Many beginning sailors soon yearn for a larger boat - with a galley, head and berths - so they can extend their time on the water and range of action. However, the simple mechanics of sailing do not include the variety of arts necessary to cruise successfully.

Cruising (with) Class began as a series of lectures at the Sarasota (Florida) Sailing Squadron with the intention of teaching basic skills to beginning cruisers. Comfort on the water is not a matter of soft cushions. It comes from confidence in the ability to voyage safely.

Reading the weather, planting the anchor, calculating the tides, navigating a coast, avoiding fatigue, choosing equipment, coping with storms, reacting to disasters, these are the arts of a cruiser.

Although the book calls on the author's 25 years of cruising small sailboats, it is not a travelogue. Instead, it is a precise iteration of lessons learned the hard way, and presented in sailor-to-sailor fashion so others can avoid disaster and find comfort bred in confidence on the water.