Here, from the author of Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual, is a comprehensive and helpful guide to selecting and equipping a cruising sailboat and learning skills to successfully cruise in it. The first half of the book includes an easy-to-use tabular method for evaluating a boat's suitability for cruising; ideas for workable deck and interior layouts and organization; how to choose and configure suitable boat systems for cruising; and how to install gear for trouble-free operation. The book's second half teaches boat handling skills; core navigational expertise; anchoring techniques; weather understanding; heavy weather expertise; and specific skills for long-term and long-distance cruising. This book is, in short, a primer covering the technical and practical side of modern cruising boats, and the skills necessary to safely and enjoyably sail them. As such, it will prove useful to prospective coastal and offshore boat buyers; all those contemplating cruising, whether it be coastal or world-girdling. There are many ideas in this book, refined through years of cruising experience, that should help to improve boats, maximize satisfaction and minimize disappointment. There are also plenty of nuggets of information for the most experienced cruisers. This cruising handbook could only have been written by an author with long cruising experience, a faculty for reducing complexities to simple explanations, and an undying curiosity about what makes things work. This is the book the cruising community has long been waiting for.