Shakedown cruise: lessons and adventures from a cruising veteran as he learns the ropes

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 the voyage that made Calder the yachtsman he is today, a marvellous romp through the West Indies, seeing an unspoilt Caribbean, while learning hard-won lessons from direct experience - troubleshooting engines, kedging off shoals and reefs, and most importantly navigating Nada, a yacht that quickly became very much part of the burgeoning Calder family too.