This is a really piece of pure classics – the set of two books written by one of the best-known professionals in the world of sailing. The books are rich with the verified and valuable information related to the problems specific to the ocean sailing and provided with the ready solutions – needless to say how important it is for someone starting his or her journey.
Also, the author used his great practical experience to make collection of warnings against the improper solutions and incorrect answers typical to the novices. You will get much better understanding of how your cruise sailing yacht should be handled at sea, regardless of the circumstances – you will be prepared to meet them all, duly armed.
We can say that this book contains information that is actually not possible to find anywhere else collected under a single title – this definitely saves lots of time and presents you ready answers to virtually all questions that you might have. The text material of the books is richly illustrated, and this makes the reading really joyful. Apart from the images, there are so many informative tables and drawings, as well as the charts, providing wealth of supplementary information to the reader.
This useful publication was written and developed by the STC B.V. and published by the Rotterdam Mainport University of Applied Sciences in order to provide students with the general understanding of the ship- and tug handling operations and what lies beneath them, meaning theoretical background, which is of course necessary.
The book opens with the chapter dealing with the hydrodynamics, followed by the one devoted to the rudders and propellers, where the readers will get necessary information about the blade element theory, interaction of the propellers and rudders with the ship’s hull, types of the propellers and rudders etc. After that the students will proceed to acquainting themselves with the manoeuvring characteristics of the vessels, including but not limited to the rudder capacity, reduction of the speed by rudder action, and stopping distances.
The pivot point, external effects, wind and current loads are discussed in subsequent chapters, followed by the instructions on proper mooring, anchoring and many other operations making a core of the tug activities. Please note that, while the book itself is in English, there is a supplement to it provided after the main body of the publication, and that one is in Dutch language.
The publication belongs to the world popular Everything series and, as it is clear from the front page, dealing with the knots and making them. The interested readers will find more than a hundred of different knots, including both decorative and practically useful ones. It goes without saying that a well-made knot is a very handy tool but it is also a sort of an artwork.
The author of the book is a member of the world respected Int’l Guild of Knot Tyers so you can easily rely on his knowledge, skills and experience. The instructions are very simple, which makes them easy to follow, and the reader will be guided through the essentials of knot making. There are numerous brilliant suggestions provided in the pages of the volume relating to the use of the knots.
Start reading attentively and you will get to know how to choose the rope correctly and knot it as appropriate for your current work, how to make decorative knots, for example, for accessories, and will also get a chance to practice by playing. The way the material is presented by the author, does not require any prior preparation, so the book can be used literally by anyone interested in know making – the only thing you need is to make a start.
Here is a perfect collection of materials on the history of ship design and shipbuilding. Written and presented by the recognized experts in the field, and edited by the team of the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, it will bring value to any person deeply interested with the historical background of the shipbuilding art.
All of the articles included in this collection are covering the same historical period, namely from Renaissance to the eighteenth century, as this was a truly eventful time due to so many nations building their fleets of both merchant and navy ships. Also, the subject period was a time of really fast technological development and introduction of so many technological advances that allowed reaching improvement in the various areas of shipbuilding.
For example, this related to the ship hull size and different design features, increasing the speed of the ships, using new propulsion systems etc. We would definitely recommend all naval architects and ship designers to go through the materials carefully selected by the editors, to get better understanding of the historical context. It will as well be useful to the future specialists who will be impressed by the ideas of the designers of the past.
Running your boat at night can be a wonderful experience, or, under other circumstances, can be downright scary. If you're planning a cruise at night, the easiest way to avoid problems is to confine your route to open water offshore. Shipping lanes should be avoided. Inshore waters and intercoastal waterways present the most hazards when boating at night.
You may not be able to visually observe unlighted daymarks and buoys. Another problem is that lights ashore can make identifying lights for aids to navigation very difficult. So can lights on other vessels. Also, running aground in shallow water, or running into obstructions, is several times more likely to occur inshore than offshore. On many of our waterways, especially those that are heavily traveled, there are many things that you can hit in the darkness. But just as important, there are many things that can hit you. So the first consideration, of course, is to make sure that you can see well enough, and that others can see you.
Spotlights are always a good item to have aboard, if used properly. If not, they can cause problems for you as well as other boaters. If you're looking ahead into the path of a brightly lit area of water, your side vision will be affected.
