A cruising sailboat anchored in the San Blas Islands, in Panama. The islands are an idyllic destination enjoyed by many cruisers.

This article is about Yacht Cruising, for cruising on Cruise Liners see the article Cruise ship. Image File history File linksMetadata Cruiser_at_Green_Island_Panama. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Cruiser_at_Green_Island_Panama. ... Islands entirely covered with dwellings. ... A cruise ship or a cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ships amenities are considered an essential part of the experience. ...

Cruising by boat is a lifestyle that involves living for extended time on a boat while traveling from place to place for pleasure. Cruising generally refers to trips of a few days or more, and can extend to round-the-world voyages. Cruising is done on both sail and power boats, although sail predominates over longer distances, as ocean-worthy power boats are considerably more expensive. Many cruisers are "long term" and travel for many years, the most adventurous circling the globe over a period of three to ten years. Many others take a year or two off from work and school for short trips and the chance to experience the cruising lifestyle. Diagram of Sailboat, in this case a typical monohull sloop with a bermuda or marconi rig. ... A 1962 Rebel. A wooden speedboat with an outboard engine. ...

History

Prior to the Nineteenth Century origin of the concept of voyaging as a lifestyle, boats were almost exclusively used for work. In 1857, the philosopher Henry David Thoreau, with his book Canoeing in Wilderness chronicling his canoe voyaging in the wilderness of Maine, was the first to convey the enjoyment of spiritual and lifestyle aspects of cruising. The concept of cruising for pleasure was popularized in the Nineteenth Century, by several widely read authors and books: John MacGregor, 1866, A Thousand Miles in a Rob Roy Canoe; Robert Lewis Stevenson, 1877, An Inland Voyage and Nathaniel H. Bishop, 1879, Four Months in a Sneakbox. Thoreau redirects here. ... John MacGregor (1825 – 1892), nicknamed Rob Roy after a renowned relative, was a Scottish explorer, travel writer and philanthropist. ... Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis (Balfour) Stevenson (November 13, 1850 – December 3, 1894), was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer. ...

Cruisers can see traditional life in remote areas of the world; here, a Kuna local paddles a dugout canoe in the San Blas Islands.

One of the first people to carry out a long-distance voyage for pleasure, and who inspired many others to follow in his path, was Joshua Slocum, who circumnavigated the world between 1895 and 1898. Despite widespread opinion that such a voyage was impossible and despite being a retired sea captain, Slocum rebuilt a derelict 37-foot sloop Spray and sailed her single-handed around the world. His book Sailing Alone Around the World is still considered a classic adventure, and inspired many others to take to the seas.^[1] Image File history File linksMetadata Dugout_in_San_Blas_Islands. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Dugout_in_San_Blas_Islands. ... A Kuna woman stands next to a clothesline brandishing her Mola-adorned blouse - or dulemola - on the San Blas islands of Panama. ... Islands entirely covered with dwellings. ... Joshua Slocum (February 20, 1844 – on or shortly after 14 November 1909) was a Canadian-American seaman and adventurer, a noted writer, and the first man to sail single-handedly around the world. ... “Round the world” redirects here. ... Year 1895 (MDCCCXCV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Year 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... A boat sails by her self-steering system as the skipper tends her sails, while sailing in fine conditions off Key West. ...

Other cruising authors have provided both inspiration and useful instruction to would-be cruisers. Key among these during the post war period are Miles and Beryl Smeeton, Bernard Moitessier, and Eric & Susan Hiscock. During the 1970s - 80's, Robin Lee Graham, Lin and Larry Pardey, Annie Hill, Herb Payson, Linda & Steve Dashew and Hal & Margaret Roth have provided inspiration for people to set off voyaging. Most recently, Beth Leonard have been writing both inspirational and technical books about voyaging. Bernard Moitessier (10 April 1925 Hanoi, Vietnam – 16 June 1994 near Paris, France) was a renowned French yachtsman and author of books about his voyages and sailing. ... Robin Lee Graham (1949 - ) is a man who set out to sail around the world alone as a teenager in the summer of 1965. ... Lin and Larry Pardey are a married couple famous internationally for their expertise in small boat sailing. ... Annie Hill (1955, Liverpool) is a British sailor and author of two books on sailboat voyaging. ...

Equipment

As well as normal sailing and seamanship skills, cruisers use a variety of equipment and techniques to make their voyages possible, or simply more comfortable. The use of wind vane self steering is common on long distance cruising yachts. A tiller-pilot on a sailing boat - simple electronic self-steering. ...

The solar panels on this 28-foot yacht can keep her self-sufficient in electrical power.

Though in the past many cruisers had no means of generating electricity on board and depended on kerosene and dry cell batteries, today most have some sort of electrical devices on board. Thus, one of the key areas is providing the electrical power to keep the boat's systems (lights, communications gear, etc.) running. Although most boats can generate power from their inboard engines, and some carry generators, carrying sufficient fuel for these over a long voyage can be a problem, so many cruising boats are equipped with generating devices such as solar panels, wind turbines and towed turbines. Image File history File links Solar_panels_on_yacht_at_sea. ... Image File history File links Solar_panels_on_yacht_at_sea. ... A photovoltaic module is composed of individual PV cells. ... Wind turbines near Aalborg, Denmark. ...

