VHF Afloat explains how to use your VHF DSC radio. It covers licensing the equipment and gaining the operator certificate, and then takes you through each type of call. Each procedure is clearly illustrated using the yacht Sierra, to show how the radio is used on a passage to communicate with marinas, other vessels and the Coastguard, including how a MAYDAY is managed by the rescue services. Use VHF Afloat to help pass the assessment, and then keep it on board when you need to make a call - the facts will be right at your fingertips.
The ability to send and receive messages on the water is the most vital of all marine safety skills. Maloney, one of the nautical world's best-known authorities, has compiled a comprehensive user-friendly handbook for VHS, single side band, CB and ham radios as well as cellular telephones, intercoms, NAVTEX, and SATCOM. Black-and-white photographs.
Get to grips with navigation at sea. This best-selling book gives you all the information you need to know to do just that! It starts from scratch, uses no jargon and features diagrams and pictures, instead of words, wherever possible. It covers all modern navigation and has been updated to reflect upcoming changes in Admiralty charts. It is recommended by Fernhurst Books for beginners and Day Skipper students. Written by an RYA Yachtmaster Instructor and Examiner who runs her own RYA Training Centre which specialises in navigation, it is the perfect place for newcomers to navigation to start. It explains simply how to look at charts (paper or digital), find your position, look at tides, plan your passage and determine the course to steer. It will help you find out where you are and how to get to where you want to.
Restoring a fibreglass yacht is not something for the faint-hearted, even if you don't intend to do all the work yourself (you still need to understand the processes to be gone through). But the satisfaction of the job well done, not to mention the possible cost savings on buying a new yacht, are immense. Nevertheless, it is not something that should be undertaken lightly and without careful consideration. That is where this book comes in, as Enric Roselló takes you through his restoration of a 30-year-old 40-foot yacht. Broken down into 46 chapters, Enric details the stages of his restoration in chronological order. For each he starts with an overview of the task and the thinking behind the approach he took. Just these introductory pieces alone are ideal for someone contemplating a restoration (of all or part of a boat) to read before making the final decision as to whether to go ahead. For those who decide to take on the challenge, each overview is followed by an in-depth step-by-step account of what they did, accompanied by numerous informative photo sequences (with over 800 colour photos in total). The material in this book would be invaluable both to boat owners who are considering a complete overhaul and to those who have one or two smaller jobs to do. All possible subjects are covered, including dealing with osmosis, the interiors, deck, rigging, electrics and electronics, plumbing, engine, galley, heads and much more. The author is very honest about the amount of work and commitment required and also offers advice about when to call in the professionals and when to consider doing the work yourself. Anyone contemplating a complete or partial restoration is advised to read this book beforehand, so you know what is ahead, and to follow its guidance if you to decide to proceed.
A pocket database containing everything a busy skipper needs to know but might find hard to remember. It is easy to take for granted how much a skipper needs to know : Navigation, how to pilot the boat into a new harbour, using the radio, checking the engine, keeping an eye out for things that need repair, monitoring the weather, feeding the crew and much, much more! This pocketbook is designed as an aide-memoire with checklists to make life easier for busy skippers and a must-have reference for first-time skippers. It should also prove an invaluable reference book for the RYA Yachtmaster syllabus. The book has been helping skippers for nearly 20 years and has now been edited and thoroughly updated by Yachtmaster Instructor and Examiner, Sara Hopkinson. (RYA and Yachtmaster are registered trademarks of the Royal yachting Association.)
In 1974 Clare Allcard and her husband Edward, with their baby daughter, took up residence on their 69-foot former Baltic trader, in which they continue to cruise around the world. From her own experience, Allcard shares with others who would like to try sea livingwhether for a week or a lifetimehow to predict a squall, navigate customs, earn money as you go, cope with health issues, gut and dry fish, stretch your fresh water supply, and many other tips. Photos.