Your ability to see in the dark, or night vision, is not very good under these conditions, and you may not be able to spot red or green lights of another boat or a buoy. A spotlight also can temporarily blind other boaters. Unlike the headlights of an automobile, spotlights point in any direction, and traffic can come from any direction. Even if you're using your spotlight to, say, read the numbers on a buoy, using it temporarily affects your night vision. So it's a good idea to have someone who is not operating the boat to use the spotlight for such things.
Some are well-lighted, and some are not. If you haven't done so, check your helm lights out after dark, prior to a scheduled night departure. Most gauges, such as tachometers and fuel gauges, have built-in lights, so make sure they're working. Ideally, you want to be able to see the instruments easily without the lights affecting your forward vision. Too much light at the helm can blind you when you're looking ahead.
Charts needed for your night voyage should be readily accessible but stored in a dry place. A light to see them, whether built-in or handheld, is of course very necessary. If possible, avoid having to hold the flashlight while using the chart, especially if you must run the boat at the same time.
If at all possible, avoid running the boat while you're looking at a chart. If you can get assistance, use it. Looking at a brightly lit chart and then looking ahead into the darkness can be dangerous. It takes time for your eyes to adjust to the change. It's just not a good idea to read a chart and run a boat at the same time. But if you must, slow down and continue to look ahead, especially if you're in close quarters or traffic.
The lights you use to read charts should be red-filtered. This will help you keep your night vision. Other lights on board, such as deck lights, may be useful in moving about the boat, but they should never interfere with a skipper's night vision or be confusing to another vessel when observing the navigational lights.
Before departing on a night cruise, there's a lot of preparation to be done. In addition to the normal checklist of items for any cruise, night conditions require other special considerations. Navigation lights, running lights, anchor lights, and special purpose lights, they should all be tested. They tell other people something about your boat, whether you're running under power or in a rowboat or sailboat. They also indicate you're anchored if you choose to do so. Remember, technically, you are underway if not anchored or tied up on the shore somehow.
Navigation lights on your boat also tell others in what direction you're headed in relationship to their position. And, since sound signals also play an important role in boating at night, it's a good idea to check your boat's horn. A backup horn or sound signal device would be advisable. The need to sound a warning signal may be more prevalent at night than during daytime operations.
Here is one of the volumes that are considered foundational for the whole discipline of marine hydrodynamics as well as for the naval architecture science. Written by the recognized expert, it addresses maybe the most complicated part of the ship stability and behavior when underway.
The opening chapter of the publication gives the basic background of the probability theory and its application to the marine environment. The author provided a thorough analysis of the behavior of the ship’s hull in ocean waves, covering both regular and irregular ones, and not limiting the investigation area by calm-water assumptions, the way it is usually done.
The main part of the volume is dealing with the abstract concepts of the probability, in the attempt to bridge them with the practical issues of the contemporary ship stability and general naval architecture. The content of the book will be very interesting to the practicing naval engineers and ship designers, who will appreciate in-depth look into the problem.
The full title of the present publication by Alan McGowen isSailor: A Pictorial History — Life on Board the World's Fighting Ships from the Beginnings of Photography to the Present Day and in this volume the author explores the human experience of working and serving onboard ship, using numerous photos when telling the story, so please do not treat this one as a conventional naval history book, where the focus is primarily placed on the military, naval battles and admirals.
The historical period covered by the author, stretches from 1840 to as late as 1976, encompassing huge changes in naval life. Among the topics covered there are the evolution of the naval service, together with the description of day to day life and activities of the sailors.
It is a book about the crew members whose service and work made the naval operations possible as such. The book will of great interest to all people fond of the naval history as it contains wealth of quite rare photographs you would hardly find anywhere else.
This is the reprinted edition of the publication featuring the completely rewritten and updated content. The text of the book remains full of brilliant ideas related to the art of sailing – this is exactly what the authors were famous for through decades. The advice to the newcomers to the world of sailing, provided by the authors, is truly priceless and it is also timeless, taking into consideration how they dealt with the real-life knowledge, understanding and practical sea-going experience.
We all know that most of the fundamentals of the sailing science do not change; however, some of the topics become obsolete as the vessels and sailing techniques and technologies develop. We are quite sure that if one could look say a century from today, he or she would still see the sailors of the future onboard boats with no engines installed, and still having such pieces of classics as sextants, despite the rapid development of the technology.
Well, you never know how the sea will behave and if you will be left without your set of smart tools and gadgets! This book was written having in mind the sailors who want to be prepared to all surprises that the nature can produce, and this is something we would recommend to all sailors.