Up to date channel cruising pilot?

[Colvic Watson]

We are planning a trip from Suffolk to Cornwall next summer but the most up-to-date channel guide/pilot seems to be the Featherstone one which has a latest edition of 2004 according to Amazon. Are there any others?

Thanks.

 

[prv]

The standard book for the West Country used to be West Country Cruising by Mark Fishwick. However, Imray have recently brought out a new one (can't remember the name, it's on their site). "Recently", as in when I hoped to make it to Cornwall this summer, it hadn't actually been printed yet (although it was listed on the Imray site). Annoyingly, I bought a new Fishwick for the trip (the one I had was rather old) even though that edition had been out a while and the new Imray was just around the corner.

(Doubly annoyingly, the weather then conspired to prevent us getting down to Cornwall at all anyway.)

For the Channel in general I'd assume the Shell pilot compiled by Tom Cunliffe to be the standard work. Not sure when the most recent issue is but sure it must be newer than 2004.

EDIT: A quick check on Amazon shows the latest Shell Channel Pilot (the one I have on board) as 6th edition, 2009. However, I believe it's reissued every three years, so another one must be due soon, presumably next spring. Maybe hold off on buying just now.

Pete

 

[Rigger Mortice]

I had a look at the new Imray guide a while ago. I think I'll stick with Fishwick.

 

[Fascadale]

I sailed up the English Channel this summer, West to East, Cornwall to Kent.

I used Reeds and the latest edition of Tom Cunliffe's Shell Channel Pilot

The Shell book was OK, the information on each harbour and port was all I needed but I did find the book quite annoying. Its layout is very East to West. Going the way I went means you have to read the book backwards. The data is all there but I found I had to work quite hard to make sense of it.

(This may be a commentary on my always limited but now declining intellectual ability)

 

[prv]

I had a look at the new Imray guide a while ago. I think I'll stick with Fishwick.

Oh? That's worth knowing, since I tend to buy this kind of thing online hence don't have a chance to flick through it.

What's wrong with it exactly?

Pete

 

[Babylon]

Unless a pilot book is over say 10 years old, I wouldn't imagine that much has changed to any given harbour or headland to warrant upgrading to the very latest edition. Almanacs are issued annually and should have the most up-to-date information in them, so between the two you'll have more than enough information for a cruise.

 

[prv]

Unless a pilot book is over say 10 years old, I wouldn't imagine that much has changed to any given harbour or headland to warrant upgrading to the very latest edition.

I agree that you're unlikely to be set into danger by an old pilot book, but it can be inconvenient to find, for example, that the water tap is no longer there, the nice old pub has been "renovated" beyond recognition, or that you're no longer allowed to dry out on the beach. It's that kind of information that I want from a pilot book, while the charts and almanac provide the formal navigation information.

Pete

 

[Anne Hulbert]

I sailed up the English Channel this summer, West to East, Cornwall to Kent.

I used Reeds and the latest edition of Tom Cunliffe's Shell Channel Pilot

The Shell book was OK, the information on each harbour and port was all I needed but I did find the book quite annoying. Its layout is very East to West. Going the way I went means you have to read the book backwards. The data is all there but I found I had to work quite hard to make sense of it.

(This may be a commentary on my always limited but now declining intellectual ability)

But it was in the correct order on your return trip! Would you prefer a random order?

We used the Shell for years and have just dug it out of storage to show some of out American friends in the Caribbean - a lovely book.

 

[brianhumber]

Still use Johnnie Coote's Shell guides especially the French side, their size is ideal for the cockpit side holders. The rocks, tower cardinals etc do not seem to have moved much over the years.

Brian

 

[prv]

The rocks, tower cardinals etc do not seem to have moved much over the years.

Sure, but the scrubbing berth in Cherbourg has gone apparently. That's an example of an update that will be in the 2012 Shell book where the 2009 one will be wrong. Accumulate enough of such changes and it's worth having an up to date book.

I look at the chart for rocks and marks, albeit the pilot can have useful advice on what to look for when and so on.

Pete

 

[Colvic Watson]

Still use Johnnie Coote's Shell guides especially the French side, their size is ideal for the cockpit side holders. The rocks, tower cardinals etc do not seem to have moved much over the years.

Brian

I've got Reeds and charts for the rocks and towers. What I was looking for was all the extra valuable advice a cruising companion guide gives. I found the latest on Amazon was 2004 - by next year this will be more than 8 years out of date.

 

[prv]

I found the latest on Amazon was 2004 - by next year this will be more than 8 years out of date.

So why not switch to the Shell / Cunliffe one? Ideally waiting till the anticipated 2012 edition comes out.

There is a 2010 Western France by Mr Featherstone, but I presume that's not on your route.

Pete

 

[Fascadale]

But it was in the correct order on your return trip! Would you prefer a random order?

No return trip planned. Sailing up the English Channel was part of a circumnavigation of England.

I do understand that a pilot must have a directional order, its just that the order in the Shell Guide was the wrong order for me. Either I should have sailed round the other way or found another guide.

 

[Colvic Watson]

So why not switch to the Shell / Cunliffe one? Ideally waiting till the anticipated 2012 edition comes out.

Pete

That's what I said I was doing

 

[prv]

That's what I said I was doing

Did you?

Pete

 

[Colvic Watson]

No because i'm waiting for the 2012 edition, that seemed better than buying the 2009 edition

 

[doug748]

Not sure where I'm up to here with this - but I looked at the Imray offering briefly today and I have to agree with Rigger Mortice.
The Fishwick is 2008 now (I think) but I would stick with it for Devon, Cornwall and Scilly, even if you do buy the Shell for the wider coverage.