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Rating:  -
This book is a good read even if you are not venturing far. The update has been well done although has come in for some flak from the purists. It gives a snapshot into how far technolgy has come in the 40 or so years since Beebe started writing.
Rating:  -
Very interesting especially from a technical standpoint. A little dry at times and I would have liked a little more personal experience sections. However, I am not finished with it yet, other problems having erupted.
Rating: -
Beebe is the grandaddy of long range power boating. Once he retired from the navy, he had it in his mind to pack up his wife and some friends and see the world in a small boat. When he originally planned this, he had intended to sail, but he came to realize that a round-bottom hull, combined with a small diesel engine was actually *more* economical than attempting to sail long distance. Sailcloth deteriorates faster than you can burn the equivalent of diesel fuel in an efficient motorboat. This book contains many interesting technical graphs and suchlike from which a builder can design a craft capable of world travel. It also goes over essential equipment, layout and other things a squid like me would never think of. The modern revisions, unfortunately, reflect a slightly different philosophy from the original: with a heavier emphasis on buying fat, expensive turnkey systems with elaborate onboard electrical systems (electric air conditioning, electric hot and cold runnig water, electric winches, electric blah blah blah). Trawler Yachts, basically: the guy who did the rewrite of the original book (written in the 1960s) operates the Nordhaven company, which makes such $700k pleasure boats.
Rating: -
This book is a great reference in trawler boats and crossing ocean reference. I really recomend this book for someone who is envolve in boat building, trawlering and voayge over oceans;
Rating: -
Although I have never ventured beyond the horizon -- fish for blues out to 25 miles offshore--- I have been fascinated with the modern equivalents of Homer's fabled voyager. This book brings Homer's world-travelling explorer into the 21st century. Make no mistake, this is not a tale of imaginary voyages, but an eminently practical guide for those who would cross oceans
in engine powered craft to experience exotic and beautiful vistas. Of course you need upwards of half a million bucks to spend on a world-cruising seaworthy vessel. Beebe never envisioned the exorbitant cost of the trawler market when he designed his original passagemaker. He did lay out some very methodical formulae and building guides for follow-up vessels. The epitome of the lessons from
the first edition were realized by Jim Leishman, author/editor of the revised edition. His Nordhavn 46, and better, his Nordhavn 62, design are the fulfillment of Beebe's directives.
Unlike another reviewer, I did not find that his revisions smacked of a Nordhavn commercial. He included many other contemporary builders' designs and was fair in his assessments of these boats. All in all, the book is THE bible of offshore and trans-oceanic power cruising. The practical aspects of buying and fitting out a vessel, provisioning it for the voyage, and navigating in mid-ocean as well as in shoal waters, are set out in a lively and clear manner.
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