Made Simple for Cruisers

I recently purchased Commander Terry Sparks book "Cruising From Scratch" as I just bought a 41 foot sailboat and don't have much cruising experience. I had also read 5 books on cruising from my local library. I found Commander Sparks' book to he the most informative and easy to understand of them all. Dan Wood Purchaser of Book

Hello, Commander, My name is William Ennis and we had a several-months-long correspondence as I was installing an Icom M802 system aboard our sailboat, Wings. For the season, we've left Wings on the hard at Vuda Point Marina in Fiji, so it's easy to see that we did survive the trip across the Pacific. The radio worked as advertised with the KISS counterpoise and GAM antenna. I could send email 3200 nm when needed, all the way to the San Diego Yacht Club, and had good luck with voice, depending on time of day. As a Macintosh user, I had complete success running Windows 7 on top of Parallels, an emulation program, and used the newest version of Airmail. I have not gotten the BlueTooth to reliably work with our Pactor 7403, but it's often more convenient to work with the laptop on the nav station, anyway. All of this is roundabout way of thanking you for your instrumental help to me in my install and afterward. Your kindness to me was exceptional since we have never met. William Ennis Skipper s/v Wings

"Communications Made Simple for Cruisers" This is the Bible of Cruising Communications! All made easy with great graphics and easy to understand text. A must for every cruiser's library. I have been a ham for almost 50 years and was amazed how much I learned from this book Geary Ritchie Weatherman for the Sonrisa Net

"Cruising - Starting from Scratch" By Charles F. Wickwire (Guinea, West Africa) - This review is from: Cruising - Starting from Scratch: Hand Book for Starting the Dream (Paperback) I read the first edition of this book nearly two years ago and it was the best getting started book I ever read. I have been really looking forward to this second edition. I follow the author on several sailing blogs and he is one of the most knowledgeable and helpful people you will ever find. He is constantly helping other people with solutions to problems and finding ways to do things better and less expensively. I highly recommend anything by Terry Sparks and I am sure you will get much information and help from this edition. From Amazon.com re:Cruising Starting from Scratch

"Radar Made Simple for Cruisers" I recently published an article on radar for PassageMaker Magazine. The article was based, in part, on information from Terry. I concluded the article with the following: Commander Sparks' book on radar contains all the information a cruiser needs to know about this important subject. The important essentials are clear and easily understood. He defines relative motion, debunks myths, explains radar controls, introduces cross multilplaction, and shows how to determine the cloests point of approach of another vessel. Terry is also an expert on marine communications and has published several books on the subject.. He clears up the mystery behind high frequency radio communication. I have purchase all of his books and recommend them to anyone who owns a boat. http://www.passagemaker.com/subscriptions/channels-e-newsletter/item/1769-radar-its-more-than-just-collision-avoidance Tom Blandford Cruiser

"Icom IC M802 Starting from Scratch" There is absolutely no fluff, no filler, no irrelevant information. This is book 5 in Commander Sparks' series of books for cruisers. Commander Sparks is in a position to be an expert at SSB installation. He was trained in electronics by the US Navy then became an electrical engineer. "Icom IC M802 Starting from Scratch" begins with information on the basics of HF radio, including licenses and such that one needs. About 25% of the book concerns the installation, while the remainder concerns the actual use of the radio. Commander Sparks includes many excellent images that clarify the text. He provides graphics that illustrate the systems that he proposes. He uses lists to enumerate the items to purchase and an excellent list of items to check before the first transmission. William L. Ennis From Amazon

"Cruising Starting from Scratch" By Charles F. Wickwire (Guinea, West Africa) I read the first edition of this book nearly two years ago and it was the best getting started book I ever read. I have been really looking forward to this second edition. I follow the author on several sailing blogs and he is one of the most knowledgeable and helpful people you will ever find. He is constantly helping other people with solutions to problems and finding ways to do things better and less expensively. I highly recommend anything by Terry Sparks and I am sure you will get much information and help from this edition. Charles F. Wickwire Cruising Stating from Scratch

"Cruising - Starting from Scratch" By Mike Good book for showing the basics on what to look for and what to expect. We are in the process of buying a boat and found the information helpful. From Amazon.com Cruising Starting from Scratch

"Communications Made Simple for Cruisers" PROS All Communications Easy to understand Lots of reference materia Minimal Radio Jargan Written for Cruisers CONS None BEST USES All the basics covered Appendix covers all Best way to Communicate Comments about Paradise Cay Communications Made Simple for Cruisers, Volume 2: This book has been very valuable to me in learning the basics and communications options. The tables in the appendix consolidates all the scraps of paper I use to have. BOTTOM LINE Yes, I would recommend this to a friend From Westmarine Communications Made Simple for Cruisers

"Icom IC M802 Made Simple for Cruisers" PROS Great graphics CONS BEST USES Comments about Paradise Cay Icom IC M802 Made Simple for Cruisers: I have owned my ICOM 802 for several years and never understood alot of features. Terrys book made setting up my radio easy. Very good step by step naration combined with super graphics really worked for me. I have leared to use the DSC Watch feature of my radio which works like a direct line to other boats with 802's. BOTTOM LINE Yes, I would recommend this to a friend From Westmarine Icom IC M802 Made Simple for Cruisers