Changing Course

"The essential first step for all couples planning to sail away; this is a must-read."--Paul and Sheryl Shard, authors of Sail Away! "Changing Course is the first book that honestly evaluates the transition to life afloat."--Beth Leonard, author of The Voyager's Handbook Debra Ann Cantrell faced a dilemma when her husband proposed living and cruising on a boat. She would lose a career she loved and, she feared, everything by which she'd defined herself. She wondered how others had made the decision to go cruising and how their choice affected their lives. Her search for answers led her to more than a hundred women, over a five-year period, whose partners had proposed the cruising life. Changing Course chronicles the odyssey of making a major lifestyle change from land to sea. This thought-provoking and highly personal book explores what women stand to gain when they set forth on such a journey--and what they stand to lose if they do not. "Excellent preparation."--48 Degrees North "A solid resource for cruisers...Cantrell's sensible advice is reassuring, positive, and affirming."--Southwinds "Fresh and honest, and the author is warm, enthusiastic, and encouraging. "--Good Old Boat "Poignant and highly inspiring."--Women's Sailing Foundation

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction 1 Going Cruising: An Odyssey of Change 2 A Model for a Lifetsyle Change 3 The Most Common Concerns 4 What's in the Cruising Lifestyle for Me? 5 Managing Fear 6 The Cruising Couple: Interpersonal Dynamics 7 Leaving Life on Land: All or Nothing is a Choice 8 Attention, Initiating Partners 9 Sixty-Four Ways to Make Cruising More Rewarding 10 Because You Asked ... 11 Nothing Is Forever Appendix: Demographics and Procedures Bibliography About the Author

About the Author :
Debra Cantrell is an adult educator working with the native peoples of Canada--helping them develop self-government and social institutions. A large part of her job is facilitating workshops; she also trains counselors to deal with social problems such as alcoholism and child abuse. Her husband first started talking about longterm cruising in 1987, and they chartered in the Caribbean in 1987, 1991, and 1993. They bought their boat while on charter in 1993, and have since been easing into the cruising life with two-month cruises whenever possible. They made their first major offshore passage (U.S. Virgins to the Chesapeake) in 1997. Meanwhile, in her doctoral program in Adult Education, Cantrell wrote her dissertation on women embracing the cruising lifestyle. Through the internet and sailing magazines, she met and interviewed 107 women, following some 80 of them over a five-year period of their lives. Cantrell sees a conjunction between her professional work and her interest in cruising women--in both areas she has focused on holistic wellness, health and happiness achieved through challenge and change. HOMETOWN: Collingwood, Ontario

Review :
"Changing Course is first and foremost a primer in rational decision-making. The focus of the book is the question: to cruise or not to cruise, a question Cantrell considers most difficult for women. [But] the book is helpful regardless of who wants to go and who hangs back." - Points East; "Changing Course is aimed at the process of making this major decision about your life. Cantrell's professional skills as a counselor and educator are well exercised in this volume. Above all, she offers reasonable answers about challenges and risk-taking, Many readers will find a safety net inherent in her approach to cruising..." - 48[degrees] North; "Ask any couple living aboard an average-size cruising boat: men troubleshoot; women problem-solve. Men need to know what; women need to know why. Men prefer to learn by doing, figuring out things as they go along; women are more comfortable figuring out how things work before swinging into action." - Sailing