Cruising Fundamentals

This book is used for the ASA (American Sailing Association) 103 and 104 certification classes. It is somewhat dated, but practical for today's Coastal Cruising (ASA 103) and Bareboat Chartering (ASA 104) application. It contains review questions and lots of useful illustrations and pictures. I am recommending this book for sailors that want to build a solid knowledge foundation. Better yet, take the classes!

This is a textbook for the ASA Sailing certification. If your taking the ASA or US Sailing certification I would recomend you purchase both books. Do not get the US Sailing books for Kindle. They do not include all of the diagrams. The ASA book is very discriptive and the US Sailing books are heavy on diagrams. Between the 2 sets of books you will get a much better understanding of tasks that are expected.

This book was well laid out in a simple to read format and supplied information along with concise sailing exercises to perfect ones skills. After reading for two evenings I know, without a doubt, that my boat handling techniques have moved up a notch. It is practical and applicable to true bareboat sailing encounters.

It is a big step for an intermediate sailor to go to the Caribbean and bareboat charter a 40' vessel. We use this book to take the intermediate sailor to this level. Cruising Fundamentals contains a vast amount of detailed information and yet it is organized in logical steps to bring students to the desired level of competance without overwhelming them. This book contains many excellent photographs and sketches. The basic navigation information is excellent without going too deep and the review questions are good for self evaluation (am I really getting it?) I particularly like the way systems are presented and compared. For example, the House DC system vs the shore power AC system, diesel engines vs gasoline engines featuring the differences and types of cooking fuels discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each. This is an all round excellent book that can be read straight through or used as a reference. I understand the second edition is in the works and I look forward to getting it.

This is American Sailing Association textbook for more advanced sailing topics and the the second of a series. The major plus of this book is that it teaches you how to sail with all the information you need to learn in the proper order you should learn it. There is an advantage in learning the material in a time tested manner. Every time an instructor like the author, Harry Munns, teaches a course it gets better. This book gets the benefit of his tried and true, tested methods of sailing instruction. It works well. This book follows "Sailing Fundamentals : The Official Learn-To-Sail Manual of the American Sailing Association and the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary"Get them both.Each book follows the ASA Basic Keelboat, Basic Cruising, and Bareboat charter courses. Reading the books and then taking the courses will give you a jump start on your sailing skills. Most sailors have knowledge like swiss cheeze--with lots of holes. The books will give you knowledge like American Cheeze--no holes.Buy both books--you won't regret it. Read them and then take the courses for maximum effectiveness. This is the path to skill, safety, and confidence on the water.