Idiot Afloat, Book I, Living and Cruising on Wishbone, Ultramarine Blue and My Detour

While most cruising books are an adventure unfolding along a route from place to place, the journey here is that of learning how to cruise. It is about people and boats. The setting for the book is the ICW, the Bahamas and Cuba, but Sharon was a member of the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Ontario before she went south. As the relatives, friends and guests revolve thought her companionway, Sharon relates the daily challenges of anchoring, provisioning, navigation and maintenance. She relates mastering boat mechanics, from changing engine oil and draining air from the fuel system to changing the alternator belt. Those not familiar with boats will be shocked to learn what proportion of the day is dedicated to maintenance as opposed to sunset cocktails. She explains how weather guru Herb Hilgenberg (of Burlington) advised her on the weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. Never holding back, she even relates how her boat, Ultramarine Blue, sank under a bridge which she clipped with her mast, fighting an unexpectedly strong current while waiting for a bridge tender to belatedly open a bridge. While much of the book is written in the first person narrative, there are also excerpts from logs and journals, both hers and friends. There are fish and seafood stories. There is romance. It is an unabashed insider’s window into cruising life.

- From Richard Herrington’s review in New Horizons, the RHYC Newsletter, Dec. 2012 - Jan. 2013