A comprehensively illustrated practical handbook covering essential seamanship skills - everything a skipper will need to know when the tech goes down, or when they encounter a challenge at sea.
The knowledge to sort yourself out when encountering problems at sea is largely forgotten. How to find your way when the GPS plotter has a blackout, how to get yourself off when grounded, how to save the life of someone in your crew when the ambulance or SAR helicopter is hours away… Too many rely on technology to navigate and run their boats, and this beautifully illustrated handbook will be a literal backup when the tech fails, filled with core knowledge – seamanship – that all skippers should know anyway, whether they're in the middle of an emergency or not.
Packed with vital information, with handy fact boxes to highlight especially important information, the authors have lent a modern, real-world approach to the subject matter, and the wonderful illustrations bring it to life. Contents include:
- Seamanship: Best practice: engage your crew, voyage planning, staying on board, staying afloat, tight marinas, prepare for a storm, med mooring, catch a mooring buoy, anchoring, gale and storm tactics, towing
- Problem fixing: gas leak, when sails rip apart, a line in the prop, stuck anchor, engine problems, fuel problems, electrical problems, blackout
- Emergencies: man overboard, fire, holed and sinking, running aground, rudder failure, losing the mast, helicopter rescue, SAR boats, abandon ship, emergency communication
- First aid: DRABS, CPR, respiratory problems, circulation/shock, treating wounds, burn injuries, fractures and sprains, head injuries, hypothermia, seasickness, bites/stings, abdominal pains, first aid kit
Published in Sweden by the Swedish Cruising Association, this fantastic book has sold over 25,000 copies. Read this now to give yourself the knowledge to get out of trouble and (even better) avoid getting into it in the first place.
About the Author
Mike Westin has been a boating journalist since 1997, and was Editor-in-Chiefof of two Swedish boating magazines between 2003-2015. He's been a lifeboat cox'n for ten years with the Swedish Lifeboat Institution, and a fast craft navigation trainer for other skippers.
