Shakedown Cruise

Long before he was one of America''s leading yachting writers, Nigel Calder was a novice cruiser with ambitions grander than his experience. Nigel and his partner Terrie were young and foolish, with a home-built boat that was new and untested, one child already and another on the way - but they were determined to complete an adventurous 18-month voyage from New Orleans to Venezuela and back.

It was...