The Complete Yachtmaster

by Cunliffe, Tom

• ISBN13: 9780713646573
• ISBN10: 0713646578
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-04-01
• Publisher: Sheridan House Inc

Summary

All the essentials of modern cruising are contained in this one volume. The elements of meteorology, possible emergencies, and the rules of the road are explained; there is even an everyday guide to the difficult science of yacht stability.

Author Biography

Tom Cunliffe has been sailing for most of his life and has worked in all branches of the profession, both racing and cruising. He spent some time as a deck officer in the coastal merchant service and for four years was a Senior Offshore Instructor at the British National Sailing Centre. Tom Cunliffe is an RYA Yachtmaster Examiner with special responsibility for instructor training. He has also been a training consultant for US Sailing, the governing body of yachting in the USA. Since 1985 he has specialised in writing about the sea; two of his books have won the Best Book of the Sea Award, and he has received a special award from the Ocean Cruising Club for encouraging others to cruise. Tom is also a regular seamanship columnist for Yachting Monthly in Britain and SAIL in the USA. Cruising remains Tom Cunliffe's passion. He currently owns a 40-foot gaff cutter built on traditional lines, and has sailed his own yachts with friends and family from the Caribbean to Russia and from Brazil to the Arctic

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The Skipper	p. 3
The Theory of Sailing	p. 6
Sails
Efficient Sailing	p. 12
Shaping the headsail
Shaping the mainsail
Sail combinations
Hull balance
Shortening sail
Basic Seamanship under Sail	p. 21
Tacking
Gybing
Poling out a genoa
Painless sail reduction
Heaving to
Reefing
Headsail changes
Boat Handling under Sail	p. 32
No brakes
Wind awareness
Tide awareness
Sailing slowly
Mooring under sail
Leaving a mooring
Anchoring
Berthing
Boat Handling under Power	p. 39
Pivoting
Blowing off
Rudder effect
Propeller effects
Moving ahead
The set piece short turn
Motoring astern
Berthing
Coming alongside
Leaving an alongside berth
Ropes and Ropework	p. 52
Types of rope
Wire halyards
Knots, splices and whippings
Eyes and ends
Rope handling
Tying up
Coming alongside
Towing
Anchoring	p. 64
Holding ground
Types of anchor
Types of cable
Weighting the cable
Selecting an anchorage
Laying an anchor
Weighing anchor
Fouled anchors
Anchoring stern- or bow-to
Kedging off
Storm anchoring
Yacht Engines	p. 75
Basic maintenance
Trouble shooting
Fuel problems
Sailing in Heavy Weather	p. 81
Preparing the boat
Sails
Steering in waves
Survival tactics
Navigation--an Introduction	p. 88
Charts, Publications and Chart Table Tools	p. 91
Latitude, longitude and the globe
Chart projections
Direction
Scale and passage requirements
Chart symbols
Other information on the chart
Chart datums
Yachting charts
Electronic charts
Chart corrections
The Nautical Almanac
Pilot books and sailing directions
Chart table tools
Aids to Navigation	p. 101
Lighthouses
Offshore marks
Inshore marks
Tidal Heights	p. 107
Tide tables
Secondary ports
Tidal definitions
Intermediate tidal heights
Non-astronomical factors in tide movements
The essence of a tidal height question
Tidal height computers
Using tidal height calculations safely
Tidal Streams	p. 119
Tidal gates
Deep and shoal water
Tide-induced sea states
Information on tidal streams
Traditional Navigational Inputs	p. 123
The compass
Variation
Deviation
Heeling error
Local magnetic anomalies
Compass dip
The log
Depth
The Estimated Position	p. 131
Leeway
The tide vector
The echo sounder
Plotting
The log book
Classical Position Fixing	p. 136
The eyeball fix and the position line
Sources of position line
Preplotting and use of ship's heading
The running fix
Evaluation of fixes
GPS and Radar	p. 146
Global Positioning
System (GPS)
Chart datums
Additional functions of electronic navigators
Electronic chart plotters
Marine computers
Radar
Course Shaping	p. 158
Course to steer at the turn of the tide
The longer passage
Leeway
Navigational Strategy	p. 164
Wind, tide, light and darkness
Wind shifts
Beating in water free of currents
The favoured tack
Unpredicted wind shifts
Anticipated wind shifts
Beating in a cross-current
Beating in a cross-tide
Tacking downwind
VMG
Passage Planning	p. 171
Charts and overall distances
Pilot books
Alternative destinations
Waypoints
Waypoint lists
Sailplans (routes)
Weather
Tidal streams
Off-lying dangers
Tidal heights
Daylight
Fuel
Courses to steer
Tactics and strategy
Pilotage plan
Pilotage	p. 177
Safe track
Instant position lines
Forward planning
Passage Navigation	p. 184
Inshore passages
Offshore passages
Domestics of a Passage	p. 191
Food
Sleep
Warmth
Space
Seasickness
Fog	p. 195
Maintain your plot
Fog seamanship
Fog tactics
Tactics and Navigation in Heavy Weather	p. 200
Navigation in poor conditions
Damage Control	p. 204
Tool kits and spare parts
Fire prevention and fighting
Jury rigs
Ropes around the propeller
Steering failure
Dismasting
Emergencies	p. 212
Lifeboat rescue
Helicopter rescue
First on the scene
Taking to the liferaft
Pyrotechnics
Man Overboard	p. 220
The reach-turn-reach
Crash stop
Bringing the casualty aboard
Search and rescue
Weather	p. 226
The frontal depression
Mutually exclusive air masses
Air circulation
Depression formation
Depression tracks
Frontal anatomy
Occlusions
Secondary depressions
Locating a low pressure centre
Wind strengths in depressions
Cyclonic winds
Depressions in the southern hemisphere
High pressure
The squeeze
Fog
Sea breezes
Stability in Sailing Yachts	p. 234
Index	p. 237
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.