Hi Gordon, The Admirable and I have sailed a lot of nautical miles in Europe and the Northeast USA, but if you want excellent salt water tutelage, read Hal Roth's book, "50,000 Miles", or the Pardeys books. They will cover all the aspects of long distance sailing (and are just as applicable to local sailing). The best part is they answer all the "why" questions and give you all their reasons for doing something. I found them to be gold mines of useful information, and their information is the distillation of their thousands of miles of sailing. I can throw in some amusing anecdotes from exotic locales, and maybe when sailing season tapers off and boats are back in the garage for the winter, I'll spin you some yarns, as we sit in front of the fireplace with a beer in our hands. Connie