Yachting Monthly Computers on Board by Tim Thornton; Adlard Coles Nautical, £16.99.
It's a pity that specialist books for yachtsmen have such small print runs that their prices look expensive: You tend to expect to buy a substantial hardback for £16.99 not a slim paperback.
However, if you are even thinking of using a computer on your boat, this little book will repay its investment many times, and look like very good value indeed. For it may well stop you making some potentially costly mistakes.
The book sets out to simplify the subject for non-specialists, but it doesn't talk down to the reader, and each chapter concludes with a list of related websites, so that people who want to delve a little more deeply can do so.
In ten informative chapters it covers the all-important aspects of the subject: chooseing the right hardware, keeping in touch, connecting to the Internet, setting up the software, weather, navigation, entertainment, “putting it all together” and what to expect in the future. There's an excellent “jargon buster” too.
I have found this a really helpful handbook, and I am sure I will get more use (more useful use, I mean) out of my laptop on board as a result of reading it.
