A cruising sailboat anchored in the San Blas Islands, in Panama. The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago of 365 Islands off the north coast of the Isthmus east of the Panama Canal. Panama, officially the Republic of Panama (República de Panamá) is the southernmost country of Central America. The islands are an idyllic destination enjoyed by many cruisers.

This article is about Yacht Cruising, for cruising on Cruise Liners see the article Cruise ship. A cruise ship or cruise liner is a Passenger ship used for pleasure voyages where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience

Cruising by boat is a lifestyle that involves living for extended time on a boat while traveling from place to place for pleasure. Cruising generally refers to trips of a few days or more, and can extend to round-the-world voyages. Cruising is done on both sail and power boats, although sail predominates over longer distances, as ocean-worthy power boats are considerably more expensive. In some cases less is more The purpose of this article is to give an overview A motorboat is a vessel propelled by an Internal combustion engine driving a jet pump or a Propeller. Many cruisers are "long term" and travel for many years, the most adventurous circling the globe over a period of three to ten years. Many others take a year or two off from work and school for short trips and the chance to experience the cruising lifestyle.

History

Prior to the Nineteenth Century origin of the concept of voyaging as a lifestyle, boats were almost exclusively used for work. In 1857, the philosopher Henry David Thoreau, with his book Canoeing in Wilderness chronicling his canoe voyaging in the wilderness of Maine, was the first to convey the enjoyment of spiritual and lifestyle aspects of cruising. The concept of cruising for pleasure was popularized in the Nineteenth Century, by several widely read authors and books: John MacGregor, 1866, A Thousand Miles in a Rob Roy Canoe; Robert Lewis Stevenson, 1877, An Inland Voyage and Nathaniel H. John MacGregor (1825 &ndash 1892 nicknamed Rob Roy after a renowned relative, was a Scottish Explorer, Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850–3 December 1894 was a Scottish novelist poet and travel writer, and a representative of Neo-romanticism in Bishop, 1879, Four Months in a Sneakbox.

Cruisers can see traditional life in remote areas of the world; here, a Kuna local paddles a dugout canoe in the San Blas Islands. Kuna or Cuna is the name of an indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago of 365 Islands off the north coast of the Isthmus east of the Panama Canal.

One of the first people to carry out a long-distance voyage for pleasure, and who inspired many others to follow in his path, was Joshua Slocum, who circumnavigated the world between 1895 and 1898. Joshua Slocum ( February 20, 1844 &ndash on or shortly after 14 November, 1909) was a Canadian -born American seaman Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Year 1898 ( MDCCCXCVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Despite widespread opinion that such a voyage was impossible and despite being a retired sea captain, Slocum rebuilt a derelict 37-foot sloop Spray and sailed her single-handed around the world. The sport of single-handed sailing is Sailing with only one Crewmember (ie His book Sailing Alone Around the World is still considered a classic adventure, and inspired many others to take to the seas. ^[1]

Other cruising authors have provided both inspiration and useful instruction to would-be cruisers. Key among these during the post war period are Miles and Beryl Smeeton, Bernard Moitessier, and Eric & Susan Hiscock. Bernard Moitessier ( 10 April 1925 Hanoi, Vietnam &ndash 16 June 1994 near Paris, France) was During the 1970s - 80's, Robin Lee Graham, Lin and Larry Pardey, Annie Hill, Herb Payson, Linda & Steve Dashew and Hal & Margaret Roth have provided inspiration for people to set off voyaging. Robin Lee Graham (1949 -) set out to sail around the world alone as a teenager in the summer of 1965 Lin and Larry Pardey are a married couple famous internationally for their expertise in small boat sailing Annie Hill (born 1955 in Liverpool) is an English sailor author of books and articles about sailboat voyaging living on a small amount of money and sailing Most recently, Beth Leonard have been writing both inspirational and technical books about voyaging.

Equipment

As well as normal sailing and seamanship skills, cruisers use a variety of equipment and techniques to make their voyages possible, or simply more comfortable. The use of wind vane self steering is common on long distance cruising yachts. Self-steering gear is equipment used on ships and boats to maintain a chosen course without constant human action

The solar panels on this 28-foot yacht can keep her self-sufficient in electrical power.

Though in the past many cruisers had no means of generating electricity on board and depended on kerosene and dry cell batteries, today most have some sort of electrical devices on board. Thus, one of the key areas is providing the electrical power to keep the boat's systems (lights, communications gear, etc. ) running. Although most boats can generate power from their inboard engines, and some carry generators, carrying sufficient fuel for these over a long voyage can be a problem, so many cruising boats are equipped with generating devices such as solar panels, wind turbines and towed turbines. In the field of Photovoltaics, a photovoltaic module is a packaged interconnected assembly of photovoltaic cells also known as Solar cells An installation of A wind turbine is a rotating machine which converts the Kinetic energy in Wind into Mechanical energy.

