Learn to Navigate by Basil Mosenthal; Adlard Coles Nautical, £9.99
Described as “a non-nonsense introduction for all ages,” this book is aimed at the newcomer to sailing, or the crew member who has sailed as a “passenger” and wants to find out a bit more about what is going on!
“Anyone who goes afloat should know something about navigation - if only to get the boat back to harbour safely if the skipper is put out of action. This book will help you to do just that,” writes the author.
First published in 1995, it has been a consistent best-seller, which is a strong recommendation, and it has just appeared in its fifth edition - more user friendly than ever.
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, so the saying goes, but in the context of navigation, a little knowledge is infinitely better than no knowledge at all. And there is certainly enough in this book to get the reader started in the right direction - and to realise that, when they reach the last page they still have a lot left to learn.
In his introduction Basil Mosenthal tackles the issue of electronic navigation and the widely held belief that sailors will no longer need to know how to navigate because the
Gadgets will do it for them.
How do you get home if your GPS breaks down? he asks. “You may have an excellent plotter, but close inshore with lots of traffic and buoys is not the moment to be glued to the screen and not keeping a look round you.”
Above all, her adds, GPS cannot be used effectively without understanding the first principles of navigation.
So here they are: charts, buoys and lights, the compass, tides and tidal streams, navigation instruments are all explored before an overview of using them: fixing position, entering harbour, passage planning, night sailing, electronic navigation: there's actually an extraordinary amount of useful information and advice crammed into just 72 pages.
The concluding chapter is summary of the contents, entitled: Are you ready to navigate? The answer is, that if you've thoroughly absorbed everything in the book, you probably are!
