Changing Course : A Woman's Guide to Choosing the Cruising Life - Softcover

Cantrell, Debra

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071427899 ISBN 13: 9780071427890

Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2003

Synopsis

"[A] well-researched, gracious and truthful account." --Georgian Bay Today

When her husband proposed living on a boat full-time, Debra Cantrell wondered what other women in her position had done and began a five-year study to find out what choices they had made and how it had all worked out. The result is Changing Course, a guidebook for navigating this odyssey. No matter what the outcome, each woman was strengthened by the experience.

In an era when "downshifting" is common and people are considering the benefits of simplified living, Changing Course is both timely and practical.

About this title

About the Author

Debra Cantrell is an adult educator working with the native peoples of Canada--helping them develop self-government and social institutions. A large part of her job is facilitating workshops; she also trains counselors to deal with social problems such as alcoholism and child abuse. Her husband first started talking about longterm cruising in 1987, and they chartered in the Caribbean in 1987, 1991, and 1993. They bought their boat while on charter in 1993, and have since been easing into the cruising life with two-month cruises whenever possible. They made their first major offshore passage (U.S. Virgins to the Chesapeake) in 1997. Meanwhile, in her doctoral program in Adult Education, Cantrell wrote her dissertation on women embracing the cruising lifestyle. Through the internet and sailing magazines, she met and interviewed 107 women, following some 80 of them over a five-year period of their lives. Cantrell sees a conjunction between her professional work and her interest in cruising women--in both areas she has focused on holistic wellness, health and happiness achieved through challenge and change.HOMETOWN: Collingwood, Ontario

From the Back Cover

"The essential first step for all couples planning to sail away; this is a must-read."--Paul and Sheryl Shard, authors of Sail Away!

"Changing Course is the first book that honestly evaluates the transition to life afloat."--Beth Leonard, author of The Voyager's Handbook

Debra Ann Cantrell faced a dilemma when her husband proposed living and cruising on a boat. She would lose a career she loved and, she feared, everything by which she'd defined herself. She wondered how others had made the decision to go cruising and how their choice affected their lives. Her search for answers led her to more than a hundred women, over a five-year period, whose partners had proposed the cruising life. Changing Course chronicles the odyssey of making a major lifestyle change from land to sea. This thought-provoking and highly personal book explores what women stand to gain when they set forth on such a journey--and what they stand to lose if they do not.

"Excellent preparation."--48 Degrees North

"A solid resource for cruisers. . . . Cantrell's sensible advice is reassuring, positive, and affirming."--Southwinds

"Fresh and honest, and the author is warm, enthusiastic, and encouraging."--Good Old Boat

"Poignant and highly inspiring."--Women's Sailing Foundation

Edition details

• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071427899
• ISBN 13: 9780071427890
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 192