Pilot books... good for propping up wonky tables

[SamanthaTabs]

Our Balaerics book is so old it's stuck together with duct tape.. Used as a useful guide, ignore many of the comments as (with everything) it's a matter of personal taste whether you like a place or not. Pages covered in scribbled updates as swimmer areas change etc plus tips from people we've met who've been to some anchorages yet to be visited.

 

[Mudisox]

Often having a guide degrades the enjoyment of exploration.

Much information is available for home waters in an Annual edition, enough to get you into a port/ through a passage, but I, certainly only really use the annual tide tables.

My 1954 {?} edition of Channel harbours by Adlard Coles still makes sense and has the only directions for Mont St Michel that I know about. It is even pre the Barrage at St Malo. Am I really interested in the latest charge of a Marina?- not really, Restaurants come and go with differing qualities, and if I approach somewhere new, or re-visit after a long period, I approach with due caution and enjoy the feeling of discovery.

I also use Malcolm Robson's excellent guides, as an excuse to check and update my own book, - means I have to go to Brittany. Haven't managed to use the Irish pilots yet but they do lie by the bedside.

 

[Nostrodamus]

I thought the Irish pilots only cover land!

 

[oldvarnish]

There is a lot of generalisation and mis-information in some of the above posts.

Most pilot book authors are extremely diligent and painstaking people in my experience. No one has named the books they consider to be of inferior quality so it is difficult to judge their criticisms.

It is important to distinguish between pilotage information and cruising information. Pilotage includes such things as lights, rocks, tides and current. Cruising inf is what time the pubs close and where the launderette is to be found.
If the pilotage information is wrong (as opposed to out of date) then it should be noted and forwarded to the publisher - they will welcome it. If it is out of date then it might be your fault for not checking for updates. If not, complain.

If it is only the fact that the laundry has moved round the corner - live with it. Are you on an adventure or a guided tour?

This is a two way business. If a remote island off a distant coast has repainted its lighthouse in different colours, it is as much your job to pass that information to others and more constructive than moaning. The Cruising Association and the Ocean Cruising Club, and others, are good places to do this.

 

[capnsensible]

Indeed on a less flippant note, any compiler of a pilot guide is always happy to receive up to date information.

Ours is an annual publication to include tide information but others may be a 5 or more year issue.

By coincidence, I have just been talking to a French skipper I met in Rota last week. He has given me some great updates on Tangier and the new marina dates. Top one.

Do let the publishers know, you will be helping others as they have helped you!

CS

 

[jimbaerselman]

It is important to distinguish between pilotage information and cruising information. Pilotage includes such things as lights, rocks, tides and current. Cruising inf is what time the pubs close and where the launderette is to be found.

I agree whole heartedly. I'd add another category of Cruising Inf - the story which helps you decide where you're going to sail, whether to charter, to explore en route, or to base your boat for a period. The seasonal plan, if you like.

Very few publications just do seasonal plan. This is all about general climate, length of season, density of anchorages and yacht support, cultural interest, ease of travel and bureaucracy, plus qualitative assessments of what the area's main attractions and drawbacks are. And yet this is the easiest information to maintain - it changes but slowly. And it's the first step in the decision process - "where do I want to cruise?"

So I undersatand Nostro's comment about the enormous number of pilot books needed to assess where it's worth spending time - especially when you decide it's not really going to be worth while cruising wherever . . . so that's another pilot book you won't need.

Of course, once you've decided an area, detail iis needed safely to navigate from spot to spot - and to select safe spots. For me, charts do that, though there are some places which can be much better enjoyed with a plethora of transits to help you wriggle through offbeat channels with limited depths - the Channel Islands and N Brittany come to mind. So, for such places, pilotage (navigation) information in addition to charts is very helpful. And, except were there are shifting sandbanks, this doesn't change very much.

What does change quite a lot is port information; new quays, pontoons being changed, moorings coming and going. These create quite a challenge when arriving in unfamiliar places. Where the hell is pontoon C berth 12? If I go in there, can I get out if I make a mess of it? This could be called pilotage information, but pilot books can't keep up with the pace of change. Luckily, marina and port web sites are coming to the rescue - together with Google earth (though that may be a year or two out of date in places). So here's a legitimate beef about pilot books - They promise, but cannot always deliver, unless they get loads of feedback from day to day users.

If the pilotage information is wrong (as opposed to out of date) then it should be noted and forwarded to the publisher - they will welcome it. If it is out of date then it might be your fault for not checking for updates. If not, complain.

Exactly. Send feedback, or quit moaning.

So that leaves the ephemeral information. Laundries, showers, restaurants, things to see or do, places to avoid. These come and go. By all means paint a general statement in a pilot book (limited facilities; full service marina; busy place with many restaurants and cafes; etc). Any more detail is best kept in a transient store - a web page, or a print out of a web page - where it can have comments attached by readers. A superb example of this is the Cruising Association's "CAptains Mate" app for ipod, Android and on line reference.

And forums like this help. Ask, and you may get a good answer! Or it may be out of date!

So I read Nostro's post as a statement that too many pilot books are trying to do too many things at once. I think I'd agree.

Splendid opportunity for you to put things right and produce your own (up to date) version!

Ooops! Who's going to give a hand then?

 

[vyv_cox]

To illustrate how quickly information changes I am currently in Noussa, on Paros. Yesterday an entry was made for the port in the Cruising Association's app, Captains Mate, when berthing, water and electricity were all free and no Port Police were present. Today every one of those is no longer the case.

 

[LittleSister]

This is something that Imray take very seriously, and everyone should send in any changes we find.

Pity they don't take getting it right in the first place so seriously. A few years ago I bought the then new Channel Islands Pilot. The corrections that came with it (or did I have to send off for them?) showed they'd got the tidal hours completely wrong for a series of tidal flow charts, leading lines in the wrong place, and cardinal points mixed up in descriptions of approaches and photo captions. I suppose it looked like it might save a few bob not having a proof reader. The corrections included revised charts, etc., but nobody had bothered to ensure that they were the same size as the ones to be replaced so they could be neatly pasted over, and the paper they were printed on was too thin to stop the originals showing through and making the replacements hard to read.

I'm sure there are people there who take such things very seriously, but the resulting product certainly didn't inspire confidence or satisfaction.

 

[dunedin]

Can't comment about other guides, but I have relied extensively on the Imray / Martin Lawrence guides for Scottish waters and found them excellent.
Buying each of the new combined Clyde Cruising Club / Imray versions was they are published, as combine best of both. Coincidentally ordered latest release covering Outer Hebrides from Amazon earlier today - not made it there yet (time & weather need to fit) but hope to use it soon