Sailing a Serious Ocean

Sailboats, Storms, Stories and Lessons Learned from 30 Years at Sea

By: John Kretschmer

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

After sailing 300,000 miles and weathering dozens of storms in all the world's oceans, John Kretschmer has plenty of stories and advice to share. John's offshore training passages sell out a year in advance, and his entertaining presentations are popular at boat shows and yacht clubs all over the English-speaking world. John's talent for storytelling enchants his audience as it soaks up the lessons he learned during his often challenging voyages. Now you can take a seat next to John - at a lesser cost - and get the knowledge you need to fulfill your own dream of blue-water adventure.  

In Sailing a Serious Ocean, John tells you what to expect when sailing the oceans and shows how to sail safely across them. His tales of storm encounters and other examples of extreme seamanship will help you prepare for your journey and give you confidence to handle any situation - even heavy weather. Through his personal stories, John will guide you through the whole process of choosing the right boat, outfitting with the right gear, planning your route, navigating the ocean, and understanding the nuances of life at sea.  

Our oceans are beautiful yet unpredictable - water that is at one moment a natural mirror for the glowing sun can turn into a foamy, raging wall of fury. John knows our oceans, and he is one of the best teachers of taming and enjoying them. Before you set off across the big blue, turn to John for his inspirational stories and hard-learned advice and discover the serious sailor in you.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2014 John Kretschmer (P)2019 Tantor

A must read for any aspiring blue water cruiser.

John Kretschmer is a masterful story teller. His ability to convey both romance, and reality of the deep ocean in an informative, and captivating narrative is a joy to witness. You'll feel like you are right there in Quetzal's storm washed cockpit with Kretschmer, and crew while they brave one of nature's last truly untamed wilds. Sean Runnette gives a beautiful performance, and captures the spirit of Kretschmer's words with a strong, yet gentle style. Whether you and old salt, or greener than pond scum, "Sailing A Serious Ocean" will leave listeners longing for sweet reach, and an endless blue horizon.

Wow

This book and performance are perfect.

Shortly after finding the YouTube channel
Millennial falcon episode with John Kreteschmer, i put his books on my “get one day list.” After a quick search and seeing the AMAZING Sean Runnette narrated this book I snatched it up. John is in fact a world class story teller, everyone from a seasoned sailor to novice with only dreams can enjoyed this book. Yes you will learn from this, but more importantly for a brief 10 hours you will get to share in John’s adventures. I can’t wait to get more of his books. I really do hope Sean Runnette narrated those as well. (PS for Runnette fans i almost lost it when Fire Brand showed up as the voice of the Plummer who bought the old steel boat)

Thank you to both John and Sean for this excellent performance.

Re-listen again and again

The narrator has an amazing voice especially for the topic at hand. Just great cadence and perfect pitch to describe the stories within.

The contents of this book is so good, because you can listen to this again and again for different aspects. Whether it be for adventure or equipment recommendations or tales that make you realize how serious it is when you cross an ocean or take on a long passage. Just so well organized and worth it for anyone who loves sailing on any level. The vocabulary will help you grow! Experienced sailors can relate well too.

A very interesting story

this was a very interesting story. I could feel the intensity of the storms, and when I close my eyes, I could see the breaking waves crashing around me. This may dissuade an aspiring sailor from setting sail but is also informative

Details

Thank you for sharing priceless knowledge and I’m blessed Thank you Captain for your sharing your journey:)

Narrator

This narrator seems to have an annoying lisp I stuck with it because the book was worth it, but that lisp is distracting

A hands on and pleasant read.

A mixture of knowledge and wisdom. Valuable for the experienced and beginner alike. Loved it

Soothes my yearning soul!

Read it 3 times in 2 weeks. My addiction is complete!! Absolutely amazing! I get so lost in the story I feel it in my bones and it becomes a visceral experience

5 stars! Highly recommend!

Terrific story telling with gems of wisdom throughout. Another great book by Kretschmer. Highly recommend!

Fantastic book on ocean sailing

Loved listening to it while I'm working renovating my own sailboat. I'm relatively new to sailing, and this book made me dream of open oceans. Have dream to circumnavigate the globe some day, and this book have vital information and thougts on how to meet those challanges ahead on a serious ocean. Liked the narrators voice, calm and clear. Kretschmer possesses a ton of information. I also liked the chapter for suggested literature on open ocean sailing. Thank's for sharing your wisdom Kretschmer. I wished Kretschmer could discuss more about pros and cons between long keel boats and modern fin keel boats. Maybe a topic for a book in the future?