T&T: good book on trawlering

[Larry N. Brown]

Before we bought Cigano 6 years ago next month, I thought I had a pretty good
background for cruising. Spent a career in aviation and have owned many boats
from skiffs to sailboats to houseboats to a 1976 MT 34 Europa. I guess I did
have a pretty good depth of knowledge but it really flourished when we bought
Cigano and put her in a yard to replace a worn out generator. Did I ever
learn. Fortunately I fell into the hands of a talented yard owner, an
excellent engineer and an honest man. It would be impossible for me to tell
you all the lessons I learned through the projects I commissioned done on the
boat, supervising them, critiquing the work, coming up with new plans,
watching other fools in the yard working on their boats or having them worked
on. Spent a ton of money but it was a graduate school education on how to do
things right and how not to.

Then we moved out of that boat yard and into Larry's boat yard and I learned a
lot more. How to size wire and plumbing, what systems work and what don't
work. What's a functional system and what's pie in the sky. I've studied at
the knee of listees Arild Jensen, Larry Z, Phil Rosch, the departed Capn Al,
Rich Gano, Charles Culotta and a host of others so numerous I can't list all
the names. Please  don't be offended  by my omission It's been a long study,
sometimes brutal, sometimes fun and ALWAYS expensive.

Most of the old hands dating back to TWL either already knew this hard earned
information and shared it with me or I found it out through the WM catalogue
graphs or I learned by expensive and painful trial and error. I direct this
post particularly to the new guys on the block that are just starting out and
are taken aback by the enormity of the undertaking. The guys that don't even
know the right questions to ask much less the answers. My friend Steve Willet,
a listee, directed me to this website: http://www.cruisingfrancesca.org/  It's
run by a couple who've cruised extensively for many years in Caribbean waters
and who've recently swallowed the anchor and live near David, Panama. I've
corresponded with them by email and they're very knowledgeable. And
approachable.

As I might have mentioned earlier, we've been on a two month shakedown odyssey
between Louisiana and Florida. Underway,  from Amazon I ordered his book,
Extended Power Cruising and had it delivered to our house.
http://tinyurl.com/5dr9e8 Just got to reading it this morning and I can't say
it was a revelation in that I learned a lot of new things. What it does do,
more than any other single book I've ever read, is to categorize boat
knowledge. We hear on the list, hey, I'm new; what kind of boat do I need?
Where to start? The Schuetz's tell you. What size genset? They provide
practical parameters. Electrical loads and amp-hours. It's there. Cruise
planning and operating costs. Ditto. It's kinda like the entire T&T listees
sat down and wrote a book.

They make the point that the boat and the crew make up a "cruising system". We
discovered this in the last few months underway. The  Cigano system consists
of two humans, a dog and a boat. They all interact positively or negatively. A
couple cups of diesel sloshing around in the bilge is not a life and death
situation. However, mix together electrical fumes and diesel in the engine
room and fear and crew discipline suffered. Dog had to be taken ashore to pee
but the marine police were hanging off the barrier island and I was sweating
bullets about a boarding and consequent fine. Snapped at another crew member--
I won't say whom-- and I regretted it for some good long time.

The Schuetz's lay out a coherent, logical, practical approach to cruising,
whether you go offshore or or stay coastal.. Belongs in the ship's book case
along with the Chapman's, Nigel Calder's Mechanical and Electrical book, Earl
Hinz's the Complete Book of Anchoring and Mooring, Brian Toss's the Riggers
Apprentice, Bruce Van Sant's the Gentleman's Guide to Passages South, the Dave
Gerr Propeller Book and anything by John D. McDonnald.

Regards,

Larry and Teri
M/V Cigano, 47' Prairie Sundeck Cruiser
Lying: 64 Cypress Road
          Covington, LA