Nicholas D. Hayes, Saving Sailing **John Otterbacher, Sailing Grace ** 1/2

Despite their titles, these two books are not really about sailing. They both use sailing as props in a general argument. Hayes admits as much in his introduction: "For all practical purposes, I could make the case using fishing or knitting or playing an instrument, or any other activity that brings us joy by helping us to pass on what we know and love about life."

Hayes is a business consultant, and his book is about the social changes that have resulted in fewer people engaging in socially oriented active pastimes. His remedies are the usual ones: more unstructured play time for children, less TV, more mentoring and full-family activities. I think he underestimates the cost (in money and time) of sailing. The most interesting thing in the book are the statistics near the beginning; for example, the fact that 43% of sailors are over 55 years of age. 

Otterbacher is a psychologist, and his book is about the value of having a life goal. The first two-thirds of the book are about his serious heart problems and how he didn't let them deter him from his family's plan to sail across the Atlantic. Whether you think he is admirably audacious or selfishly irresponsible depends on how much you idealize difficult goals. When they ultimately set out on their sailing trip, Otterbacher describes their (apparently frequent) difficulties in such detail that it makes sailing sound like a dangerous trial rather than a rewarding experience. The best parts of this book are the ones that portray the day-to-day challenges of living with a bum ticker.