Buying Reeds Almanac

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giraffe

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I'm about to buy Reed's Almanac for the first time. What do you find works out best in the long term please:
1. The book (seems to be cheapest) every year
2. The looseleaf book - and then updates
3. Online subscription
4. Online and book (seems like overkill)
5. What is the point of the Small Craft Almanac? My boat's small - should I buy the small book?

Best deal i've seen seems to be just a fiver off the book. Are there any better anywhere?

many thanks in advance

martin
 
I went for the Loose leaf version as it stays open on the nav table!and the refils are the cheapist way to update.
Though they did change the spacing of the holes a few years ago.
Other reasons, back in 2003 when I started to sail and still do on Charter yachts and friends yachts in lots of different places. So I could take out the section I needed, study that and take it with me.
A Lot easier on the wrists!!

Online version...mmmmm When I did my Yachtmaster theory as I'm rubbish with figures I practiced with little graphs to get to grips with Secondary port calculations.
My Instructor leaned over me and whispered
" you'll be sick all over that in a Force 4"
So I laminated it for the next session, But his experience still holds true.
So online usage to me at the moment is a little bit of a gimmick.
Cheers and Good bedtime reading
 
Just buy the looseleaf update from the outset without a binder. Throw away all the sections you'll never use, and put those you do want in a less bulky binder.
 
Depends in part where you're going this year.

I sail home waters and continent - the loose leaf can be had for about £20 - it has all the updated stuff on weather, radio signals etc. as well as nav info of course. Don't buy the whole thing with cover - too expensive; you can get a folder for a lot less. This way you can elbow the sections you are not going to sail, and keep it all easy to hand and under control

PWG
 
You could shadow someone from a chandlery who has just bought one.

Sooner or later he's going to bin the old one. No one ever dumps old till he gets new.

All you need now is a Dover tide table and a clear head every time you go sailing.

Problem solved !

Another Scuttlebutt price busting recession beater !
 
How about all sharing....i never use the majority of it so for example someone e.coast could have all that section from mine for say £3.
 
My tuppence...

Forget about Small Craft Almanac for first time. It really just has tides & some general info. The proper one has all the port information.

I think the consensus is to ignore the online. You need paper when on board.

For first time, I'd buy the book. Cheapest way in & gives everything you'll want.

Next year you'll have a choice:
* buy another book (and the out of date one lives at home for planning/dreaming)
* buy the looseleaf & start down that route (the old book for home)
* buy the small craft almanac for tides & use the old book (accept that the harbours info may be slightly dated)
* just get a local tide table & continue using the old book
* for a change, try the Cruising Association almanac

Depends a bit on your sailing area & how adventurous you're feeling. If you can sneak a look at someone else's copy you can judge whether the annual changes for your area are worth it.
 
[ QUOTE ]
You could shadow someone from a chandlery who has just bought one.

Sooner or later he's going to bin the old one. No one ever dumps old till he gets new.

All you need now is a Dover tide table and a clear head every time you go sailing.

Problem solved !

Another Scuttlebutt price busting recession beater !

[/ QUOTE ]

Funnily enough I had been wondering about this. With mostly local coastal trips recently, don't think I opened it last year except at the tide tables - and get them free in other forms anyway.
The mini-harbour plans and data are useful - but all in the pilot book, and don't change much from year to year.

So what do you actually use from the Almanac these days?
 
I buy the update.

I extract the 3 south coast sections and bind with a shoelace. This is small enough to fit in the chart table and, unlike the book, stays open at the page you're on. You can also slip it in a plastic wallet for use on deck.

The rest goes back in the box and is never used.
 
Many thanks everyone for your views. I'll probably get the book to start with as Mouton_Noir suggested, although I'm tempted to just hang around the marina waste bins for an old copy.

It's interesting that nobody has a good word for the online version. It seems to me that Reeds have got the pricing and distribution model wrong. It should be cheaper than the print version, and distributed on DVD for local installation with updates available through internet download for subscribers.

regards,
martin
 
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