One of the most petrifying things a sailor could confront is having to deliberately sink his yacht. Surprisingly, perhaps, we've reported on this chilling scenario several times in the last few years - two incidents involved rudder failure on Atlantic crossings, when no suitable method of jury steering could be made to work.

Be warned, numerous other yachts have been abandoned and left as floating hazards because relatively simple failures could not be fixed. Two months ago a Westerly Corsair with was abandoned and left drifting 600 nautical miles north-west of the Cape Verdes after failure of a rigging screw.

Whether it's your first sail of the season, or your first ocean passage, don't miss Nigel Calder's ten top fitting-out tips which start on page 26. Prop shafts, chainplates, rudder stocks, fuel tanks and batteries are all vulnerable parts of a boat's complex systems. Calder's timely advice could save you a lot of hassle and heartache. Better to give yourself a nasty shock in the boatyard than on open waters.

I've often wondered if Yachting Monthly should carry a health warning. Something like: 'This magazine contains seductive words and beguiling images that may lead you to seriously alter your lifestyle…'

These are the words that appear already in the introduction to a best-selling book that has inspired thousands of sailors to escape the narrow confines of the known and cast off for blue waters adventures and the unknown. On page 74 this month we meet veteran cruisers and dream-makers Bill and Laurel Cooper, authors of the sailors' bible, Sell Up Sail, now in its fifth edition, having sold more than 40,000 copies. Some 40 years ago, Bill and Laurel's first boat, a steel ketch, was called Fare Well. Now this intrepid couple, both 80 this year, are in Lowestoft, on the East Coast, putting the finishing touches to their next boat, Faraway, and getting ready to return to their spiritual home in the Mediterranean, at Levkas, in Greece. They have designed their new boat with twin derricks on deck, big enough to lift two electric pensioners' mobility scooters onto the dockside for shorebound adventures. Now that's what I call passage planning for the future!
Yachting Monthly, 13 March 2008