Coastal and Offshore Navigation

Publisher: John Wiley & son, 3d ed.; £14:99
Publication Date: 2009

When I received this small,150-page softback to review, I flicked through the pages to get a general idea and was horrified to find the colours of the West Cardinal buoy were incorrect. This made me read through the text rather more closely than I might have done.

I found a few ambiguities such as saying Figs 1-5 and 1-7 are on equivalent scales whereas they are obviously not. On page 38 it should read upper, not lower, diagram. Writing about estimating leeway, Tom says "try using a chart plotter held close to the eye" but he has already decided to use the term chart plotter for the electronic instrument and chart protractor for the Breton type plastic device; I am sure he means the latter. Discussing "Activating a waypoint - GoTo" he says the GPS will certainly show "range, bearing and distance, the three most important items for any navigator". What is the difference between range and distance in this context? I have asked 5 other yachtsmen if they know and none has come up with an explanation.

Enough of the nit-picking, because this is an excellent book in all other respects. I don't think I have opened a navigation book for 45 years since I did a course at night school so it made a good revision besides initiating me into Vector/Raster charts and the wonders of the electronic chart plotter-all of which I found very simply and easily explained. The text is brilliant with all the essential information succinctly explained but with a great deal of common sense and even humour making it eminently readable.

Tom is careful to emphasize the essentials while warning against trying for too much detail and "over navigation" to the detriment of proper sailing. The illustrations are prolific, in full colour and very clear and even show how the Vector charts are not as clear as the Raster, perhaps this is to an old-fashioned navigator. The two last sections on passage planning and practical passage making are particularly excellent and full of sensible tips to the novice and to the seasoned skipper/navigator. I recommend it for its practical good sense and humour. It should be a real pleasure to learn or revise navigation this way. Don't be put off by my niggles. – Norman Tricks