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Seaworthy: Essential Lessons from BoatU.S.'s 20-Year Case File of Things Gone Wrong, is a new publication from International Marine/McGraw Hill. It might be one of the scariest books I've ever read. Seaworthy is based on twenty years of Boat U.S.'s case files of boating accidents and mishaps. Boat U.S. is arguably the largest provider of marine insurance in the world, covering over 250,000 American powerboaters and sailors. This makes them the experts on boating disasters.

The author, Robert A. Adriance, has edited Boat U.S.'s Seaworthy Magazine for over twenty years. The vision behind this book is simple and pure: Boat U.S. and Adriance want to keep you out of trouble by educating you on things that can go wrong. Education is the best defense.

The stories in this book are tragic and frightening. One account, from December 1997, tells of the 34' sloop Morning Dew that hit a submerged jetty in Charleston, SC. The boat's owner, his two sons, and his nephew were killed. Research and speculation as to the cause of the accident revealed some frightening clues: the owner, being the only adult aboard, may have been awake for over 17 hours at the time of the accident. He was an experienced sailor and former liveaboard, but his judgment may have been impaired by fatigue and hypothermia. The foul weather gear he wore was insufficient for the weather, and he was likely the only one on watch for long periods of time. I can only imagine the pain his wife must have felt when she found out.

At the end of each case study, the book gives a list of lessons. Among those from the Morning Dew disaster are: pay attention to weather forecasts, don’t go offshore without experienced crew, carry suitable clothing, file a float plan, and more. These may seem obvious, but this boat owner had plenty of experience, had taken all the right Coast Guard safety classes, and still ended up as a case study in a book on boating disasters.

We all make mistakes, and boating accidents can happen even when we've done everything perfectly. There is also a lot of bad advice out there. For example, a cruising couple I knew had a problem: the woman got terrified every time they sailed offshore, so they couldn't make any ocean passages. Several well-intentioned but seriously misled friends advised her to take strong sleeping pills before crossing the Gulf Stream. This left only one person coherent and capable enough to handle the boat. Luckily, they were fine, but the slightest mishap could have been disastrous.

The world is full of bad information, so we all need to know how to avoid it. The folks at BoatU.S. have proven time and again that their advice is right on the money. They are the experts in boating safety and accident prevention, and they share their knowledge with you in Seaworthy.

Bluewater Newsletter Reunites Old Friends…Melanie Neale

Coming About: A Family Passage at Sea

Coming About: A Family Passage at Sea
By Susan Tyler Hitchcock
Paperback, 337 Pages, 1998 and 2002

When they left, Susan and her husband weren't getting along, and the family was spending less and less time together. While going cruising is never going to be the end-all solution to family problems, Susan thought that maybe being together on a small boat and going to far away places would help them reconnect. What she learned is that working through the hard times can be even more difficult when you're confined in such a small space with the ones you love. However, it can also be that much more rewarding.

I came across this book through an odd series of events. In the August 2005 Bluewater Newsletter, I published an article by Tina Dreffin on cruising the Galapagos. Last Monday, I received an email from a woman who said that the Dreffins were long-lost cruising friends of hers and that she wanted to reconnect with them. She was also the author of a book that we carried, called Coming About.

I hope that she will be able to reconnect with the Dreffin family, and I'm secretly pleased that the Bluewater Newsletter may have reconnected old cruising friends. Cruisers are a scattered bunch, but they have strong bonds.

The book is great. I wish I had read it sooner. It's candid and entertaining, solely because the author was willing and unafraid to bare her heart. I always wonder why so many memoirs, especially sailing ones, avoid topics like sex and invariably refuse to include any dialogue. Memoirs should be written in scene, using the same standards used in writing fiction. People don't want to be bored to tears when they read about someone's sailing adventures--they want to laugh, cry and feel the same feelings they feel in life.

More boating writers should hold themselves to the high literary standards of Susan Tyler Hitchcock.