This book contains 58 years of seamanship and ship’s husbandry distilled into more than 350 readable pages. Chockfull of technical information gathered during three circumnavigations and a lifetime of living aboard in foreign ports, it tells you the nitty-gritty technical details of the sea gypsy lifestyle.

It isn’t merely about the boat, it is also about the knowledge required to safely handle that boat and, ultimately, how to manage the cruise as well. It contains what every sea gypsy understands—but few marine publications address—the good, the bad, and the ugly of ocean cruising.

It does not cop-out by telling you to throw money at your problems by hiring marine experts. It does exactly the opposite. It informs you how to not need those experts.
It clearly communicates the morality, the economy, the karma, and the delights of sailing the world with empty pockets and full hearts.

Cruising offshore isn’t rocket science. It is all basic, logical stuff. The skills required can be explained step-by-step. This book reveals the reality of buying a well-found, inexpensive boat and outfitting it for living aboard—then taking it inshore gunkholing, coastal sailing, offshore cruising, and ocean storm-strutting.

Reading this book is like sitting in the cockpit of a battered ketch at anchor in an exotic port—and having one of the most famous circumnavigators spin yarns, tell jokes, and give the most outrageous of advice on cruising under sail.

Forget the “you gotta have a pile of money” rock-hugger thinking. You don’t.
There are a million good reasons why not to go to sea—lack of money is not one of them. Basic seamanship is far more important than coinage—and you can’t buy seamanship. In fact, circumnavigators with large purses actually have less fun than work-as-you-sail sea gypsies. 

This book was not written for the edification of Topside-clad yachtsmen or teak-trodding credit card captains—but rather for the working-class sailor attempting to transit from dirt dweller to ocean vagabond without losing sight of the daily fun factor. 

Does sailing across an ocean on a small vessel seem like an immense challenge? It doesn’t need to be—if you are prepared with a well-found boat, strong offshore safety gear, and some basic seamanship skills. 

Fatty and his wife Carolyn are currently on their fourth circumnavigation. They sail across oceans with no more concern than most yachties experience while putt-putting to the fuel dock.

Heavy weather management is simple—there are only two basic rules. The prudent mariner must control his vessel’s speed and angle to the wind and seas. That’s it. There’s nothing complicated about these concepts.

However, the offshore execution of these concepts at sea in 50+ knots of breeze and 30+ foot seas—what we traditionalists call offshore seamanship—can vary greatly depending on the boat type, number of hulls, sea state, wind force, the proximity and direction of land, the presence of ocean currents, underwater topography, and a hundred other evolving factors.

Storm management can—and does—get complicated fast.

This book covers everything the offshore sailor needs to know about vessel preparation, reducing sail, reefing, towing slowing drogues, deploying a parachute-type sea anchor and, ultimately, hanging to a Jordan Series Drogue. (340 pages, 42 photos, 36 illustrations.)

Its core premise is simple: a used $3,000 sailboat can be safer offshore than a new $3,000,000 yacht if it is storm-proofed, has the proper gear, and has a crew who knows how to deploy both.

Are you considering taking people you love offshore with limited funds to spend on marine safety gear?

If so, read this book. It will both save you money and provide peace of mind. Storm survival isn’t rocket science. It’s all basic, do-able stuff.

The emphasis is on practical what-actually-works at sea—with awareness that safety gear costs money and takes up valuable space. This book is aimed at frugal, safety-conscious cruising couples with few pennies and large dreams aboard small vessels on big oceans.

Can’t afford a fancy parachute sea anchor? Then consider the lowly, widely available automobile tire—even a discarded retread will do. Or deploy a fender. Or toss over a torn sail…

Here’s the reality: storms are perfectly ordinary, everyday, normal, natural occurrences at sea. There is never a time when a storm is not raging somewhere offshore. If you want to live aboard your cruising boat at sea on passage, storms must be accommodated.

Denying their existence or pretending you will never intersect is silly.

You will. And, in order not to be panicked, you need to be fully, properly prepared. This book details that preparation step-by-step. Most voyages fail at the dock. Don’t allow lack of offshore storm preparation to scuttle your cruising dreams before they’re fully launched.

How long should you stay in a storm? Why? Should you minimize or maximize your time within? Why? What are some of the critical decisions you’ll need to make? Is there a lee shore or do you have plenty of sea room? When is a “favorable current” the worst news possible? What’s the one thing you must avoid? Under what circumstance should you, if you want to make more miles downwind, toss your dock fenders overboard? Which is best during an extended blow—bow-on or stern-to? Why? What does the center of lateral resistance have to do with anything? How can ten cents worth of kite string save your life? Why are transoceanic sailors obsessed with hording air? Why, for gosh sake, would anyone immediately take a drink if they thought they were sinking? When is the best, most logical time to heave-to, set a parachute sea anchor off your bow, or deploy a Jordan Series Drogue from your stern? What tools should you carry?

This book, unlike many, makes definite statements—with no hemming and hawing. It says you should never lay-to or scud. It says parachute retrieval is extremely dangerous. It cautions against any “running set” in mature seas.

What about a tennis ball? What do drag queens have to do with it? Do what with burst fenders?

When should you happily and gratefully discard the $2,000 worth of storm gear you just purchased? What are the two basic choices as a hurricane approaches? From where do you step into a life raft?

