[TrishLambert]

Jack made a good point...you will likely stock certain books in your library BEFORE you go that you will slough off once you''re on the water. Things like "This Old Boat" "The Finely Fitted Yacht" and "Sensible Cruising" to name a few just didn''t have any application once we were out there. We keep reference-type books on the shelf now--Chapman''s, Calder''s books on engines/electrical, Cornell''s World Cruising Routes, to name a few. We don''t keep Bowditch on board anymore--never used it!

And he''s right about World Cruising Routes taking an "average" view, but we still have it in our onboard lreference ibrary. It''s an excellent "first reference" for us when we are considering this year''s or next year''s itinerary--it gives us some indication of the right times to travel in certain areas. From there, we can do more research--SSCA bulletins, boards like this one, our own personal cruiser network--to get more detailed info.

I suggest that you consider your library in two phases--the "before I go" set and the "once I''m out set," with the latter being a much smaller subset of the former.

Trish
www.takehersailing.com