We provide a wide range of services to members wherever they live:

We have local Sections that organise their own activities, lectures, meetings, discussions and social activities throughout the year. Many maintain their own web site and issue regular newsletters to keep in touch with their local members. We have two major international sections, one in the Baltic and the other the Mediterranean to provide help assistance and information to the considerable number of our members who now cruise in those areas. Sections provide an invaluable service to the membership and there is no additional charge for Section Membership.

We maintain a worldwide network of Honorary Local Representatives (HLRs) who are either members or reliable people known to our Association. They can help us if we require assistance, local knowledge or information and will know if there are discounts available to members on a local basis. Many commercial and operators give substantial discounts to CA members particularly overseas. Contact details are on our MyCA (our members only website) and in the Yearbook or through the Baltic and the Mediterranean Sections’ websites and publications.

We maintain our own very extensive website that has public and members only (MyCA) pages. This side of our activities is being constantly developed and extended. The majority of our very extensive membership now uses the MyCA site regularly; on it you will find forums, and a wealth of cruising information as well as links to related sites. If you a have a query require information or help, post a message on the appropriate forum and another member will come back to you very quickly. It really does work but you do need to be a member to join this extremely useful site.

We run a free Crewing Service to match skippers to crew. Detailed lists are sent to members of the service via its own web site or, if requested, by post detailing what crew are looking for, and what skippers are offering. Many of our members have cruised all over the world with contacts made through this facility. Skippers find it particularly useful when cruising shorthanded. The service can be very easily joined on line from our public website.

Every member receives a Yearbook with all the essential information about our Association. Members are listed by name and boat with contact details for our HLRs and full details on all our member services - an essential addition to your on board library. Our house magazine, “Cruising”, is regularly sent to all members wherever they may live. It contains a wealth of technical and non-technical articles about our recreation and also reports on our activities, both local and national. There are regular reports on what we are doing to protect the interests of cruising people. The magazine is the flagship of our Association and is very much appreciated by the members.

We publish a range of books, discounted to members, related to cruising including the very successful Cruising Almanac covering the area Gibraltar to Scandinavia, with excellent charts and tide tables. The Almanac contains a wealth of information together with passage notes and port details, written by our members who cruise in the particular area. The book first published as a volume separate from the Yearbook in 1920 is the classic cruising guide - a must for every on board bookshelf. Members receive regular updates in “Cruising” and on the MyCA website. We also publish a series of booklets entitled our Cruising Information Series. They contain information on countries and cruising areas that are not readily found in other publications and are ideal for those visiting an area for the first time. Included in the series are Harbours of the Baltic States, the definitive guide to every harbour in that area, and French and Belgian Inland Waterways an invaluable guide for those cruising through France to the Mediterranean. These publications are reprinted and updated on a regular basis to keep abreast of changes to regulations affecting cruising people.

Our Regulatory and Technical Services Group (RATS) work unceasingly for the benefit of cruising people. They are widely consulted by government on all aspects of proposed legislation and matters of safety and concern to those of us who enjoy cruising as a sport. They attend public enquires and meetings on a wide range of subjects that affect our sport. The activities of this group are reported in detail in the pages of “Cruising”. The enormous amount of work undertaken by this group is of tremendous benefit to all members.

Membership merchandise, including customised clothing, flags and burgees can be ordered though our website or direct from our office. A special Logo can be ordered on all items of clothing during our Centenary year. We are one of an exclusive group of organisations possessing a warrant from the Admiralty for our members if they wish to fly our own defaced blue ensign.

We have full time staff dedicated to serving the membership. We have our own headquarters in London, at Limehouse Basin, very accessible by Docklands Light Railway (six minutes from Bank) and by road with free car parking for members whilst using CA House. We are an RYA teaching establishment and hold regular courses, lectures, and socials activities at CA House. We are used by many other organisations for meetings, and members can hire rooms for private functions. Bar and catering are provided when activities are taking place. We are committed to make all activities at CA House provide a positive contribution to our finances for the benefit of the membership at large.

CA House is the home of the world famous Cruising Association Library, a unique collection, probably the finest collection of nautical books in private hands in the world in the order of 10,000 volumes. It is a lending library and It is such an important collection that all the major publishers of nautical books send us copies of new books to include in our library. It is not just a collection of old dusty books, although the older books are often more important than the newer volumes. The library also contains our worldwide collection of charts and pilot books. This facility is extensively used by our members for cruise planning and is an invaluable service to members. So that the facilities at CA House are available to all members, wherever they are situated, there are five double cabins available for members to use at a very reasonable rate including self-service breakfast. We employ a librarian to look after all aspects of the chartroom and library and to help and assist members with its use. Members do not have to come to London to use the library. It can be accessed by post with the Association paying the cost of outward postage. Our Association is known throughout the world principally because of our Library.

Many organisations will give discounts to CA members on a wide range of goods and services, particularly at Boat Shows. The Association attends all the major Boat Shows to recruit new members. To service the needs of our existing membership, we regularly see between 10% and 20% of our members at the shows. We normally have discount vouchers available for members to collect from our stand. Charts, publications and pilot books, including the Admiralty, can be ordered through CA House and are supplied to members at a 10% discount and free postage; a considerable cost saving that is not available outside the Association. This service alone can save you a considerable proportion of your subscriptions. A good number of discounts for goods and services are available to members at home and abroad.

So that is a brief outline of all the services that we offer to members of our Association.

It is difficult to see what other services we could possibly provide, but we are always open to suggestions.

Joining could not be easier just complete the application on line and we will do the rest.