Book : ‘Get Real, Get Gone’ by Rick Page
“How to Become a Modern Sea Gypsy and Sail Away Forever…”
Based on a recommendation on Reddit, I decided to buy this book ‘Get Real, Get Gone‘ and the follow up book, ‘Stay real, Stay Gone‘, by sailor & author Risk Page.
No, this is not a review
So here’s a thing, I don’t plan to ‘review’ this book . . . my intention is purely to 1) read the books, naturally 😉 , 2) learn from these books for my own future sailing adventures, and 3) highlight to readers here, on a aspects of the books that relate to the Fina Road site.
Over the next few {however long it takes me to read the books} I’ll update this page with my thoughts . . .
Day #1
Still waiting for my Amazon delivery . . . so, a quick ‘google’ is on order ! A few things I found on Rick Page , without being too stalky !
- He has a web site : Sailing Calypso
- He has featured on Ben Fogle’s TV series, “New Lives in the Wild”
Day #2
OK, finished chapters 1, 2 and 3 of ‘Get Real, Get Gone’ . . . and Rick certainly has his own style & straight to-the-point-views, which gives the reader some insight to his mindset on travel & his own nomad sailing lifestyle.
Day #3
Now I get to the more practical aspects, in chapter 4, ‘Getting the Right Boat’. Good stuff indeed, and he has really got me thinking about the key needs of a sailing yacht for extended sea travel.
Spoiler alert – he really, really does not like extreme fin keels and spade rudders. These two sailing yacht attributes come under his ‘Not on my Watch’ list of recommendations. These aspects alone have got me re-thinking what a suitable sailing yacht is for my future adventures.
. . . with those in mind, I’m off to google and read more on these. So far, money well spent on the books 😉
Update : 3rd March 2026
I’ll be honest here, I didn’t read avery word in this book. And that’s bacause most of the chapters in part two are not relevant to my personal stage in life – thats ok, I will keep the book for future reference. I browsed through almost all the chapters in Part Two, which cover subjects such as Self Steering, Budget Navigation stuff, Budget Provisioning to name just three. I just don’t need to go into these just yet.
My final thoughts:-
If you are just thinking about and planning a life on a sailing yacht, then this book has some very good points in Part One – Getting Real. The second part may be too early in your travelling journey.
If you are already into your sailing journey and litterally on your way, then Part One is probably a wee bit late for you. However, Part Two – Staying Real, is worth a read as it covers a number of pratical subjects & stories of warnings & errors.
And if your are either of the above, there is a must read for anyone travelling in a relationship: Part Two, Chapter 21 – “Staying Together – Relationships on Board”. This chapter reads as advise from someone who has lived the experience in all it’s warts-n-all reality.
Overall, yes I’m glad I have ‘read’ 😉 the book. I’m now better informed on aspects of getting real, and have a future reference for getting gone.
