The sextant remains an essential tool for sailors, providing a reliable means of navigation without modern technology. This tutorial offers clear instructions for beginners on how to use and maintain a sextant, emphasizing its importance for safety in maritime travel. With electronic systems prone to failure, mastering this instrument can be crucial for ensuring a vessel's safe passage.
Hidden Harbours of Southwest Scotland is a lively tour of small and infrequently visited harbours on the stunning Scottish coast and its nearby islands, starting from Port Logan in the south and meandering northwards to Lerags on Loch Feochan in the Firth of Lorn.
This comprehensive and authoritative guide to practical navigation draws on the author's extensive experience of leisure cruising and ocean racing.
Boats are expensive and they are complicated-unless you are going to pay a professional to carry out a survey (at yet more expense) it is invaluable to be able -Quickly assess a potential purchase for signs of trouble without paying for lengthy reports-Carry out a detailed check on your own boat the end of the season-Identify problems and get them dealt with before they get serious-Get to know your boat in a lot more detail, so if a problem develops at sea you will be more able to copeOrganized into chapters Tools of the trade (basic tools, moisture meters, fingers and feel, smell, mirrors, sources of information); Checking the hull (including wood construction and rot, GRP laminates, osmosis, metal construction, keels, anodes); RIBs and inflatables; Engine and systems; Stern gear; Plumbing; Mast and rigging; Electrical systems; Interiors; Safety equipment. At the end of the book there's a handy guide to carrying out a five minute survey-invaluable when making a quick assessment of a potential purchase.Highly illustrated, with anecdotes and hands-on advice throughout, this practical book gives readers the tools to do much of the work on their own, and know when to call in the experts.
The book explores the awe-inspiring and terrifying nature of storms at sea through personal survival accounts and dramatic photography. It details the experiences of both small boats and large ships as they navigate treacherous conditions. Key topics include various weather phenomena, the formation of hurricanes and cyclones, and the impact of storms on land. It also addresses specific regions affected by storms, such as the North Atlantic and the Indian Ocean, while discussing broader themes like global warming and its influence on storm patterns.
Hidden Harbours of Wales is a tour of small and infrequently visited harbours on the Welsh coast, starting from Lydney on the River Severn and finishing a world away at Connah's Quay on the River Dee on the north coast. 'Hidden harbours' vary from defined ports enclosed by breakwaters to small quays and landings. Most have a long history, often involving speculation by local landowners in the days before railways, when the coast was the best means of communication. Many of the harbours described in this attractive tour date from the 18th and 19th centuries, a time of expanding trade in coal, ore, grain and stone and industrial growth; and having been little used for decades have acquired an attractive and, in some instances, even haunted atmosphere. For each harbour there is a fascinating round up of the history and notes on what is to be found there. The author's photographs capture the scene and annotated aerial photographs assist with pin pointing harbours hidden along the Welsh coastline and its estuaries. This is the second in the series and complements the author's Hidden Harbours of Southwest Britain
Covers the history of trans-Atlantic crossings.
Dag Pike draws on his experience as merchant navy captain, fast boat navigator and boat safety tester for RNLI lifeboats to focus on a wide range of disasters at sea. He compiles a wide range of accounts of yachts, motorboats and commercial vessels running into difficulty as a result of poor navigation, fog, miscalculation, human error, weather conditions etc and analyses in a readable and entertaining fashion what caused the disaster, what went wrong, how it was dealt with and the lessons learned from it. Examples range from the Fastnet disaster, powerboat races, boats run down in the Channel, to trawlers pulled under by submarines, ferry accidents and tanker and cargo ship disasters. The incidents include grounding, collision, fire, sinking, ice and storms, and each chapter has an example from the Marine Accident Investigation Bureau who monitor incidents at sea. This book is a fascinating read for all who go afloat either for business or pleasure, and for anyone interested in just why disasters happen at sea.
Covers marine and land navigational techniques from 3000 BC to the present day.