A Passion for the Sea

This book is dedicated to Abdul Waheed Sheikh, Fahdel Sheikh, Dr Aziz Ur Rehman and the entire staff oftheAadil Hospital in Lahore, Pakistan for their helpfulness and concern for my wellbeing.I am equally grateful to Dr Paul Sweny and the nursing staff at the Renal Unit of the Royal Free Hospital in London for their excellent care and unfailing patience.

Содержание
Introduction
Chapter 1 A Passion for the Sea
Growing up in Romania
Drifting in Bucharest
A new start in London
Building Aventura
Chapter 2 Three Boats for Three Circumnavigations
Aventura I
Aventura II
Aventura III
Preparing Aventura III for Antarctica
Chapter 3 Antarctic Interlude
Across the Drake Passage
The Antarctic Peninsula
Return to Cape Horn
Practical tips for Antarctica
Chapter 4 Weather
The right attitude
Tropical squalls
Ocean weather forecasts
Weather windows
Heavy weather
Chapter 5 Antarctica to Alaska: A Transpacific Marathon
Horn landing
Chilean canals
Easter Island
Pitcairn
French Polynesia Line Islands
Hawaii
Alaska
British Columbia
Chapter 6 Routing and Navigation
Ocean routing
Weather routing
Routing advice
Paper charts
Close encounters
GPS: A false sense of security?
World Cruising Routes
Chapter 7 Greece Rediscovered
Chapter 8 Life Afloat
Meals
Provisions
Our daily bread
Fishing
Diving
Entertainment Communications
Photography
Pets
Pests
Health matters
Onboard pharmacy
Chapter 9 The Call of the Ocean
French Riviera
Balearics
Gibraltar
Algarve Coast
La Graciosa
Chapter 10 Wind Selfsteering Gears and Automatic Pilots
Wind operated selfsteering gears
Maintenance
Windvanes surveyed
Autopilots surveyed
Windvane or autopilot?
Chapter 11 Across the Ocean Sea
Las Palmas
Atlantic tactics
Atlantic crossing
Tips for an ocean passage
Chapter 12 Sailing in the Tropics
Tropical weather
Tropical squalls
Seasons
Eyeball navigation
Tropical tactics
Ciguatera fish poisoning
Tackling atoll passes
Chapter 13 A Caribbean Cruise
St Lucia
Dominica
Antigua
Barbuda
Virgin Islands
Puerto Rico
Turks & Caicos
Chapter 14 Safety Afloat and Ashore
Personal safety
Travel
Piracy and robberies
Guns
Tips for piracy waters
Collisions
Groundings
Lightning
Dealing with emergencies
Man overboard
Abandoning ship
Survival container
Chapter 15 Spiky Officials and Spiny Lobsters
Bahamas
Cuba
San Bias
Chapter 16 Anchors and Anchoring, Tenders and Outboards
Anchor types
Anchoring techniques
Atoll mooring
Anchor winch Tenders
Outboard motors
Memorable anchorages
Chapter 17 Return to the South Pacific
Panama
Ecuador
From the equator to eighty degrees north
Chapter 18 Engines, Maintenance and Spares
Breakages
Maintenance
Anodes
Tools Spares
Chapter 19 The Longest Passage
Ecuador
Galapagos
Passage to the South Seas
Marquesas
Chapter 20 Crew and Watches
Types of crew
Taking on crew
Crew competence
Skipper competence
Dealing with crew
Assigning tasks
Crew briefing
Watch systems
Night watches
Cooking and washing up
Chapter 21 Among the Islands of Tahiti Nui
Marquesas
Tuamotus
Society Islands
Chapter 22 Offshore Routines
Generating electricity
The surveys
Average electricity consumption
Charging systems
Water and watermakers
Chapter 23 Between Coconut Crabs and Humpback Whales
Suwarrow
Niue
Vava'u
South Pacific hurricane shelters
Fiji
Chapter 24 Sailing as a Family
Decision to go
Ideal age
Sailing couples
Labour division
Sailing children
Swimming
Education afloat
Chapter 25 Out of the Tropics and Back
Passage to New Zealand
New Caledonia Vanuatu
Chapter 26 Sailing Friends
Peter Noble
MikeCraggs
Erick and Muriel Bouteleux
Arthur and Germaine Beiser
Albert and Dottie Fletcher
Chapter 27 Pacific Farewell
Louisiades
Darwin
Bali
Cocos Keeling
Chapter 28 Practical Aspects of Offshore Cruising
Formalities
Documents
Email and internet
Travel
Yacht transport Languages
Dealing with officials
Chapter 29 South Indian Ocean Landfalls
Chagos
Mauritius
Reunion
South Africa
Chapter 30 Financial Matters
Financial surveys
Practicalities
Earning a living while cruising
Luc Callebaut
Chapter 31 South Africa to the Canaries Direct
St Helena
Ascension
Cape Verdes
Closing the circle
Chapter 32 Where do all the Yachts Co?
Global yacht movement statistics
Chapter 33 Return to the Mediterranean
Canaries
Gibraltar
Balearics
Sardinia
Chapter 34 Cruising in Stages
Choosing a suitable place
Three circumnavigations in stages 1975 - 2006
Aventura Ill's schedule
Global weather
Stopover places worldwide
Costs
Flying in stages
Chapter 35 Golden Sands and Black Mountains
Tunisia Montenegro Croatia
Chapter 36 Laying up the Boat Ashore or Afloat
Watermaker
Sails, sheets and halyards
Deck gear Spars Anchor and chain
Bilges Seacocks
Boat cleaning Timing
List of jobs
Chapter 37 How Safe is Cruising?
Groundings
Collisions
Structural damage
Weather
Chapter 38 A Boat for Offshore Cruising
Overall length
Monohull versus multihull
Keels and rudders
Displacement
Hull material
Rig
Rigging
Deck layout
Interior comforts
Cockpit protection
Sails
Engine
Ideal features
Safety
Final decision
Chapter 39 Rallies and Races
Atlantic Rally for Cruisers
Round the world rallies
America 500
Hong Kong Challenge
Expo 98
Millennium Odyssey
Chapter 40 Highlights of a Sailing Life
Tuvalu independence festivities
Trobriand Islands
The Highlands of Papua New Guinea
South Pacific Festival of Arts
Greek Easter
Portuguese Atlantic Islands
Photographic highlights