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Sailing to the Edge of Time: The Promise, the Challenges, and the Freedom of Ocean Voyaging
John Kretschmer is sailing’s practical philosopher--as much a doer as a thinker. And that is the overarching theme of this chronicle of a sailing life. Often amusing, sometimes poignant, occasionally terrifying but always inspiring, his deeply personal account is a welcome reminder about the good life waiting at sea.
With hundreds of thousands of nautical miles under his keel, Kretschmer's adventures have taken him several times around the world, with challenging crossings of the Atlantic and the Pacific, a narrow escape from a coup in Yemen, an unlikely deliverance from a coral reef off Belize, as well as more serene, introspective passages where trade winds are blowing and stories are flowing. His crew has included CEOs, actors, writers, teachers, kids--in essence, everyone.
Kretschmer's narrative is interwoven with practical tips and advice on seamanship, but also, and just as importantly, his hard-won insights about making the most of our lives. He truly believes we find out who we really are, and what we are capable of, offshore, where we find a place where time changes shape--days may merge into one another, but minutes are memorable.
To live adventurously is to live more fully, and that is the life John Kretschmer continues to experience. In Sailing to the Edge of Time, Kretschmer shares his simple profundities that will inspire those who live to sail, and those seeking something more rewarding from life.
With hundreds of thousands of nautical miles under his keel, Kretschmer's adventures have taken him several times around the world, with challenging crossings of the Atlantic and the Pacific, a narrow escape from a coup in Yemen, an unlikely deliverance from a coral reef off Belize, as well as more serene, introspective passages where trade winds are blowing and stories are flowing. His crew has included CEOs, actors, writers, teachers, kids--in essence, everyone.
Kretschmer's narrative is interwoven with practical tips and advice on seamanship, but also, and just as importantly, his hard-won insights about making the most of our lives. He truly believes we find out who we really are, and what we are capable of, offshore, where we find a place where time changes shape--days may merge into one another, but minutes are memorable.
To live adventurously is to live more fully, and that is the life John Kretschmer continues to experience. In Sailing to the Edge of Time, Kretschmer shares his simple profundities that will inspire those who live to sail, and those seeking something more rewarding from life.
- GenresNonfictionMemoirTravel
288 pages, Hardcover
Published November 13, 2018
210 people are currently reading
280 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
December 21, 2019
John Kretschmer is a very talented storyteller and a high quality writer with unsurpassed experience and expertise in cruising sailboats. I have read and enjoyed a number of his other books. However, this one was disappointing and somewhat boring. It seems more of a book he had to complete to meet a publishing contract than it does a book focused on any particular theme or idea. Chapters hop from topic to topic—interesting clients, provisioning for a charter, removing teak decks, and some actual sailing—at random. This results in an awkward pastiche of stories (some told elsewhere), sailing advice, boat buying advice, and random facts about Kretschmer’s life.
July 20, 2024
Fantastic book about sailing. Reads like a novel and full of sage wisdom.
May 13, 2019
John Kretschmer does a great job demarcating the good, bad, and ugly about the sailing life. Few authors today are more experienced or have sailed more ocean than Kretschmer. A must read if you are considering the cruising life.
November 28, 2019
Great read for any sailor or powerboater that has ever ventured offshore. Also much here about life in general for the non-boater.
April 21, 2024
John Kretschmer is noted for his mariner skills. but fortunately for the reader, he also has great writing skills. He can take a mundane topic like evaluating a boat’s layout, and hold your interest. The lure of ocean, the art and science of sailing and the author's love for the people he sails with (friends, family and those who take his charter voyages) are described in terse, but beautiful, prose. That he reads widely is reflected in his writing and enriches the content
The chapters are topical but, unlike most books of stand alone essays, this reads smoothly as a whole.
He writes of his experiences in purchasing using and repairing equipment, surviving storms, watching and setting watch times. He writes of the friends he has made with people with whom he sails and those he meets on land. Some of his best writing (among pages of top notch prose) are of his love for the ocean and being in it.
