Sail Away – How to escape the rat race and live the dream
By Nicola Rodriguez
Published by Fernhurst Books
www.fernhurstbooks.com

Realizing the dream of escaping to sea involves a myriad of choices, decisions, and learning. For many wanting to make this dream a reality, it can be a very daunting task and a little intimidating. Nicola, having done it herself and raising her children on board for 4 years, has now produced an updated version of “Sail Away” which acts as a guide on how to make this dream come true.

The book documents everything you need to consider from saving to buying, equipping, re-fitting and setting off, to maintaining, exploring, crossing oceans and becoming a true liveaboard long-distance cruiser.

Cleary such a huge subject matter can only be touched on in one small book, so information on each consideration is brief. However, Nicola cleverly uses anecdotes from a wide variety of international long-term cruisers who she has met on her cruising travels to illustrate the various sections of the book, which makes it both interesting and entertaining to read.

The book is written from a UK perspective, charting the cruising routes from Northern Europe for long-distance cruisers. It touches on destinations along these routes, in the Med, across the Atlantic, in the Caribbean, colder waters, through Panama, across the Pacific and onwards, but the touch is so light I wonder if perhaps these pages could have been better used to go into more detail on the practicalities of living onboard and cruising to foreign shores.

As a starter-read, to decide if this really is the life and adventure you are looking for, it’s a very useful overview with all considerations available in one place and an extensive further reading list provided.