“Cruisers AA” ( accumulated acumen!!)

By Jackie and Noel Parry

This is a new and fascinating insight on how to go cruising, particularly long distance cruising,. It contains over 1800 tips and words of advice by a couple who have done the long term cruising thing right around the planet and more besides!

It is meant as a guide to all the things which you need to take into account when setting off on your dream adventure, including many items not covered in the usual cruising guides. It also includes 100 short stories, all very well written and entertaining.

With great ideas on voyage preparation, piracy, pets, communications, health, boat handling, electrical systems, maintenance, fun and games and much more which will enhance your cruising life.

It is a book which cuts through many of the myths of living on board, and shows that when you have the right boat, those dreams are attainable. They say that the hardest part about going cruising is making the decision to stop writing lists, untie your mooring lines and go ! Probably very true!

It is written in a way which makes it very easy to read it in chunks and absorb the information given. The advice is very practical and very well illustrated. It doesn’t just cover all the pleasantries of cruising, it includes warts and all.
A thoroughly good read, and a must if you are considering hitting the Big Blue.

Price is around 23 euro.

Two boys in a Boat, plus 563 very nice people”

I was delighted to be asked to include this review in The Islander, as it was a story with which I was familiar from earlier in summer.

Basically for the few of you who may not know of the event, two young lads decided to sail around the island of Mallorca in a Snipe dinghy, partly to raise money for charity and partly as an adventure where they could study the marine life and marine trash in an effort to assist Asociacion Ondine, a marine conservation project here in Mallorca.

The book is a cracking read. It is very entertaining with plenty of humour and describes how these two boys, along with their families have grown up with each other, their lives completely intertwined since they were more or less born. It shows how friends can be such a support to each other in times of personal tragedy, and become like one big family. The upbringing both boys had, shines through like a beacon and reads like a “Swallows and Amazons or an Enid Blyton Famous Five” type of idyllic childhood.

The trip was accomplished in 9 days, no mean feat and the book describes the trip in detail but with a humorous edge.
A lovely book and would make a super Christmas gift!

Price is around 8.95  for paperback or 6.10 for Kindle version and is available from all Amazon sites and Universal Bookshop in Portals.