New AcquisitionsYour First Atlantic Crossing - A planning guide for passagemakers; Les Weatheritt; Adlard Coles Nautical, 2nded., 2003; £14.99/ $29.95; CA 16297
In the foreword, the author says that when he started his planning he could only find books written by heroes not ordinary people, so on his return he set out to write one and this is the result. Not unusually for a nautical publication, the author has strong views on most aspects of the task. His objective is to inspire his readers to attempt an Atlantic crossing and he goes about it by describing his own preparations including his doubts and fears.
The book covers boat choice, passage planning, crew selection, weather, medicine and destinations. He gives good coverage to these essential topics as well as his own philosophy that developed over the course of the cruise. For instance, he does not believe in the use of running lights until another vessel is sighted. Now, this reviewer believes this to be a potentially dangerous view (two boats without running lights on a collision course?) but does appreciate the author’s arguments for and against. There are other sections on the psychology of crew selection which could prove useful to any neophyte ocean crosser.
I think that I enjoyed the book for its different view of how to approach the preparation for passage making and would recommend this to complement the more technical advice given in the standard texts. I think what is unique about this book is that it applies an urban logic to nautical problems and generally the results are insightful. It certainly records the highly personal experience that long distance cruising provides. - CRE
Page created 15 October 2003
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