Editing Cruising (maritime) (section)

==History==
{{Quote box|quote="The sea, the great unifier, is man's only hope. Now, as never before,<br> the old phrase has a literal meaning: We are all in the same boat."|source=[[Jacques Cousteau]]}}
Boats were almost exclusively used for working purposes prior to the nineteenth century. In 1857, the philosopher [[Henry David Thoreau]], with his book ''Canoeing in Wilderness'' chronicling his canoe voyaging in the wilderness of Maine, is considered the first to convey the enjoyment of spiritual and lifestyle aspects of cruising.

[[Image:AnInlandVoyageBarge.jpg|right|thumb|250px|'Canal barges in Belgium', an image from [[Robert Louis Stevenson]]'s book, ''[[An Inland Voyage]]''.]]
The modern conception of cruising for pleasure was first popularised by the Scottish explorer and sportsman [[John MacGregor (sportsman)|John MacGregor]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Souter |first=Gavin |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Im2ejRWPImoC&q=John+MacGregor+popularised+cruising&pg=PT195 |title=Times & Tides: A Middle Harbour Memoir |date=2012 |publisher=Xoum Publishing |isbn=978-1-922057-04-4 |language=en}}</ref> He was introduced to the canoes and kayaks of the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] on a camping trip in 1858, and on his return to the United Kingdom constructed his own 'double-ended' canoe in [[Lambeth]]. The boat, nicknamed [[Rob Roy canoe|'Rob Roy']] after a famous relative of his, was built of lapstrake oak planking, decked in cedar covered with rubberized canvas with an open cockpit in the center. He cruised around the waterways of Britain, Europe and the Middle East and wrote a popular book about his experiences, ''A Thousand Miles in the Rob Roy Canoe''.

In 1866, Macgregor was a moving force behind the establishment of the [[Royal Canoe Club]], the first club in the world to promote pleasure cruising.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Canoe and Kayak |url=http://sports.london-2012.co.uk/Kayaking/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080822061202/http://sports.london-2012.co.uk/Kayaking/ |archive-date=August 22, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Olympic Canoe and Kayak Flatwater History |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403160838/http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/history_uk.asp?DiscCode=CF&sportCode=CA |url=http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/history_uk.asp?DiscCode=CF&sportCode=CA |archive-date=April 3, 2015}}</ref> The first recorded [[regatta]] was held on April 27, 1867, and it received Royal patronage in 1873. The latter part of the century saw cruising for leisure being enthusiastically taken up by the middle class. The author [[Robert Louis Stevenson]] wrote ''[[An Inland Voyage]]'' in 1877 as a [[travel literature|travelogue]] on his [[canoe]]ing trip through [[France]] and [[Belgium]]. Stevenson and his companion, Sir [[Simpson baronets|Walter Grindlay Simpson]] travelled in two 'Rob Roys' along the [[Oise River]] and witnessed the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] beauty of rural Europe.

The Canadian-American [[Joshua Slocum]] was one of the first people to carry out a long-distance sailing voyage for pleasure, [[circumnavigation|circumnavigating]] the world between 1895 and 1898. Despite opinion that such a voyage was impossible, Slocum rebuilt a derelict {{convert|37|ft|m|adj=on}} sloop ''Spray'' and sailed her [[single-handed sailing|single-handed]] around the world.  His book ''Sailing Alone Around the World'' was a classic adventure, and inspired many others to take to the seas.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Slocum |first=Joshua |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/2522338 |title=Sailing alone around the world |date=1954 |publisher=Sheridan House |isbn=978-0-911378-20-7 |location=New York |oclc=2522338}}</ref>

[[Image:Dugout in San Blas Islands.jpg|thumb|left|240px|Cruisers can see traditional life in remote areas of the world; here, a [[Guna people|Guna]] canoeist paddles a dugout canoe in the [[San Blas Islands]].]]
Other cruising authors have provided both inspiration and instruction to prospective cruisers.  Key among these during the post World War II period are Electa and [[Irving Johnson]], [[Miles and Beryl Smeeton]], [[Bernard Moitessier]], [[Peter Pye]], and Eric and Susan Hiscock. During the 1970s - 1990s [[Robin Lee Graham]], [[Lin and Larry Pardey]], [[Annie Hill]], Herb Payson, Linda and Steve Dashew, Margaret and [[Hal Roth]], and Beth Leonard & [[Evans Starzinger]] have provided inspiration for people to set off voyaging.

The development of ocean crossing rallies, most notably the ARC ([[Atlantic Rally for Cruisers]]), have encouraged less experienced sailors to undertake ocean crossings.  These rallies provide a group of sailors crossing the same ocean at the same time with safety inspections, weather information and social functions.