Bloc Marine / Votre Livre de Bord &ndash

Publisher: Interval Editions, Marseille, 25th ed., 1999 FF98.00

You can’t speak French? Don’t despair. Everything in this almanac is understandable to nautical types, especially with the many pictures of boat parts, knots, seafood etc. The legal sections take a little homework, but the section on Customs and Import Procedures, which is the most important to us, is also given in English.

Most of the articles on regulations, qualifications and standards of equipment apply only to French registered boats. They do, however, serve as a very good guide to the sort of standard one should aim for, and rub in how lucky we are, so far, not to have compulsory requirements with the attendant costs and bureaucracy. Seamanship, navigation aids, lights and signals are all well covered. The list of meteo stations and times is very clear and helpful. I particularly like the tide tables. They are easy to follow and the tidal coefficients are very useful. Port information and chartlets are clear and comprehensive.

This almanac covers the French north and west coasts very thoroughly, with many ports on the English side of the Channel too. There is also a separate version for the Mediterranean French coast (which will be reviewed later). All in all it is a first class almanac and well worth buying of most of your cruising is in France. At a price of FF98.00 (£11.00) it compares very favourably with the UK equivalents. – BH

Page prepared 21 June 1999