Gwen Hamlin, S/V Tackless II, in "The Admiral's Angle" - Latitudes and Attitudes - July 2009

"Today’s cruisers are very lucky. In additional to all the primers, language programs and Lonely Planet phrase books, we have Kathy Parsons’ SPANISH FOR CRUISERS and FRENCH FOR CRUISERS.

... What makes her books so special is that she gives us strategies for jumping right in, for making the most of what little we may have, and then she provides the vocabulary that applies to our very particular lifestyle, words that are rarely in regular dictionaries and certainly not in tourist phrase books."

Bob and Betsy Baillie, S/V Belair, Bermuda

‘That Book' ………Spanish for Cruisers

" “Where's ‘That Book'?” was the constant cry of my husband Bob looking for our Kathy Parsons' SPANISH FOR CRUISERS. We spent five years in South America – arriving without any knowledge of Spanish - we could not have survived without SPANISH FOR CRUISERS .

As any yachtie will know, there were a myriad of things that went wrong on the boat during this time and ‘That Book' had the words for every possible problem that we encountered. The book is well laid out and easy to follow.

The South American mechanics also found it a useful way to communicate back to us too! Mind you it didn't prevent us from trying to give the liferaft (bolsa salvavidas) guy our bag (bolsa) of laundry – they speak so quickly in Chile the only word we caught was the “bolsa” part!

When we arrived in Brazil, Bob wanted to know why we didn't have ‘That Book' in Portuguese! "

Bob Bitchin, s/v Lost Soul, Publisher, Latitudes and Attitudes Magazine

“I found your book, SPANISH FOR CRUISERS to be one of the easiest to use books I could imagine. It makes being in a foreign country more of an adventure than an ordeal.”

Bernadette and Douglas Bernon, s/v Ithaka, Contributing Editors, Cruising World

“For cruisers sailing in foreign-speaking countries, Parsons’ language guides are the equivalent of linguistic ground tackle: absolutely indispensable”.

Pam Wall, s/v Kandarik, Outfitting Manager at West Marine, Professional Captain

“There is nothing more prominent on Kandarik than Kathy Parsons' books, SPANISH FOR CRUISERS and FRENCH FOR CRUISERS. Of all the books we have aboard, these are the two we use the most whenever we are sailing in ports that are language challenges to us!

Everyone sailing in French or Spanish waters will want these books made FOR CRUISERS!”

Bruce van Sant, author of "The Gentleman's Guide to Passages South, Tricks of the Trade and Guide to Spanish Virgin Islands"

"Get out and meet the world while cruising. Wiggle your eyebrows, wave your arms, point to things and words and have fun, but do it with Kathy's single source for communicating cruisers."

Chris Doyle, s/v Ti Canot - in "Cruising Guide to Venezuela and Bonaire"

"Exceptionally useful and user-friendly."

Ann Vanderhoof, author of "An Embarassment of Mangoes" and Steve Manley, Publishers, The PORTS Cruising Guides

"First law of cruising: Something always break. Second law of cruising: It usually breaks at an inconvenient time in an unfamiliar place.That's why SPANISH FOR CRUISERS is an absolutely essential book for the shipboard library. It's organized so you can find the phrases you need = FAST!...

SPANISH FOR CRUISERS is as easy to use as uno, dos, tres, even if those are the only Spanish words you know... It will pay for itself dozens of times over. "

Don Casey, best-selling author of marine "Do-it-Yourself" books, including "This Old Boat" and "Sensible Cruising"

"... Tightly focused on the communication needs of the cruising sailor, these books [FRENCH FOR CRUISERS and SPANISH FOR CRUISERS] are the next best thing to having a bilingual companion when you go ashore. In some ways they are better because they include hundreds of technical and local words that are likely to be unknown even to someone conversationally fluent.

A well-found cruising boat has aboard all the tools necessary to maintain the boat. FRENCH FOR CRUISERS and SPANISH FOR CRUISERS belong in this category."

Sally Erdle, Editor - Caribbean Compass

"From bow to stern, from soup to nuts, from ship to store, from clearing in to logging on to fitting out and more, the new and expanded edition of Kathy Parsons' SPANISH FOR CRUISERS easily navigates you through everything a visiting sailor needs to say in Spanish-speaking ports.

From Puerto Rico to Panama and beyond, this will be your numero uno language guide."

Yvonne and Bernie Katchor, s/v Australia 31, author of "Around the Next Bend"

"The book is bloody brilliant - and we depend on it for our cruising survival in all the Spanish-speaking countries"

Leslie Linkkila and Philip Dinuovo, s/v Carina - in Seven Seas Cruising Association Bulletin (December 2004) and www.sv-Carina.org (Carina's Cruising Adventures)

"Much of the appeal of cruising in the Sea of Cortez is the interaction with locals who are generally warm and gracious, albeit of modest means.

English is rarely spoken in the rural towns here, so we strongly recommend that you buy yourself a copy of SPANISH FOR CRUISERS by Kathy Parsons ... before leaving the US and, most importantly, carry it and use it.

You'll be surprised how much the Mexican people appreciate your efforts to speak their language, and how sharing your struggle with the language breaks down barriers and enriches your experience."

Carolyn and Tim DeCook, m/v Saratoga - Email to the Author

"Your book has had a lot of use since we cruised to Mexico on Nov 2003 ... Your phrase book has saved the day more than once. The refrigeration was especially needed this last visit and the mechanic, who didn't admit knowing any English, also liked the refrigeration section.

We enjoyed Mexico so much that we purchased a condo of our own in La Paz and your book will be with us "

Melissa & Buddy Stockwell, s/v Indigo Moon - Trip log www.indigomoon.us

“... before leaving Ft. Lauderdale we bought two books: FRENCH FOR CRUISERS and SPANISH FOR CRUISERS. Both books are written by Kathy Parsons and are very handy because they are neatly arranged into user-friendly sections of utility depending on the task(s) at hand.

The author, herself a long-term live aboard cruiser, has the experience to know what unique phrases we need as boaters.

Thus, everything from emergency VHF radio phrases, to anchoring, to boat repair, to boat parts is included along with, of course, phrases for everyday tourists' needs regarding pleasantries and grocery shopping and restaurants, etc.

... Her books have been invaluable."