There has long been recognized a special relationship between a skipper and his (or her) boat. In this book Alfred "Alfie" Sanford, with nearly three quarters of a century of sailing beneath his keel, broadens that bond of affection and understanding to include the land and the sea which washes it, in this tribute to the art of cruising in general and cruising the waters of Nantucket, his home port, in particular. 
"Cruising is the art of exploring the interaction of land with the sea,"; he writes. Sometimes his book recounts that interplay in the broadest terms, describing how harbors open up the land to the sea, enabling sailors to connect places and cultures. But he also tells us in meticulous detail to tack over to starboard just past the green can marking the end of the second dry shoal entering Eel Point channel. Do it. He has been there, and knows.
It is an account of how the tides deposit sands in fanlike patterns and how to guide your boat through them, and how at the end of the day to drop your anchor in a small harbor that's been used hundreds of times over the years but is still quiet and nearly empty, protected from the ocean by a thin strip of land, hearing the "ceaseless sea seething against the sands of a resort of utter tranquility, decorated by stars emerging from a dying twilight."

Sailing Around Nantucket: A Guide to Cruising the Island

Alfred F. Sanford

Mill Hill Press

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Books by Alfred F. Sanford

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Alfred F. Sanford. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Sailing Around Nantucket: A Guide to Cruising the Island