If you’ve ever thought of casting off the dock lines to your sailboat and sailing over the horizon then ‘Cruising Careers’ just might be the book for you.   ’50 Proven Onboard Businesses to Support Your Voyage’ has many sage words of advice.  Scott Fratcher and his wife Allison Thompson have over 150,000 miles under their keel and speak from experience.

While having been born dyslexic, Scott is briefly apologetic but straight forward about the sometimes mixed up words.  On occasion I had to pause and think but still this book reads well.  There are tidbits of personal stories and huge servings of great advice.  Plus he tells it as it is.  If he knows it works he tells you, more importantly he’ll tell you what doesn’t work.

If you’re not yet ready to cast off, you’ll still find help as much can be applied to your buisness/work today.  He talks in depth about working below the radar or as a ‘dryback’ in other countries, how to cope with difficult people (yeah, like you’ve never been there!), how to market your cruising business and much, much more.

Some of the jobs in this book I’ve thought about in the event we ever get to go, although I must admit my business ideas were small in number compared to what’s offered in ‘Cruising Careers’.  Yacht deliveries and sail repair are kind of a no-brainer but he gives detailed information.  Then again, who’d of thought of treasure hunting!

There are nearly 300 pages of helpful information and you’ll never know when that could apply to your own boat.  Have you ever thought of re-powering your boat?  Yeah, so have we and Scott’s insight into how to work the motor mounts is worth the price of the entire book.  The photo’s are clear and show exactly what you need to see.  Each business adventure gives a time line to learn, investment cost and how much of your cruising expenses you can expect it to cover.

Follow this link to order ‘Cruising Careers, 50 Proven Onboard Businesses to Support Your Voyage’ by Scott Fratcher.  This would be a great addition to any cruising yachts library.