The boatyard is a microcosm of the larger cruising life, as we all take two steps forward so we invariably take the unavoidable one step back. Those of us who then set out cruising in remote areas of the world have to learn some things quickly.

Yacht maintenance has become much more complicated in the last twenty years, most cruising yachts can only sail to places where they are within reach of technical assistance for their complicated navigational systems, smart chargers, autopilots, air-conditioning, water makers, roller reefing etc etc. Cruising has therefore become slower and much more expensive than it used to be; our boats require far more maintenance and technical expertise than before. If we are going to cruise to far flung places where we can’t expect to find technical back up then if we want something done properly, we'd better do it ourselves or find a another cruiser to help or keep it simple and not have too much high tech equipment on board.

Cruising stories that I read years ago were all about breathtaking landfalls and fascinating cultures. Now it is a richer equation. The emotional highs are still there, but the lows are far deeper, and many days these feelings of despair and delight go hand in hand.

The advice I give to potential buyers does I hope forewarn them and help a little to mitigate the risks of the buying process. For anyone planning to go cruising it is now essential to get and study books like Nigel Calder's "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual" and John Payne's "Marine Electrical and Electronics Bible". Nigel Calder says that getting the DC sorted is the sine qua non of successful cruising and owners should be aware that many boats today are delivered with fundamentally unsatisfactory systems.

Insufficient battery power or charging problems may not be a problem with an alternator or battery charger but could well be as a result of having a defective battery cell, but why? This could well be a cause not a symptom. The most usual culprits are diesel generators that give out wildly fluctuating voltages and if batteries are not bog standard lead-acid but something more exotic (like gel cells) and therefore less resistant to overcharging then this could be the cause of a problem.

If you add a lot of kit, you cannot just double-up the batteries, the whole system has to be redesigned (for example, with 24 volt distribution for power maybe and 12 volts for instruments).

Boat builders cannot be trusted to have installed good quality wiring. Invariably you will not find a foot of marine wiring (double-insulated and tinned) on even an expensive boat. Yet this is absolutely normal and no joke as fires caused by bad wiring are the biggest single cause of boat losses.

The truth is that electronics are very reliable. It is lightening or salt water in connections that usually scupper them on a boat. Electronics should be wonderful - always getting cheaper and more powerful. So reliable and powerful that successful manufacturers have had to follow the example of Microsoft and build in obsolescence to keep the repeat business coming in.

Often boat owners who are not electronically inclined, do not know what they are getting into. It is said, for example, that relatively few American sailors now cruise the Pacific because most buy boats are loaded with creature comforts and then lurch from major destination to major destination (Hawaii, Bora-Bora, etc) doing maintenance and waiting for parts. Rather than cruising to the more remote places which they dare not visit because of the lack of back up for all their electronic toys.

Electronic auto pilots often let people down, requiring technical assistance which on a long cruise across the Pacific for instance could involve well over 1000 miles of steering by hand. This is not an issue of high-tech versus low-tech but of 'appropriate' technology, and a Wind Vane steering system is much more suitable for long distance cruising because it uses no electrical power and all you need to do is carry a few spare parts and it is easy to repair it at sea.

Another wonderful examples of 'appropriate' technology is the wind scoop as opposed to air-conditioning. A wind scoop keeps a forward cabin and the whole boat wonderfully cool in a hot climate plus there is a clever variation of the wind scoop called a Breeze Booster that fits on port lights and improves air flow in an after cabin - much less fuss than air conditioning which at anchor or at sea requires a generator to be constantly running.

Water makers are wonderful but quite complicated, a breakdown on a long passage could result in a serious shortage of water. Simple canvas water catching devices piped straight into the boats water tanks are a good idea. The design of the deck of my Rival 38 was even better because there were just four deck drains which could be blocked with wooden bungs, and the water tank filler was situated at the lowest part of the deck. In the event of some heavy rainfall, I just put the bungs in the deck drains, opened the water tank filler cap and very quickly the water tank was full which with careful use was enough for four people for seven days.

For me if ever I go off cruising again I would prefer to have zero technology, then hopefully there will be none of the extreme frustration and enormous expense in resolving problems associated with technology. Just the wonderful feeling that if anything goes wrong I can fix it myself. This includes my going back to having hanked on head sails and slab reefing on my mainsail. Then perhaps I can visit some of those far flung remote places without constantly worrying that some expensive bit of kit is going to let me down. I might though just take my new toy which is a Geonav 4 hand-held chart plotter! But if it should let me down I can navigate without it.