I lost count of the number of places visited in this short book, but I particularly liked visits to Newfoundland, Belize and the Hebrides. A few other visits of note include the Galapagos, Malta, and the North Pacific.
Kretschmer gives some history of navigation and the need to visualize the spherical planet from a flat map. Charts are only part of what a good sailor needs. They can’t cover wind, current, waves, nor rocks, coral and other croppings beneath the water line. For these the mariner needs to rely on experience in reading the stars, currents, waves, and even birds which are clues to to pathways.
While Kretschmere's earlier book, Sailing a Serious Ocean: Sailboats, Storms, Stories and Lessons Learned from 30 Years at Sea, has a lot more on boats, there were new (to me) tips on purchasing and repairing them in this one.
The “Appendix” is a collection of short pieces. Most deal with safety: piracy, inflatable “personal flotation devices”, harnesses and daily checks by walking about the deck.
If you are a mariner you will want to read Kretschmer. He has written extensively on all aspects of sailing. In this book there are color photos of Quetzal the “almost perfect boat” that he loves. You can see it on YouTube.
This book is highly recommended for those who love the ocean and either love or would like to try blue water sailing.
The chapters are topical but, unlike most books of stand alone essays, this reads smoothly as a whole.
He writes of his experiences in purchasing using and repairing equipment, surviving storms, watching and setting watch times. He writes of the friends he has made with people with whom he sails and those he meets on land. Some of his best writing (among pages of top notch prose) are of his love for the ocean and being in it.
I lost count of the number of places visited in this short book, but I particularly liked visits to Newfoundland, Belize and the Hebrides. A few other visits of note include the Galapagos, Malta, and the North Pacific.
Kretschmer gives some history of navigation and the need to visualize the spherical planet from a flat map. Charts are only part of what a good sailor needs. They can’t cover wind, current, waves, nor rocks, coral and other croppings beneath the water line. For these the mariner needs to rely on experience in reading the stars, currents, waves, and even birds which are clues to to pathways.
While Kretschmere's earlier book, Sailing a Serious Ocean: Sailboats, Storms, Stories and Lessons Learned from 30 Years at Sea, has a lot more on boats, there were new (to me) tips on purchasing and repairing them in this one.
The “Appendix” is a collection of short pieces. Most deal with safety: piracy, inflatable “personal flotation devices”, harnesses and daily checks by walking about the deck.
If you are a mariner you will want to read Kretschmer. He has written extensively on all aspects of sailing. In this book there are color photos of Quetzal the “almost perfect boat” that he loves. You can see it on YouTube.
This book is highly recommended for those who love the ocean and either love or would like to try blue water sailing.
August 16, 2023
If this is your first Kretschmer memoir, you'll find everything that is promised: harrowing sea storm tales, philosophy, amusing anecdotes, a charming mature romance, and some real sailing and boat advice. I can't imagine coming away from the book not wanting to at least have a beer with the author in a sailor bar, or more likely want to sail a passage with him.
If this is not your first, then you'll perhaps wonder as I did what happened to the Lesa, the previous wife, and how he met Tadji. You'll also find about 20% of the best yarns to be recycled -- in some cases word for word -- from previous books. I recommend this, but recommend Kretschmer's Flirting With Mermaids more if you're looking for just one to read.
If this is not your first, then you'll perhaps wonder as I did what happened to the Lesa, the previous wife, and how he met Tadji. You'll also find about 20% of the best yarns to be recycled -- in some cases word for word -- from previous books. I recommend this, but recommend Kretschmer's Flirting With Mermaids more if you're looking for just one to read.
May 23, 2021
A relatively quick read by the author who has figured out how to make sailing across oceans central to his life and livelihood. Amusing and interesting stories, with the occasional chapter that deep-dives into what the “perfect boat” is (I skipped these). I wish he touched on the price he pays to make this work - there are hints in the background (2 ex-wives, kids who presumably didn’t see him much but seem happy to spend time with him as young adults, etc). But I get that’s not the point of the book.
As with so many books like this, he’s trying to capture experiences that are impossible to fully explain. But he takes a decent crack, so might be worth checking out.
