Chapter Breakdown
Chapter 1:
No matter what kind of nautical or maritime experience you have had, you must fully understand seasickness. The causes, prevention, treatment, and its effect on performance, including the newly appreciated “Sopite Syndrome.”
Chapter 2:
How many senses do we have? Five? No way! Navigate with ALL your senses attuned and contributing. Learn about the two systems of navigation hard- wired into your brain; and find out what memory is really all about.
Chapter 3:
Learn how to stay warm and avoid hypothermia. This chapter could save your life, sure. But more likely it will help you identify situations in which the cold will impede your ability to perform basic nautical activities.
Chapter 4:
Heat exhaustion will put you down and heat stroke could put you out for good. But even lesser degrees of dehydration will seriously affect performance. And what if you or a crew member has hypertension? Better read this chapter.
Chapter 5:
Skin is your largest and most exposed organ (no jokes please). We know that x-rays accumulate over a lifetime; so does UV damage from the sun. We spend years in the sun. If it’s too late for you at least learn to protect your kids!
Chapter 6:
Since all life on earth began in the ocean, you would think our distant relations would be a little nicer to us, but no: they sting, they bite, and they sometimes make us sick if we eat them. Learn how to deal with these relatives.
Chapter 7:
If you thought those relatives were bad enough, how about dealing with diseases that our fellow humans spread (often with the help of insects). Cholera, yellow fever, malaria; you better be prepared.
Chapter 8:
We humans are visual creatures and boating is overwhelmingly a visual experience. Understanding the visual system is critical to performance and enjoyment on the water. And like our skin, our eyes need protection.
Chapter 9:
An estimated 2 million sailors died of scurvy in the years 1500-1800. Ok, we’ve fixed that one, but how much do you really understand about nutrition. It is especially important for long distance sailors and sailing athletes.
Chapter 10:
Whether we work at sea, play at sea, or compete at sea, we are aware of the importance of physical exercise. This chapter will help you design a program right for you; including an exercise program which can be continued on a boat.
Chapter 11:
When is an accident not an accident? When a little foresight would have prevented it. That’s obvious. But if you think about it many injuries which occur on a boat are also preventable. But you have to think about it!
Chapter 12:
Think about this: if sleep weren’t critical to our survival, why would mother nature take us off-line for 7-8 hours every single day (1/3 of our life!). It’s either really important….there is no either, it is that important. Don’t sleep through this chapter.
Chapter 13:
Sailing solo or in small groups affects different individuals differently. Some thrive and some struggle to survive. And we all are either a captain or we have to deal with one.
Chapter 14:
This last chapter borders on the existential. It deals at one level with the psychology of competition but it is ultimately about achieving whatever it is you want to achieve; hopefully with moments in the “zone” or in the “flow.”