New AcquisitionsCompetent Crew; P Langley-Price & Philip Outry; Adlard Coles, 4th ed., 2004; £12.99; CA 16504.
A really excellent manual of seamanship – aimed at the novice but so comprehensive that if a beginner were to digest the half of it – such a person would be well equipped to crew on a seagoing vessel. Orientated mainly for the sailing types – but contains the essentials for motor cruising also. It is a textbook for the competent crew examination with test examination papers in the last quarter of the manual.
I would like to have seen a more comprehensive explanation on lowering and stowing sails and the importance of rapid smothering of the mainsail and use of ties so that the helmsman has a clear view forward when approaching a mooring buoy or pontoon.
There is scant mention of lifejackets and no diagram to illustrate the easiest and quickest way to don such an essential piece of equipment. Putting on a lifejacket in the dark and rapidly is a manoeuvre with which every crew should be familiar. – PJ
Page prepared 31 March 2005
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