The Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation publishes pilotage information through books and a range of media acessible through its own website www.rccpf.org.uk.
Reviews of the most recent RCCPF Publications and other books written by RCC members are shown below.
Skip Novak on Sailing: Words of Wisdom from 50 Years Afloat is a fascinating collection of articles contributed to Yachting World between 2014 and 2023.
A Cruising Adventure and How-To Guide by Nicholas Coghlan
Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation Balearic Islands 12th Edition, David and Susie Baggaley
Andrew Wilkes reviews Marek Jurczynski's publication
Skipper Lynam developed his love of the sea and sailing as a schoolboy at King William’s College on the Isle of Man becoming, in time, a successful canoe sailor.
Review of Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation publication ‘Norway, Mainland coast, fjord and islands, including Svalbard and Jan Mayen’ 4th Edition
Bermuda, Azores, Madeira Group, Canary Islands and Cape Verdes:
Editor: Jane Russell, RCC, RCCPF Publisher: Royal Institution of Navigation, 2020. Available as a free download
Nigel Wollen reviews Mark Fishwick's West Country Cruising Companion
An excellent pilot by Madeleine and Stephan Strobel updated May 2020.
4th Edition. By Rod and Lucinda Heikell. A Review of this welcome update by Will Pedder
This practical guide deserves a place of honour on the chart table of any sailing yacht venturing to the Chilean channels or, as Bill Tillman referred to them, ‘the magical place of the unknown’.
"The book is a triumph, and represents a significant raising of the bar. Jo is to be congratulated, and I do hope readers will be enthused sufficiently to cruise the South China Sea."
This book is a very practical guide to long distance ocean sailing, compiled by a very accomplished and experienced practitioner and aimed at the would-be ocean sailor.
This meticulously updated 8th edition invites the cruising sailor to safely explore numerous exquisite locations, reassured by the author's wealth of experience.
Our review of September 2019 updated to include CCA review as a download. This book is not a “how to do it” manual, more a compendium of the most important issues.....
"I commend Christopher and the RCCPF team on producing an excellent book that will be an invaluable resource to anyone making this trip (Trinidad to Tobago) for the first time"
Reviewed by Peter Bruce who says: "This Second Edition is thoroughly comprehensive and gives those with it a huge advantage over those without."
Reviewer Jay Devonshire writes: "An up to date Pilot Book is an essential, and this latest publication is to to be recommended."
For many a sailor, crossing the Atlantic Ocean is their holy grail, the equivalent of scaling Mount Everest for a climber. Both are immense challenges and preparation is key.
The RCC Pilotage Foundation has recently brought out a fourth edition, published by Imray, of their extensive guide to The Baltic Sea and its Approaches.
‘Gibraltar and the five Mediterranean costas of Spain form the subject matter of this pilot.’
Paul Heiney's lavishly illustrated book warrants a well-deserved place in the chart table and has plenty of general interest for those seeking inspiration for their next cruise.
This is a beautifully produced and extremely well structured guide to this very long and diverse cruising ground. Reviewed by Katharine Ingram
The Canary Islands Guide is very much a guide for tourists rather than a pilot book, but as such it has the information for a touring yachtsman to enjoy these islands.
For such a small country The Netherlands has an amazing 6,000km of navigable waterways and there is something there for everyone.
The revised edition of the Arctic and Northern Waters Pilot is a compelling volume that takes the reader into waters that few will travel, for those who go there it is essential reading.
Reviewers Katharine & Peter Ingram write: "This RCC Pilotage Foundation book is a beautifully produced and extremely well structured guide to the vast cruising area that is the Pacific Ocean."
The 3rd Edition of this very useable cruising companion is brought right up to date (2016) by Derek Aslett. Published by Fernhurst Books and available through Imray and many local chandleries.
The newly published third edition of the RCC Pilotage Foundation Norway pilot book by Judy Lomax is reviewed below by Madeleine Strobel
A Sixth Edition of the RCCPF Atlantic Islands Pilot has just been published by Imray. It is reviewed by Alan Spriggs (RCC) below.
This is the 7th edition of this well-known and popular book. There is much that is new in this edition, all beautifully explored and explained.
Bosun’s Bag is a delight. It is a perfect mix of Tom Cunliffe’s lifetime experience in traditional, wooden boats recorded in prose allied to Martyn Mackrill’s assured, exquisitely drawn and painted illustrations.
The book starts with an introduction to the bosun’s bag of skills and explains its gestation from articles written for Classic Boat magazine. It is then divided into seven sections: Sails, Rigging, Working the Ship, Navigation, Miscellaneous, Maintenance and Seamanship. Tom’s writing style is conversational and when reading his prose you soon imagine yourself in an oil lamp lit, solid-fuel-stove heated saloon listening to him hold forth with what he calls ‘a bottle of the right stuff’ between you. This book is subtitled ‘A treasury of practical wisdom for the traditional boater’ and it certainly that but you do not need to own a classic yacht to enjoy it.
Tom emphasises the physical effort involved in sailing classic wooden yachts and the patience required in servicing and repairing them. But he is also at pains to explain how to do these things properly, thereby avoiding undue strain and he offers a myriad of practical tips on every page. Years of experience are recorded here and any classic boat owner should be thankful that Tom has put together this compendium of his knowledge for their benefit. Of course, if not having to wrestle with the complexities of working and maintaining a large, wooden gaffer it is easy to get dewy-eyed with the romantic associations of such vessels. As a non-classic boat owner I enjoyed reading about the use of, to me, unfamiliar bits of kit such as jackyarders, water sails and wale strakes and dreaming about owning a boat fitted with such items.
This fantasy was made easier by Martin Mackrill’s illustrations. Some reminded me of Arthur Briscoe’s drawings of hands at work in the old clippers: he captures the posture of men pulling on ropes, hanging in a bosun’s chair or handing sails so they look authentic. Equally his drawings of such things as bowsprit housings, lizards or a stropped throat halyard block clarify Tom’s descriptions perfectly. It is the paintings in the book, many of them full page that are the real gems though. Again these illustrate the text whilst adding enormously to the allure of the book as a whole although I loved the one of a dinghy in calm water with the caption: This painting has no relevance to the text opposite but it was too beautiful to leave out!
Many years ago an RNR officer, seconded for training to the frigate in which I was serving, complained of insomnia. We advised him to take the Admiralty Manual of Seamanship to bed with him – that would soon put him to sleep. “Oh no” said this nautical enthusiast, “I’d find that fascinating, I’d be awake all night!” For the same reason I cannot recommend Tom Cunliffe’s intoxicating new book ‘Bosun’s Bag’ for your bedside table but it simply has to be on your Christmas present list.
It is available from Adlard Coles at £25.
DJMM
