World cruising guides

welch · #1 (**permalink**) 10-05-2003

Looking for world cruising guide information. Anyone have recommendations on the following or other:
Ocean Passages of the World
World Cruising Handbook
World Cruising Routes
Pilot Atlases
Worlwide Sailing Directions
etc.

Dave
kc0lfw

svGandalf · #2 (**permalink**) 10-05-2003

Check out Jimmy Cornells website
www.noonsite.com

welch · #3 (**permalink**) 10-05-2003

Thanks I know ''noonsite''- good site. I was just wondering what other cruisers use or depend on for navigation. Are these a waste of $$? Have "Passages South", "Bowditch", "Chapmans", "Handbook of Offshore Cruising", "This Old Boat", "Sensible Cruising"- the list goes on. Looking to expanding my collection. Just curious to hear what you like to use.
Dave
kc0lfw

WHOOSH · #4 (**permalink**) 10-06-2003

Dave, here''s my cut at ''the important books'' to carry when cruising beyond U.S. shores...

Guides that are recommended to you by current cruisers and which you preview before purchase (e.g. by spending most of a day at Blue Water Books). VanSant''s ''Gentleman''s Guide'' is an excellent example and one of the best; many contain some information of use, much of it dated given the cost or producing new editions.

Routing Guides (Cornell''s, the original Ocean Passages, etc.) suffer from a huge deficit: they can only address ''average'' seasons and conditions, while you''re making a specific passage (month, from/to) in a specific year. To illustrate, Spring stayed 6 weeks longer than normal in the N Atlantic this year (2003), with far more lows penetrating further S and stronger in nature than June and even early July normally sees. The guides all say ''go N to 40N and sail with the prevailing Westerlies'' but, unless you have a big/strong boat, that was lousy advice in the Spring/Summer of 2003. This is why having onboard wx receiving info offshore (wxfax, area f''casts by RFI, etc.) is so helpful. It''s also why so many folks use Herb (Southbound II). ''Average'' advice is an OK place to start but not necessarily a good way to make specific routing decisions.

''Fixing up your boat'' books aren''t terribly helpful once you shove off. If you take a break to winter somewhere and have a set of specific projects in mind, that''s probably the time to gather up the necessary ref mat''ls.

OTOH books that give a hands-on/illustrated review of maintaining & repairing gear are invaluable; that''s why Calder''s books are found on so many cruising boats.

FWIW I think Beth Leonard''s ''Ocean Voyaging'' is one of the key references to use BEFORE jumping off, specifically her section on financing a cruise. It takes a macro/micro view of the financial side of cruising, boat selection, equipping, ''re-entry'', etc. unlike anything else I''ve seen. One of the few common threads among cruisers of all stripes & nationalities is that we all have to have the financial side of things sorted thoroughly...or the dream goes down the tubes.

I''m sure there are other huge categories of books/guides/references I''m not addressing. Hopefully, someone else will continue the thread...

Jack

TrishLambert · #5 (**permalink**) 10-06-2003

Jack made a good point...you will likely stock certain books in your library BEFORE you go that you will slough off once you''re on the water. Things like "This Old Boat" "The Finely Fitted Yacht" and "Sensible Cruising" to name a few just didn''t have any application once we were out there. We keep reference-type books on the shelf now--Chapman''s, Calder''s books on engines/electrical, Cornell''s World Cruising Routes, to name a few. We don''t keep Bowditch on board anymore--never used it!

And he''s right about World Cruising Routes taking an "average" view, but we still have it in our onboard lreference ibrary. It''s an excellent "first reference" for us when we are considering this year''s or next year''s itinerary--it gives us some indication of the right times to travel in certain areas. From there, we can do more research--SSCA bulletins, boards like this one, our own personal cruiser network--to get more detailed info.

I suggest that you consider your library in two phases--the "before I go" set and the "once I''m out set," with the latter being a much smaller subset of the former.

Trish
www.takehersailing.com

TrishLambert · #6 (**permalink**) 10-06-2003

Oh--forgot one other book category. We have a "dynamic" set of books on the shelf--the cruising guides for the specific area we are currently traveling. These get given away or traded to cruisers with whom we cross paths and who are going to the area we just came from.

BTW, we are on a Baba 30, which is why we keep the library size down--though any boat needs its stowage spaces for other stuff, so keeping a lot of books on board probably doesn''t happen whatever the size!!!

Trish
www.takehersailing.com

welch · #7 (**permalink**) 10-06-2003

Thanks for the help. Any comments on the products NIMA offers (Pilot Charts/ Atlases, Light Lists, Radio Navigational Guides, Worldwide Sailing Directions, etc.)?
Should I start investing in these?
Dave
kc0lfw

TrishLambert · #8 (**permalink**) 10-06-2003

The only government publications that we keep on board are the ones dealing with tides and currents. I''ve found that many of the other pubs are really focused on commercial traffic, and contain info that we don''t really use...so it''s not worth taking up the space!

Trish
www.takehersailing.com