electronics. However, occasionally it’s been known to blow a hole through the boat in which case you’re really screwed because a 2 inch hole a foot underwater will allow 4000 gallons of water an hour to seep into your boat (and what self-respecting lightning bolt only blows a two inch hole into anything). But 4000 gallons of water an hour is about a 1000 gallons more water than a good bilge pump can remove, so you’ll be playing a losing game. But that doesn’t matter because with your electronics fried, your bilge pump won’t work. This led me to look at his recommendations for life jackets (there’s no entry for what is essentially an important piece of equipment when you have a two inch hole in the hull. There is, however, an entry for life rafts. The author basically says they’re worthless.  Despite this, there’s some good information in this book and it’s conveyed in a humorous manner.

Just in case you wanted to know, there are also some formulas that are obviously provided as a way to make celestial navigation seem easy. To determine how much water will be flooding into a boat, one only has to take the diameter (in inches) times the square root of the height the water must rise to equal the outside water level (or how far below the water level the hole is). By the time you’ve done this calculation, you’re probably no longer breathing air. Another helpful formula predicts the resistance of a given boat to capsizing. All you have to do is to divide your boats displacement (in pounds) by 64, find the cube root of that number. Take the beam (in feet and tenths of a foot) and divided it by the cube root above. If your answer is less than 2 you boat is relatively safe from capsizing. It would be advisable to do these calculations before you sail into a rogue wave, and regardless of your boat’s number on the capsizing scale, you might want to put on your PFD while the wave is still on the horizon. Remember the Poseidon Adventure!

Of course, don’t think this is a technical book. The author also discusses luck and suggest that the most valuable instrument in sailing around the world is a depth finder. And there is ideas for a “boat renaming” ceremony to placate the ocean gods.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing and mildly educational.

[Jim George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great advice for me when I was a rookie, funny, and practical

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of tips; mainly for cruising.

[Tiffany]

The illustrations were priceless.

[Mr. Wakiki · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like books that exist at more than one level. This book is a how to book as well as a simple reference/dictionary.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read couldn't put it down.

Awesome book, would highly recommend to newbies, will definitely reread again for future reference. Wish there were cartoons they were very funny.