This book shows you, step-by-step, how to survive a large storm aboard a small vessel on a big ocean—and at the cost of mini-bucks.

Top Customer Reviews

A book that only Cap’n Fatty would dare pen—

written in his own inimitable, laid-back style. 

  This practical, down-to-earth, step-by-step instruction manual isn’t merely about the basic mechanics of how to anchor—but how to anchor safely, while enjoying your boat more comfortably, in a far greater number of exposed anchorages. It contains everything a cruising sailor needs to know—including the proper cruising attitude and philosophy in relation to international anchoring-as-a lifestyle—and much, much more! It takes a completely new, totally unique “sea gypsy” look at the art and science of anchoring in today’s shrinking world. And, it does it from the penny-pinching perspective of a confirmed “economically-challenged, ever-restless” World Cruiser.

   What other book on anchoring contains information on heaving-to, sea anchors, and Jordan Series Drogues? Flopper stoppers? Shore jackals? Dinghies? Anchor weights. Being tide-bound. The Etiquette of dragging. Land sharks. Snubbers. Doing WHAT to a coral head? Cheap DIY moorings. Arming your lead. Fish finders. Aground! Kedging off. Grappling hooks. Chain hooks. Lunch hooking. Hiding a sunken vessel under a floating vessel. Welding cables. Keep-away anchors. Free anchors. Cheap anchors. Free chain by the ton. Salvage. Karma! Sea Swine! Sex and Romance! Dirt Dwellers!

   What special precautions should you take while anchoring in very shallow water? How to realistically anchor in 200 feet of depth? And what is the Key Concept to being able to anchor safely—year-after-year—where most sane yachties fear to tread?

And don't forget Fatty's other books

Buy, Outfit, and Sail

How to Inexpensively and Safely BUY, OUTFIT,

and SAIL a Small Vessel Around the World

The primary aim is to assist the frugal, safety-conscious sailor in the purchase and repair of a modest sailboat capable of circumnavigating. The core premise: there is little correlation between dollars spent and pleasure received when it comes to cruising offshore. Cheaper boats can be far more seaworthy than their expensive counterparts if the skipper’s money is spent wisely. 

It is also a practical step-by-step guide to circumnavigating inexpensively—written by a freedom-loving sailor who has sailed twice around the world on a $3,000 salvaged boat.

What equipment do you really to sail offshore? How can you acquire much of this gear for free or inexpensively? What items are cheap where? How can you earn "freedom chips" as you cruise? Which routes are best?
What common cruising gear do you NOT need? Why?

It even points out the advantages of being on a tight budget: more friends, sharing, destinations, time, culture, freedom, fun, camaraderie, parties, and a clearer cruising focus. 

In addition, it opens up a completely new, fresh “sea gypsy” world to the landlubber—a wonderful, wacky, watery world of international brotherhood upon the high seas.

Of special interest is the unusual, non-PC section on earning-as-you-go. 

 Chasing the Horizon 

Written in 1990 (with a new illustrated edition in spring of '08) and is one of the wildest life stories and cruising yarns ever written. This is still, after 22 years, my favorite book!

RED SEA RUN

Two Sailors in a Sea of Trouble 

Our 2010 Indian ocean passage, transit of the dreaded Gulf of Aden, and our trip up the Red Sea to the Suez Canal, it pulls no punches. Describing our fear of the Somali pirates and our disgust with the Suez Canal officials, it is as honest and straight-forward as possible. While parts of it are funny, some of it is deadly serious. We hope you enjoy it. We enjoyed living it... well, most parts, anyway.

 Click on either image to go to Amazon.com and learn more

Here's the FAT story...

We need money. But we like to sail. And we know that working can interfere with sailing if you're not careful.

...so we're very careful.

This means a job-job is out.  (Frankly, I've never had a job that didn't look good in my rear view mirror.)

Plus, we prefer to shun the shore... too many dirt-dwellers, shore-huggers and dock-queens for our tastes.

So instead we live by our wits. At sea. On landless atolls. Anchored off primitive islands. Far up uncharted rivers. In deserted safe harbors.

...just beyond the jagged rim of civilization.

...aboard the 52-foot schooner Elizabeth (built 1924), the 22-foot double-ender (1932) Corina, the 36-foot Endurance ketch Carlotta (1974), our $3,000 hurricane-salvaged S&S-designed 38-foot sloop Wild Card (1989), and our current 42-foot ketch Ganesh. 

...we chase the horizon.

...eternally.

The question is, can this web site help us continue to do so in grand style? If so, it will grow. If not...

Here's the scam...

We need you to buy one of our books, or if you really don't have any literary criteria, all of 'em! Don't send us the money. We'd just spent it like, well, like drunken sailors. Instead, buy a book HERE.

Eventually, the money will trickle down to us, and we'll be able to buy some food or some more duct tape to repair Wild Card's mainsail. (After 50,000+ ocean miles, that rag is... well, exactly that.)

Oh, yeah. Most of the photographs are for sail...er, sale. Send me an email here for more info.

Eventually, our little devious minds will probably come up with more clever ways of shaking you down for spare change. But for now, this will have to do.

I know. I know.This web site may strike you as kinda casual and laid back. That's fine. We like being silly and irreverent. In reality, that's sort-of our message. Carolyn and I sail around the world and never get too serious. Not even about money. Instead, we just have fun and allow the rest of it to take care of itself.

Remember: The trick is to live while you're alive!