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Library > New Acquisitions > Book Review
Fearsome Passages; David Rainsbury; Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson, 2005; CA 16632
David Rainsbury is a prolific writer in the yachting press and these are an accumulation of articles he has written there.
Sixteen key passages that variously raise qualms in the minds of most of us are covered in useful detail: from the Orford Bar in the East, southabout to the Sound of Jura in the North and with an excursion to three more on the other side of the Channel, he shares his own concerns and wise ways of making the passages more secure and pleasurable. They are organised in alphabetical order from the Alderney Race to the Swellies and include Caernarfon and Chichester Bars, the Needles Channel and the Portland Race. It is reassuring to find such an experienced single-handed sailor, with more than thirty years of experience, is not immune to the concerns we share.
Each “fearsome passage” has a chapter with profuse illustration in colour. Tidal maps, Chartlets, diagrams and colour photographs elaborate the text and, in the cases I know from experience, make the prospect so much easier than when I came to them first of all. It is safe to assume that this is the case for them all as David Rainsbury has sailed each of them in his Contessa 26 and confesses to liking the challenges of coastal pilotage much more than the crossing of seas.
Take note of the advice, and these passages will be much less fearsome even for the first experience. - MD
Page prepared 11 January 2006