Get Real, Get Gone
How to Become a Modern Sea Gypsy and Sail Away Forever
by Rick Page
Reading Profile
Should I read this?
Get Real, Get Gone writes like a pragmatic handbook for sailors who can't rely on a big budget. It mixes cost-conscious advice on boat choice and outfitting with concrete maintenance tips and short voyage anecdotes showing compromises you’ll face. The tone pushes safety and frugality over romanticizing the sea, so it’s useful when you need realistic limitations but can feel repetitive as common warnings recur across chapters. Practical readers will take away actionable priorities; those seeking lyrical escape may find it dry.
Read this if...
- •an early-retirement engineer planning to convert a used sailboat for bluewater cruising—needs concrete cost tradeoffs and maintenance priorities before committing funds
- •a couple saving for a multi-year coastal cruise who must prioritize gear, provisioning and affordability—useful for deciding which comfort upgrades to defer
- •a weekend-sailor moving toward liveaboard life who must learn routine boat systems, DIY repairs and realistic time commitments to make extended cruising viable
Skip this if...
- •you want a rapturous travelogue—you'll likely put it down when the narrative shifts to chapters of checklist-style advice and budgeting detail
- •you expect glossy visuals or evocative, slow prose—annoying if you prefer scene-setting and lyrical description over practical how-to
- •you need a guided planner with worksheets and templates—you'll lose patience if you want step-by-step forms for budgeting and scheduling
Don't even think of buying a boat until you have read this book'. Tom Cunliffe (legendary sailor and author of The Complete Yachtmaster). The idea that you have to be rich to travel the world on your own yacht is so universal, it goes largely unquestioned This book hopes to change all that. If you are not rich, but dream of seeing our beautiful w...
Before You Buy
Reading Specifications
Difficulty:hard
Audience Fit
- an early-retirement engineer planning to convert a used sailboat for bluewater cruising—needs concrete cost tradeoffs and maintenance priorities before committing funds
- a couple saving for a multi-year coastal cruise who must prioritize gear, provisioning and affordability—useful for deciding which comfort upgrades to defer
- a weekend-sailor moving toward liveaboard life who must learn routine boat systems, DIY repairs and realistic time commitments to make extended cruising viable
- you want a rapturous travelogue—you'll likely put it down when the narrative shifts to chapters of checklist-style advice and budgeting detail
- you expect glossy visuals or evocative, slow prose—annoying if you prefer scene-setting and lyrical description over practical how-to
- you need a guided planner with worksheets and templates—you'll lose patience if you want step-by-step forms for budgeting and scheduling
Check formats, pricing, and availability options for Kindle, physical print, or audiobooks directly.
View available editions on AmazonKey themes
Why recommended
appears in Sailing.
Recommendation Signals
Recommendation proof is sourced from public posts, interviews, reading lists, and cited references.
No verified recommendation proof available yet.
Appears In
Not sure if this is the right fit?
Consider Flirting with Mermaids by John Kretschmer. Recommended by 1 sources.
“Flirting With Mermaids reads like a salt-stained logbook of long passages: episodic, vivid accounts of Cape Horn, a Force 13 North Atlantic winter crossing, and an unusual Caribbean research voyage. The book's value lies in sensory storm reporting and concrete moments of seamanship that show how decisions play out under pressure. Its main limitation is anecdote density—stories accumulate without organized instruction—and an occasional taste for risk-tinted romance that won't satisfy readers looking for systematic technical guidance.”
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Each recommendation is collected from a public source — interviews, articles, or curated lists — and linked to its original URL. Books with many verifiable recommendations from respected people rank higher.