This book is the only comprehensive guide to mastering the challenges of low-latitude cruising. "Tropical Cruising Handbook" provides everything you need to know about sailing the world's tropical oceans, including: weather patterns and sea conditions, generally and region by region; reef navigation, anchoring, and other key tropical seamanship skills; tropical passage planning and passagemaking; equipping a boat for tropical sailing; maintaining gear in tropical environments; and, much more. 'What strikes me most is the wide knowledge and hard-earned experience that inform every page, and the smart, straightforward writing' - Tim Queeney, "Ocean Navigator". 'An indispensable addition to the cruising yacht's technical library' - "Boat Books" (New Zealand). 'Will have a permanent home on our boat...Thoroughly recommended' - "Cruising Helmsman". 'Don't go cruising in the tropics without "Tropical Cruising Handbook"' - "The Islands' Weekly". 'Condenses much of the information you'll need into one compact source' - "Good Old Boat". Yacht designer and geographer Mark Smaalders has been sailing for more than twenty-five years. Kim des Rochers is a geographer and editor. They live in New Caledonia, where they sail their 35-foot wooden sloop Nomad. Visit them online at www.tropicalcruisinghandbook.com.