Mariner’s Weather Handbook: Indispensable Guide Steve and Linda Dashew are well-known for their innovative series of big, high-speed Deerfoot and Sundeer cruising boats, and their encyclopedic reference books on cruising. Their Mariner’s Weather Handbook applies the same thorough approach to understanding marine weather that they have previously used to lead you through the maze of contradictory advice on choosing and equipping a cruising boat. This is an essential book for any cruising sailor who has even the slightest interest in developing a good understanding of weather. …The book is packed with useful illustrations. A large percentage of these illustrations are reproductions of various weather facsimile products. The Dashews do a good job of teaching you how to understand them. …A big bonus is the inclusion of a complete version of the book on CD. If you would rather sit at the computer than read a book, this may be the approach you take to the Mariner’s Weather Handbook. In some ways, the CD is better, as the photos on the CD are shown in full color. Knowledge gained from this book came in handy on the bumpy ride from Tonga to New Zealand. Faced with a rapidly deepening low-pressure system dropping down on us from New Caledonia, our weather forecaster advised us to try to heave to and let the depression pass south of us. This potentially would have left us in the strongest sector of the low, with winds of 50 knots or more…Instead, with an accurately calibrated barometer, a fresh understanding of the motion of extra-tropical lows, and up-to-date weatherfaxes, we decided to carry as much sail as we could and head due south as quickly as possible. That proved to be the right choice, as the barometer showed the low stalling to our northwest, and we escaped with only a minor beating.