Cruising Almanac 2007-2008, The

Publisher: Imray Laurie None and Wilson Ltd. and The Cruising Association, £29.95 (members £22.50)

Publication Date: 2006

The biannual publication of this excellent almanac has been keenly awaited. As before a second set of tide tables for subsequent years will be available by returning a card enclosed. Corrections taken from Notices to Mariners together with other changes to buoyage, lights etc that are notified by the many members of the Cruising Association from their practical observation will be available on the website or by request for hard copy to CA House. The cut off date for this edition was April 2006.

The President, in his Foreword to this edition, points out what a good starting point this is as an approach to safety at sea and urges us to recognise how vital is personal responsibility to avoid the worst excesses of over regulation that sometimes threaten.

A number of changes are noted in the Editor’s Preface, who draws attention to the alteration in the order of ports in Belgium and the Netherlands (using the Belgian/French border as the separation point for those going NE rather than W along the northern French coast) and the extension of information available on European Inland Waterways with references from the sea ports to the waterways themselves. Other fresh material will be seen in the updating that has been prepared by members of the Association with first-hand knowledge of the specific areas. Each section is prefaced by data on VHF channels for port safety and weather. The dedicated effort of the volunteers who provide all this material is acknowledged as is the work of other member specialists in revised notes on weather, electronic navigation and its associated safety, and so on.

At the time of going to press, the new arrangements for broadcast forecasts, to take effect next February, had not been announced. It would be wise to annotate the text before next year’s sailing season.

Tony Brett-Jones appeals for readers to take note of corrections, information or suggestions for improvement to the book. Letters should go to the Editor by way of the publishers. Even information which is partial or which contains some doubt may be useful so long as that doubt is expressed. This will help to keep the Cruising Almanac ahead of its rivals as a more up to date source of vital information to the cruising sailor. - PDD