As with so many books like this, he’s trying to capture experiences that are impossible to fully explain. But he takes a decent crack, so might be worth checking out.
December 14, 2023
Good book clearly a very experienced and impressive offshore sailor. I enjoyed his stories of sailing to extreme and isolated places (Newfoundland, Belize, Arctic circle). He definitely did a good job of describing the thrill of combining sailing and exploring and feeling at one with nature. I also enjoyed his description of the people he has met sailing and how his obsession with the sport put strain on his relationships with those outside the sailing world - all very insightful. Detail on what types of boats are the best for ocean voyages was a bit much for me, but I imagine very useful for anyone considering buying a boat.
April 19, 2021
A good ocean voyaging read for sure. This is not a “we bought a boat and had drinks and dinner on Bob’s boat” kind of book. This JK piece is informed and inspirational amongst other qualities. When you pay this much for a kindle book it had better be worth the price. In this case the price is justified. It is obvious the author put good effort and imagination into crafting his stories. His many sea miles and broad sailing experience give him scares and nautical gravitas that few sailors possess.
February 25, 2022
Enjoyable even for a non sailor. Although the experiences he has are perhaps not uncommon for sailors, he does an excellent job of conveying how utterly personal they are, and also provides a glimpse of what he values in these experiences in a way that translates to the experiences of non sailors - so even someone like me can say "I understand if not that exact experience, something of similar value in my own experiences." The practical side of sailing was also fascinating to learn a bit, even if it was obscured by staggering amount of specialized vocabulary. Readability 6. Rating 6.
July 3, 2025
If you've ever gotten stuck being talked at by an old man you know how it feels to read this book. Not a whole lot of practical sailing advice. Just story after story of sailing trips with too much backstory and names of people who don't end up mattering in the plot, if there was a plot. He jumps around in time, there is no larger theme, and so is confusing to read.
He lost me mid way through when he shared how he left his pregnant wife and their young child for an unpaid sailing trip then wrote in a light tone that she divorced him after. No wonder.
He lost me mid way through when he shared how he left his pregnant wife and their young child for an unpaid sailing trip then wrote in a light tone that she divorced him after. No wonder.
July 28, 2020
There are some repeats of Kretschmer’s greatest hits but it is welcome. I think this book is fairly well-written despite not having a very strong structure. It feels very stream-of-consciousness telling sea stories and yarns.
August 23, 2020
Thanks for another great book John.
Captivating and educational. I'm inspired by his attitude towards life and the collection of friends he's drawn into his sphere, like dolphins riding in a bow-wave.
Captivating and educational. I'm inspired by his attitude towards life and the collection of friends he's drawn into his sphere, like dolphins riding in a bow-wave.
February 17, 2021
Contemplative, informative, and authoritative. The format is a collection of thematic chapters that skip around in time and space, so it's not an instructive sailing manual - but you'll likely learn anyway, and will definitely find yourself thinking.
March 21, 2021
Enjoyed another book from a new favourite author. A bit of chopping and changing made it hard to follow at times but fascinating journeys and interesting learnings.
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. Ocean voyaging is the best way I know of to spend my days.”
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. Ocean voyaging is the best way I know of to spend my days.”
April 1, 2024
A far reaching sailing adventure
Some of the stories I read out loud to my kids they were so interesting and in some cases foreign sounding from our landlocked way of life. If you’re interested in sailing then this is a good read, otherwise you may not stay for the whole voyage.
Some of the stories I read out loud to my kids they were so interesting and in some cases foreign sounding from our landlocked way of life. If you’re interested in sailing then this is a good read, otherwise you may not stay for the whole voyage.
July 18, 2019
Autobiography
Mostly an autobiography with some salesmanship and philosophy thrown in. Not a bad read but there are better ones out there.
Mostly an autobiography with some salesmanship and philosophy thrown in. Not a bad read but there are better ones out there.
July 2, 2022
Delivery, training skipper and sailing philosopher. Excellent, inspiring.
July 13, 2022
More sea stories of storms and passages. I love these.
September 2, 2023
Kretschmer is always entertaining, but this is less connected and more rambly than others of his books.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews