The Voyager's Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to Blue Water Cruising

Deacon: The pages in this book are thin as tracing paper and an off white. I have trouble reading the pages as the printing from the underside shows through. Very disappointed with this purchase. It is not coffee table quality. The content is irrelevant as I will never read this piece of garbage from front to back.

Canada on Nov 13, 2022

Jessica P.: Is just a very good book. Everything you need to know is there, organized and categorized. Good reading and complete info.

Germany on May 16, 2022

jeff jonas: Love the book. Very informative and an easy read. I am new to sailing and I find it very good at explaining items and reasons behind their importance.

When I received the book the paper cover was ripped and I was not happy about that but I am too lazy to go through the hoops to get a new one sent out or whatever they would do if anything. But the hardback is in new condition.

United States on Mar 08, 2021

AJP Brasil: Lots of information, very useful and entertaining.
Some of the data about boats is somehow outdated, but we can adjust it to present situation very easily.
I recommend this book to everyone who is planning to sail away.

Brazil on Nov 05, 2020

Brian Sharwood: Getting prepped for doing a longer sail, and this is the book that everyone recommends. I'm about 75% through it already and I've got a ton of great info I need to get on the journey.

Canada on Sep 04, 2018

Adam G. Riley: I have over three dozen books on sailing, and this book is by far the most useful I own. I can't say enough good things about it. Every page is filled with golden nuggets of knowledge. Don't buy this book to learn how to sail, there are plenty of books out there to teach you the basics of sailing, buy this book if you already know how to sail but have always lacked for having that seasoned experience salt filling in all the tiny gaps of knowledge that can they themselves have learned the hard way. That is what Beth does, The entire volume is filled with tips that will make passage making that much easier. As I prepare for my first Pacific crossing in two months, I find myself repeatedly coming back to this book to guide me on the best practices of passage making. If you ever plan on making a passage, this book will give you back its purchase price a hundred times over just within the first few chapters. Get it, absorb it, and tell others!

United States on Feb 11, 2018

Patrick: This is indeed like the bible of cruising. It covers everything you need to know about long-term voyaging. The author Beth and her husband Evans are two type A personalities with originally a background in consulting. So their experience is very analytical, data based, and relatively impartial. This was perfect for me, and is in stark contrast to many other sailing books where the author writes based on only his personal experiences and biases.

The charts and tables in the book present valuable data, and they surveyed other cruisers to get data on dozens or hundreds of other boats. The middle of the book gets a little slow and covers more commonsense material (like how to pack small spaces efficiently) that I felt I could skim over. But the first 1/3 of the book and last 1/3 are chock full of great reading.

The best chapter in this book for me was "Chapter 3 - A Bluewater-Capable Yacht". They did a good job of putting into perspective the debate on what kind of boat you need to cross oceans, and what features are important. Yet they still managed to be relatively impartial and gathered data from dozens of different cruising boats to help you make your decision.

United States on Jan 01, 2015

Barclay Davenport: I certainly got a lo out of the book as Beth is very thorough. You can tell she has lived through it and wants to help so not everyone else has to go through the same.

I am more of a study and go figure it out. At times her thoroughness seemed a bit much for me so I just skimmed over parts. More than anything it taught me that everyone will have a method that they found to work for them.

It's really nice that she does some comparisons of types of sailors (simplicity, moderation, high life). I found myself more along the lines of the simplicity.

Really worth while if you look to be/live on a sailboat. Otherwise you will feel like you are reading a textbook. Which for me was just fine. I will definitely use it as a reference in the future.

United States on Sep 29, 2014

J. Bird: Before starting this book, my expectations were pretty high... I've liked Beth Leonard's contributions to sailing magazines and also saw the glowing reviews here on Amazon. Despite my high expectations, I'm still very impressed. Like most of the other reviewers, I agree this is a very useful book for anyone considering spending a bunch of time voyaging aboard a sailboat. It's generally oriented toward wanna-be circumnavigators, but still very useful even for "extended coastal cruisers" (like me) of many varying budgets and experience.

It's full of good info (from money issues, to outfitting, to passagemaking, to health issues abroad, and way more) backed up with the author's experience and data from other voyagers. Very complementary to other great cruising boat books, and really should be part of every serious cruiser's library. The information is good for both skipper and crew.

It's in a "detailed handbook" format, where you don't need to read it cover-to-cover in consecutive order to understand it... though that's how I read it. It's also a pretty easy style of writing... it was interesting enough I probably could have read it nonstop had I had a whole lot of time.

United States on Mar 21, 2014

S/V Nordlys: This is the most complete Blue water Cruising "learn from" book I had in my hands. After couple of days reading I realized that I should start making notes in my "emergency notebook" since The Voyager's Handbook is filled with first hand knowledge, tips and how to's. So I started reading from page one again. Just to mention, the reason I purchased the book is that after 12 years of sailing Great Lakes and I am planning a sailing voyage to Atlantic Canada. Thank you Beth and Evans! 5 Stars!

Canada on Nov 13, 2012