If you own a sailing boat, chances are that you’ve wondered what it would be like to throw in your job, cast off and sail over the horizon.

Here are 50 out-of-the way destinations to encourage you to sell up and go (or enjoy a temporary escape) with practical tips including formalities, the prevailing weather and GPS positions.

Author Nicholas Coghlan and his wife Jenny have sailed 70,000 miles offshore in two successive 27ft sailboats Tarka the Otter and Bosun Bird. Their adventures include a circumnavigation of the world and a year in Patagonia. The selection of locations for the book is based on their cruising experience.

Some locations (St Helena, Cocos Keeling) are classic, yet remote, destinations that have been favoured by circumnavigators ever since the days of Joshua Slocum. Others (in Japan, Patagonia or the Pacific Northwest) have been chosen as perfect examples of the attractions of those regions. Common denominators are protection from the weather, scenic beauty and historic and/or human interest. And the fact that, while solitude is not guaranteed, you won’t be troubled by the arrival of a cruising flotilla or by a novice dragging anchor onto you.

Each anchorage is introduced with a lively account describing the place, its history and people (if any) as well as the author and his crew’s adventures. Each account is followed by a beautifully hand-drawn sketch of the anchorage and an information box. There are lots of wonderful photos.

By Nicholas Coughlan
Published by Adlard Coles for Bloomsbury

Find out more here.

Nicholas is also the author of Winter in Fireland.