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  • 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
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (154 ratings)
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Sailing a Serious Ocean cover art

Sailing a Serious Ocean

By: John Kretschmer
Narrated by: Sean Runnette
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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

What listeners say about Sailing a Serious Ocean

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Great book but poor orator

Unfortunately I found the orator difficult to listen to as he sounds like he has false teeth.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Even as a sailor of 45 years, not that interesting

A meandering recollection of events over the life of John Kretschmer with little to no structure, peppered with random and not very helpful "top 10" lists and heavily biased to North America.

The writing is overblown, disorganised, self aggrandising and occasionally contradictory.

The narration is oddly dramatic and would be better suited to a thriller; it really isn't suited to this book.despite the sometimes melodramatic prose.

I listened to nearly the end but felt it was a waste of time.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • C
  • 24-03-24

It’s another world

I love the writers ability to take me into a world, I know nothing about. His absolute passion and reverence for the sea and sailing shines through. It’s also a reminder to do what you love. Great book . Fabulous story telling.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

My first sailing book and I loved it!

I learned a lot about storm tactics, boat models and overall enjoyed the good story!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a good accout of blue water sailing

factual yet interesting, neither slow and tedious or too fast to absorb, i will listen to this again

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great book

Wonderful stories and lesions in life and sailing, well told and easy listening really enjoyed it lots

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant, life changing

Will re assess your goals and requirements to get out on the water.
Johns words breath confidence and professionalism

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Must read for dreamers and aspiring blue water sailors

Very entertaining, practical and helped me feel onboard! I will almost certainly listen / read again

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Pleasant Narration

Contrary to what some reviewers are saying here, I found the narrator's voice very pleasant to listen to. Calm and mature, one could even say that it fits the subject matter very well. Also technically competent.
It's a matter of opinion, of course, as with everything...

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a stunning blend of story and advice

what a book! gripping in every sense with sea stories to rival the greats and advice for the novice through to the seasoned mariner. the reading is fully fitting to the text and is warm and compelling. highly recommended to any who aspire to cross oceans or just want to read about someone who has.

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