Sensible Cruising: The Thoreau Approach

If wisdom can be defined as common sense that has withstood the test of time, then Sensible Cruising is a wise book.

It explains:

• Why a sensible cruise is affordable to almost anyone.
• Why the boat of choice for most cruisers is under 35 feet.
• Why lowering the cost doesn't devalue the cruise.
• How simplicity minimizes insulation from the experience.
• How to think in terms of how little, not how much, is really required.

Drawing heavily on the philosophy of the sage of Walden Pond, this book is a gentle guide to the art of commonsense cruising which, in hardcover, was one of the 10 best-selling sailing books of all time. Now available for the first time in paperback, Sensible Cruising, a former main selection of the Dolphin Book Club, is more pertinent than ever during this time of economic retrenchment.

"No truer American existed than Thoreau . . . there was an excellent wisdom in him, proper to a rare class of men . . . [with] power of description and literary excellence . . . he chose to be rich by making his wants few, and supplying them himself . . . "--Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I never would have imagined that Thoreau's philosophy could be so aptly applied to anything as disparate as cruising."--Dr. Walter Harding, author and Secretary of the Thoreau Society

"At sea, I learned how little a person needs, not how much."--Robin Lee Graham, Circumnavigator and author of Dove

"One of the wonderful things about the cruising life is that it teaches you how little you can get along on, that to lead a fulfilling life it is not necessary to have a big pile of bucks. This may have been self-evident to Thoreau before the day of mass media, but in our modern environment it is a philosophy that is difficult to come by.
Your readers should be aware that being judicious in their purchases can be financially rewarding at the end. We have always treated our boats as investments, and made money, on all of them."--Steve Dashew, Circumnavigator, and author of Bluewater Handbook and The Circumnavigator's Handbook

It does look sometimes as if the world were on its last legs. How many there are whose principal employment is is nowadays to eat their meals and go to the post-office."--Henry David Thoreau

What others say about this book:

"This is one of the most intriguing and original books on cruising to appear in a long time . . . an admirably practical guide . . . with a delightful sense of humor . . . "--John Rousmaniere, author of The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, The Sailing Lifestyle, Fastnet Force 10, and The Golden Pastime: A New History of Yachting

"For anyone contemplating a prolonged sail . . . this book makes an excellent companion, full of sensible advice on the fine art of making-do when things don't go quite as expected."--Soundings

"Sensible Cruising is a refreshing change, written for those of us who dream of modest goals. Every cruising sailor, ambitious or unambitious, should read and treasure this memorable volume."--Sailing

"Casey and Hackler suck the very marrow of life from Henry David Thoreau's writings to build a case for the small cruiser. The perfect instigation to get procrastinators and naysayers off the pot and over the horizon."--Dan Spurr, Senior Editor, Cruising World, and author of Spurr's Boatbook: Upgrading the Cruising Sailboat

Henry David Thoreau was born in Concord, Massachusetts, in 1817. He lived as a poet but is best known as a philosopher and writer on natural history. He was educated at Harvard and at various times was a teacher, lecturer, inventor, essayist, and sailor. Encouraged to become a writer by his friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, he lived in the woods for two years living simply and writing. His book Walden: or Life in the Woods, is a classic, more loved today than when he wrote it.

Don Casey grew up near Dallas, Texas, far from the tang of salt air. The voyage of Robin Lee Graham published by National Geographic in the late sixties captured his imagination and led him to coastal south Florida. There he bought his first boat, a 27-foot sloop, and began regularly crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas. He and his wife still cruise the Bahamas but now for four to six months each year. Their current boat is a 20-year-old, 30-foot ketch.

Don gave up his life of "quiet desperation" to become a freelance writer. He has written for the most popular national sailing and boating magazines, and as a columnist for a regional magazine published in Florida.

Lew Hackler began sailing moth boats in the 40's at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, still a favorite port. Since then he has owned some 17 boats, raced and cruised along the Eastern Coast of the U.S., Bermuda, throughout the Bahamas, in the Virgins, Italy, and on Australia's Tasman Sea. He lived aboard for much of his life, and currently owns a Hunter 30 sloop.

Lew is the author of the unique volume, The Complete Sailor's Log, co-author of Let's Name It: 10,000 Boat Names, and author of a series of children's books about boating and fishing.