Florida Cruising Directory – and the Bahamas: 2006/2007

Publisher: Waterways, Etc. Inc., $US 16.00
Publication Date: 2006

Do not be misled by the use of the word “chart” in this guide. As in many American publications, the word is used to denote what is often a very rough sketch map of the area in question, barely useful for broadscale planning, rather than the fairly sophisticated chartlet that we are used to in most European books of a similar nature. That said, this annual work is a mine of useful information for anyone cruising the extended coastline of Florida or the Bahamas.

Colour is reserved for the many advertisements, that are presumably responsible for maintaining a very reasonable price, apart from the occasional touch of blue in the more detailed diagrams of the various stretches of coast. These are, of course, still not suitable to be used for navigation.

Florida itself is divided into 12 sections with Bahamas given its own separate pages. More than 400 place names are indexed to the appropriate diagrams. From Tide Tables to bridge opening times for the river crossings, information abounds: boat slips, restaurants, fishing grounds, immigration matters, photos of the Harbour Masters on their patches, useful websites, distance tables and something we are certainly not used to: nearly 500 pump-out stations are listed. All this and much more is here.