While it is quite possible to cruise without long-distance communications equipment, satellite communications are becoming more common on cruising boats. Many boats are now equipped with satellite telephone systems; however, these systems can be expensive to use, and may operate only in restricted areas. A satellite telephone, satellite phone, or satphone is a type of Mobile phone that connects to orbiting Satellites instead of terrestrial Many cruisers still use short wave maritime SSB and Amateur radio radio, which has no running costs. High frequency (HF radio frequencies are between 3 and 30 MHz. Single-sideband modulation ( SSB) is a refinement of Amplitude modulation that more efficiently uses electrical power and bandwidth. Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a Hobby and a service in which participants called "hams" use various types of Radio communications These radios provide two-way voice communications, can receive weather fax graphics via a laptop computer and with a compatible modem (e. g. PACTOR), can send and receive email at very slow speed. PACTOR is a radio transmission protocol used by Amateur radio operators marine radio stations and radio stations in isolated areas to send and receive digital information via Such emails are usually limited to basic communication using plain text, without HTML formatting or attachments. HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant Markup language for Web pages It provides a means to describe the structure

Watermakers which turn seawater into potable water are increasingly common on ocean crossing yachts. A Watermaker is a device used to obtain Potable water by Reverse osmosis of seawater Radar, GPS are usually present and electronic charting systems are also regularly found on cruising yachts. Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range altitude direction or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as Aircraft, ships Basic concept of GPS operation A GPS receiver calculates its position by carefully timing the signals sent by the constellation of GPS Satellites high above the Earth

Safety

Travel by water brings hazards: collision, weather, and equipment failure can lead to dangerous situations such as a sinking or severely disabled and dangerous vessel. For this reason many long distance cruising yachts carry with them sophisticated emergency equipment such as EPIRBs and liferafts. In the field of Search and Rescue (SAR distress radio beacons, also collectively known as distress beacons, emergency beacons, or simply beacons A lifeboat is a small craft carried on a ship to provide a means of emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard the ship

Medical emergencies are also of concern, as a medical emergency can occur on a long passage when the closest port is over a week away. For this reason before going cruising many people go through first aid training and carry extensive medical kits.

Other kinds of maritime cruising

• Camp cruising, also known as beach cruising or gunkhole cruising, is a form of cruising in which sailors sail from point to point in an open or semi-enclosed boat, generally remaining within sight of land. Camp cruisers either camp ashore ("camp cruising" or "beach cruising"), or aboard the boat at anchor. The boats used may be specialized cruising dinghies, small keelboats, trailer sailers or general purpose daysailing or racing boats pressed into service for the purpose. A dinghy is a type of small Boat, often carried or towed by a larger vessel Keelboat has two distinct meanings related to two different types of Boat. A trailer sailer is a small yacht or large dinghy style of sailboat that is moved to sailing locations and stored on a road trailer

• Daysailing is recreational sailing that does not involve racing or cruising. See also Dinghy sailing Dinghy racing is the competitive Sport of sailing dinghies. Many racers refer to all non-racers as "cruisers," including dinghy and small keelboat sailors who primarily focus on daysailing. See also Dinghy sailing Dinghy racing is the competitive Sport of sailing dinghies. Dinghy sailing is the activity of Sailing small boats by using (1 the Sails and (2 underwater foils ( Daggerboard or Centreboard

• Travel on cruise ships may be referred to as cruising. A cruise ship or cruise liner is a Passenger ship used for pleasure voyages where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience Those who take frequent cruise ship vacations (multiple times per year) may be called cruisers.

Further reading

• William F. Buckley, Jr., Atlantic High - an account of an Atlantic passage. William Frank Buckley Jr ( November 24 1925  – February 27 2008) was an American Author and conservative
• William F. Buckley, Jr. , Racing Through Paradise - etc. about a Pacific passage.
• Michael Carr, "Weather Prediction Simplified"
• Don Casey, Dragged Aboard: a Cruising Guide for the Reluctant Mate
• Linda and Steve Dashew, Offshore Cruisers' Encyclopedia
• Linda and Steve Dashew, Mariner's Weather Handbook
• Robin Lee Graham, Dove - The story of a 16-year-old boy who sails around the world in a 28 foot sloop in the nineteensixties
• Eric Hiscock, Cruising Under Sail - just the facts, a classic.
• Beth A. Leonard, The Voyager's Handbook
• Elbert Maloney, Dutton's Navigation and Piloting - a classic, professional reference, continuously updated.
• Lawrence and Lin Pardey, The Self-Sufficient Sailor -
• Lin Pardey, 'Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew'
• Lin and Larry Pardey, "Storm Tactics Handbook. "
• Merle Turner, Celestial Navigation for the Cruising Navigator - some theory.
• Alan Villiers, Cruise of the Conrad. Scribner's, 1937. Reprinted, Seafarer Books, 2006.
• Jeff & Raine Williams Around the World in Eighty Megabytes

See also

• Boat
• Cabin Cruiser
• Electric boat
• Maritime mobile amateur radio
• Ship location mapping service of vessels worldwide

References