The Thinking Man's Guide...

Scott found this free cruising book online and I thought I'd share it with you...

There are are plethora of cruising guides out there and tons of cruising resources, especially online.  However, depending on the internet for cruising information once you are offshore is not something I would recommend.   What you can do, however, is hop online before you go, and download free guides to have on your computer for while you are underway (or, if you prefer hard copies - print them out and bind them at Kinkos).

Frank Virgintino has written a myriad of free online cruising guides for places all over the Caribbean which I strongly encourage you to check out.  For a lot of our journey Scott and I turned to Bruce Van Sant's "A Gentlemen's Guide to Passages South".  While there is great information in this book and I would still recommend it to cruisers heading South; it is incredibly hard to understand, is poorly written, and Mr. Van Sant's ego tends to get the best of him from time to time.  More than once we would sit in the cockpit with friends and turn to a page in his book only to play the "What the heck did he mean by that?" game over a pitcher of sangria (trust me, if you read this book you will know exactly what I mean).

This book is different (though it's title does indicate a tongue in cheek nod/nudge to Bruce Van Sant's).   First of all, it's free.  Second of all, it reads clearly and easily.  It's not so much a Caribbean cruising guide as much as a cruising resource and, for those of you who are prepping for a similar journey, you would be wise to read it.  He covers boat selection, crew dynamics, weather tactics, making landfall, routes to the Caribbean and more.  You can download the book for free here.

Enjoy!

Love,
Brittany & Scott