book advice

[grumol]

Hi - I''m making the transition from sailing a Laser to sailing my Alberg 22. About to retire, my budget is tight. I have books on dinghy sailing, and the Chapman book, but am looking for something specific to cruiser sailing. I''m considering the Annapolis book, ''83 edition, available used, cheap, or the newer book by Nigel Calder, Cruising Handbook. Any suggestions which of these two might be best? thanks, bob

[WHOOSH]

Bob, I can''t speak to the Annapolis Handbook of Sailing well, but from what I recall it would be a solid reference for you. I think Calder''s new Cruising Handbook is excellent but IMO is focused much more on complex systems and offshore passagemaking, things I don''t think apply to your Alberg.

Perhaps another approach might be to use one of the books on small cruising boats (Vigor''s book always gets good comments) to see what the designs & their builders incorporated into them that make them so functional. Then steal with abandon, of course... <g>

Jack