While it is quite possible to cruise without long-distance communications equipment, satellite communications are becoming more common on cruising boats. Many boats are now equipped with satellite telephone systems; however, these systems can be expensive to use, and may operate only in restricted areas. Many cruisers still use short wave maritime SSB and Amateur radio radio, which has no running costs. These radios provide two-way voice communications, can receive weather fax graphics via a laptop computer and with a compatible modem (e.g. PACTOR), can send and receive email at very slow speed. Such emails are usually limited to basic communication using plain text, without HTML formatting or attachments. A satellite phone or satphone is a mobile phone that communicates directly with orbiting satellites. ... High frequency (HF) radio frequencies are between 3 and 30 MHz. ... Single-sideband modulation (SSB) is a refinement of the technique of amplitude modulation designed to be more efficient in its use of electrical power and bandwidth. ... Amateur radio station with modern solid-state transceiver featuring LCD and DSP capabilities Amateur radio, often called ham radio, is both a hobby and a service that uses various types of radio communications equipment to communicate with other radio amateurs for public service, recreation and self-training. ... PACTOR is a radio modulation mode for sending digital data via radio waves. ... HTML, an initialism of HyperText Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. ...

Watermakers which turn seawater into potable water are increasingly common on ocean crossing yachts. Radar, GPS are usually present and electronic charting systems are also regularly found on cruising yachts. A watermaker is a device used to obtain potable water by reverse osmosis of seawater. ... For other uses, see Radar (disambiguation). ... Over fifty GPS satellites such as this NAVSTAR have been launched since 1978. ...

Safety

Travel by water brings hazards: collision, weather, and equipment failure can lead to dangerous situations such as a sinking or severely disabled and dangerous vessel. For this reason many long distance cruising yachts carry with them sophisticated emergency equipment such as EPIRBs and liferafts. Emergency position-indicating rescue beacons (EPIRB) are small radio transmitters that some satellites and search and rescue aircraft can use locate people or boats needing rescue. ...

Medical emergencies are also of concern, as a medical emergency can occur on a long passage when the closest port is over a week away. For this reason before going cruising many people go through first aid training and carry extensive medical kits.

Other kinds of maritime cruising

• Camp cruising, also known as beach cruising or gunkhole cruising, is a form of cruising in which sailors sail from point to point in an open or semi-enclosed boat, generally remaining within sight of land. Camp cruisers either camp ashore ("camp cruising" or "beach cruising"), or aboard the boat at anchor. The boats used may be specialized cruising dinghies, small keelboats, trailer sailers or general purpose daysailing or racing boats pressed into service for the purpose.

• Daysailing is recreational sailing that does not involve racing or cruising. Many racers refer to all non-racers as "cruisers," including dinghy and small keelboat sailors who primarily focus on daysailing.

• Travel on cruise ships may be referred to as cruising. Those who take frequent cruise ship vacations (multiple times per year) may be called cruisers.

A dinghy is either a small utility boat used to tend a larger boat, or it is a boat developed from these tenders but now used in its own right as a form of leisure sailing and/or rowing. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Dinghy racing is the competitive sport of sailing dinghies. ... Dinghy racing is the competitive sport of sailing dinghies. ... 2 GP14s, a Topper and a Graduate Dinghy sailing is the activity of sailing small boats by using (1) the sails and (2) underwater foils (centreboard and rudder). ... A cruise ship or a cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ships amenities are considered an essential part of the experience. ...

Further reading

• William F. Buckley, Jr., Atlantic High - an account of an Atlantic passage.
• William F. Buckley, Jr., Racing Through Paradise - etc. about a Pacific passage.
• Michael Carr, "Weather Prediction Simplified"
• Don Casey, Dragged Aboard: a Cruising Guide for the Reluctant Mate
• Linda and Steve Dashew, Offshore Cruisers' Encyclopedia
• Linda and Steve Dashew, Mariner's Weather Handbook
• Robin Lee Graham, Dove - The story of a 16-year-old boy who sails around the world in a 28 foot sloop in the nineteensixties
• Eric Hiscock, Cruising Under Sail - just the facts, a classic.
• Beth A. Leonard, The Voyager's Handbook
• Elbert Maloney, Dutton's Navigation and Piloting - a classic, professional reference, continuously updated.
• Lawrence and Lin Pardey, The Self-Sufficient Sailor -
• Lin Pardey, 'Care and Feeding of Sailing Crew'
• Lin and Larry Pardey, "Storm Tactics Handbook."
• Merle Turner, Celestial Navigation for the Cruising Navigator - some theory.
• Alan Villiers, Cruise of the Conrad. Scribner's, 1937. Reprinted, Seafarer Books, 2006.
• Jeff & Raine Williams Around the World in Eighty Megabytes

This article is about the conservative journalist and commentator. ...

See also

• Boat
• Cabin Cruiser
• Electric boat
• Maritime mobile amateur radio
• Ship location mapping service of vessels worldwide

For other uses, see Boat (disambiguation). ... An example of a cabin cruiser A cabin cruiser is a type of boat that allows extra storage or camping space. ... While most boats on the water today are powered by diesel engines, and sail power and gasoline engines are also popular, it is perfectly feasible to power boats by electricity too. ... Most countries amateur radio licences allow licensed operators to install and use radio transmission equipment while at sea. ...

References