Specialist sailing publisher Fernhurst Books has recently been taken over by John Wiley and Sons Ltd, who are breathing new life into the list.
The latest two titles are Short Handed Sailing by Alastair Buchan, £14.99, and The Sailor's Little Book, sayings of the sea compiled by Basil Mosenthal, £6.99.
The Sailor's Little Book, an established favourite, is now available in a revised and updated second edition. It gathers together the wit and wisdom acquired by the distinguished author over a lifetime's sailing.
There is serious advice, humorous anecdotes, quirky observations, traditional lore and a whole lot more, gleaned from numerous sources, from the Bible onwards.
My favourite quotation is this one: “He who sails through the crowd of boats that collect on a public holiday must bear in mind that numbers of those who are in charge of these craft have no experience whatsoever of watermanship and are wholly ignorant of the Rules of the Road.”
What makes this observation so startling is that it comes from Small Boat Handling by r EF Knight, published in 1901. As Mosenthal adds drily: “Things may not have changed entirely in over 100 years.”
And that, in essence, is the appeal of this book: no matter from what era they originate, all the quotations, sayings and proverbs gathered here have resonance and relevance for today's yachtsmen. This is the sort of book that makes an ideal gift - but if you buy it for someone else and start browsing, you'll be compelled to keep it for yourself.
Short-handed Sailing gathers together the experience of a man who has been sailing for more than half a century, much of the time single-handed.
He has called the book “short-handed” not “single-handed” because he recognises that the skills and techniques of single-handed sailing apply just as much to those sailing as a couple, talking alternate watches, or those sailing with inexperienced crew, as they do to those actually handling a boat on their own.
The value of this book is that it is written by a man with a wealth of experience to draw on, and deals with everything from choosing and modifying a boat to sleep management.
It looks at the personal qualities the skipper must have, as well as the practical skills he will need for such “evolutions” as getting in and out of crowded harbours, coping in heavy weather, watch-keeping, passage planning and sail handling.
He argues: “There is much more to short-handed sailing than a lack of crew. It demands a different approach, a new mindset. The crew's limited physical resources must be watched over with the same attention to detail as a miser guarding his hoard.”
You won't need to be a potential single-hander to benefit from reading this book. It contains lots of practical advice useful to sailors crewed or not. The book is attractively laid out and copiously illustrated in colour. It is well worth a look, for both day sailors and those planning to cross oceans. And the author is donating some of the proceeds from its sale to that very worthy cause the RNLI.
For more information visit www.fernhurstbooks.co.uk
