Teeming with practical, easy-to-apply advice, for example, "Maneuvering a sailboat is a bit like driving a car on ice," Casey keeps good his word not to get too technical and instead focuses on such issues as confronting your fears and personal safety or how to make a boat as comfortable as your home. He assumes the reader knows nothing, going so far as to list types of fruit to buy and what items to put in the safety kit. Sage advice includes: never discuss drugs, even legal ones, over the radio and use pan-pan instead of Mayday when the emergency isn't life threatening. Despite the title, all newcomers to cruising will learn plenty, including general navigational basics and skills like docking and anchoring. One important caveat: although Casey admits to gender assumptions in the introduction, some patronizing references are hard to ignore, for example, "A man steps aboard as captain" and "Domestic issues fall to the mate." Nevertheless, this book will reassure and enlighten any reluctant mate--male or female. Brenda Barrera

Fueled by 18 years of the best letters, articles, and firsthand accounts from Living Aboard magazine and the results of hundreds of surveys, Gently with the Tides is a compendium of the challenges of living aboard a boat and how to meet them. Includes information about the "perfect" boat, galley and provisioning hints, the law and liveaboard rights, and much more.

Ever daydream about what it's like to quit your job, sell your house and most of your possessions, say good-bye to your neighbors, and set sail with your family--permanently? Tom and Mel Neale left their 9 to 5 world nearly two decades ago and never looked back. Now their neighborhood is a Chesapeake Bay cove, or a secluded Bahamian beach, or anywhere else they choose to anchor. And along the way they raised two daughters. It's not all a vacation: Instead of living to work, they work to live, but they make time for adventure and play, too. Here's everything you need to know to follow them: Choosing the right boat; Provisioning for long-term cruising; Getting along in close quarters; Learning what you can leave behind; Earning a living--and how to hold on to the money; What to expect in the cruising life, and how to handle it; Preparing the crew and boat; Raising--and educating--kids; Keeping in touch; Making the ocean your backyard.

Outfitting and Organizing Your Boat, his latest, truly has something to offer everyone from the day boater to the lifelong liveaboard cruiser. Michael's occasionally lighthearted view of serious organization and outfitting will humor you as you learn to prepare your boat for the use you love.