Self Sufficient Sailor 3rd edition– full revised and expanded

Lin and Larry Pardey’s hugely popular and encouraging book, the Self Sufficient Sailor, has been revitalized and expanded by more than 40%. “This has been an exciting project for me,” said Lin, “especially as I have spent much of the past two years voyaging through the western Pacific on a boat that has not only an engine, but much of the electronic gear Larry and I chose to sail without. This let me evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of what many folks call “modern equipment. Better yet, it put me in touch with the people who are out cruising right now. And it is exciting to see that there are young and young at heart folks setting off voyaging on limited budgets and finding fine adventures.”

The results of Lin’s work are clear in this early review by John Kretschmer, who has sailed more than 300,000 miles and written several books including Sailing a Serious Ocean, Storms, Stories and lessons learned from 30 years at sea:

“Let me be clear, 'The Self Sufficient Sailor' was a very important book in my life,” writes John Kretschmer, “and it makes perfect sense that Lin Pardey is releasing a 3rd revised and updated edition because the book transcends time. It spoke to me when I was a wide-eyed 24-year-old contemplating a passage around Cape Horn, and this new edition speaks me to today as a 60-year-old salt, still plying oceans year after year. I flat out love the premise, the practice and the reward of self-sufficiency that Lin and Larry Pardey espouse. While Lin includes new chapters for modern cruisers, and also chronicles their voyage around Cape Horn, she has included all the original material and that's where the magic lurks. I poured over delightful chapters that compared the merits of sculling over rowing, and completely concur with Larry's frank assessment of how to prioritize safety concerns offshore. Lin also explains her new cruising life,
tenderly paying homage to her life-long partner. The sense of simplicity, patience, honesty and quiet competence that are the corner stones of all of Lin and Larry's books are never more apparent than in this wonderful new release of a sailing classic.  It was an honor to read it in draft form.”

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What the reviewers have to say about The Self-Sufficient Sailor . . .

“Nothing can keep you cruising longer, safer, and on a lower budget than self-sufficiency, and no one knows more about the subject than Lin and Larry Pardey. They draw on 29 years of cruising to reveal how to handle your boat under sail and at anchor, how to build trust and teamwork in your crew, and how to fortify your boat with backup systems—advice that will keep you sailing onward instead of stuck in port waiting for repair parts.”

Tom Linskey, Senior Editor, SAIL Magazine

“When Larry and Lin chose the title for their book they chose well— to go ocean sailing you must be self-sufficient. Yet the same truth applies to all seamanship. Ten miles offshore in any water you must look after yourself. . . and you must prepare thoroughly while still in port, for there is nobody else to carry the can. That is why we all have something to learn from this book—from authors who have put into practice a principle that applies to us all, but who have done it for longer and farther than most of us will ever do.”

Denny Desoutter, Editor, Practical Boat Owner

“The Self-Sufficient Sailor is an excellent book full of seakeeping, boatkeeping, and seamanship hints laced with cruising philosophy. If you are going to sea, say the Pardeys, you must learn to operate with little or no outside help…One of the prerequisites is to learn to sail before you go cruising. I couldn’t agree more. The Pardeys write that if you learn how to not fall overboard and to keep your boat in good shape, then you very seldom will need safety harnesses. I agree, though many modern sailors do not. Frequently one sees boats that are equipped with all kinds of safety gear . . .the crews of many of those boats could well need that safety equipment, because the money they spent on equipment should have been spent on making their boats seaworthy. This book should be read by everyone who is doing serious cruising.”

Donald M. Street, Jr., author of Street’s Cruising Guide to the Eastern Caribbean

“I had the pleasure of reading this book while making a passage from Newport, Rhode Island, to Bermuda on my own cutter, Frolic, and wrote this review while anchored in St. Georges Harbor among 15 or 20 other cruising boats. The emphasis that the Pardeys place on simplicity and self-sufficiency makes especially good sense when read at sea; their observations on the drawbacks of cruising large and complicated boats was proven true by the experiences related to me by the sailors here in Bermuda. Just as the Pardeys predict, the small cruisers had uneventful, if not smooth, passages without crew problems—even in rough weather. The larger boats, sailing on the same ocean at the same time, told tales of ‘vicious’ storms, failed engines, pumps, radios, and electronic equipment, and scared and unhappy crew. Cruising isn’t easy, but the Pardeys make excellent recommendations. They offer sound advice on a wide variety of subjects.”

Danny Green, Cruising World

Full of ideas and wisdom on how to sail in comfort and safety without large cash outlays. Every sailor, whether or not they plan to sail over the horizon, should read the Pardeys. This book is what the title says. It is the distillation of what the Pardey’s have learned in 200,000 miles of sailing on board their two cutters, Seraffyn and Taleisin, and on scores of other boats they have delivered or raced. Lin and Larry tell how they have sailed in comfort and safety without large cash outlay– on a pay-as-you-earn-as-you-go plan and by simplifying.  Denny de Soutter, Practic