Classic UK Sailing Guidebook?

[Paddy McKenna]

Hey folks,

Are there any old UK sailing guidebooks from the 18th or 18th centuries, that detail routes and places to visit around the UK?

In there a definitive one - a sort of sailing version of Bradshaw's Railway Guide?

Many thanks.

 

[Poignard]

Wasn't there something by Cowper? "Sailing Tours", or something like that.

And you might enjoy "Down Channel" by R.T.McMullen

But these are much later than 18th century.

 

[prv]

I'm not sure anyone was doing that sort of cruising in the 18th century. And from what I've read, even in the 19th and early 20th century it was quite common to take a pilot (not an official corporation pilot, but a local fisherman or waterman) into unfamiliar ports because the published information we now have in pilot books and detailed harbour plans just wasn't there.

Pete

 

[Neeves]

Go and look for Admiralty Pilots, old copies, antiquarian book shops (or local library). You don't need to go back far in time and vessels were much smaller and many of the 'ports' and anchorages (and all their details) were defined by seamen in very small boats. This is the case with historic Admiralty Pilots for Australia. It seems bizarre that Pilot Books for the 20th Century defined availability of water, drinking water. I have the China Sea Pilot books, 3 volumes, dated '75, '78 and '82 and they cover the same sort of historical data - full detail on sailing up the Yangtse, I think the last UK vessel to make the passage was the Amethyst in 1949. Our Admiralty Pilots covering Australia are also quite old, especially the volume including Tasmania, are on our cat - and I don't know their dates. Reading the China Sea volumes - they were published in 1990 but dated in the 70's and similarly contain details of places to water etc etc.

I read current modern cruising guides of Australia and the content could simply have been lifted from the Admiralty Pilots.

Maybe not quite what you were looking for.

Jonathan

 

[Poignard]

This is what I was thinking of :

Sailing Tours

 

[JumbleDuck]

Wasn't there something by Cowper? "Sailing Tours", or something like that.

Yes, "Sailing Tours" came out in the 1890s. There was a reprint edition in the 80s ago which could be had very cheaply remaindered - I think my full set cost about £30 or so. That edition is still available at about £20 per volume from Amazon or Abebooks, though with gaps - nobody seems to have a Clyde-round-the-top-to-the-Thames one.

However, there is a full set on eBay at the moment: five days to go, opening at99p, no bids yet. Sailing Tours Books | eBay

 

[JumbleDuck]

It seems bizarre that Pilot Books for the 20th Century defined availability of water, drinking water.

I carry and use a 1930s copy of the Clyde Cruising Club sailing directions. It's excellent for small anchorage, with the typical description "Stores: None. Water: At burn."

 

[prv]

Not exactly a guidebook, but a good flavour and some port information is in "The Cruise of the Kate" by E.E. Middleton, an account of a singlehanded circumnavigation in a 23-foot boat in 1898.

Be aware that there's a Kindle version on Amazon but one of the reviews says it's been poorly OCRed from an abridged version, and loses a lot from not having the maps and illustrations. The same reviewer recommends the 1953 or 1956 editions, the latter of which is available for a few pounds on Abe Books.

Pete

 

[JumbleDuck]

A few years ago I amused myself very much by reading three very different accounts of essentially the same trip:

A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland, by Dr Johnson (available from Project Gutenberg)

Off in a Boat, by Neil Gunn (available from Amazon)

Sea Change, by Mairi Hedderwick (also available from Amazon)

None of them is a sailing guidebook, but all three, particular taken together, throw a fascinating light on the west coast of Scotland.

 

[Paddy McKenna]

Thanks guys, these are great. Cowper's Sailing Tours is perfect!