26 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com NOVEMBER 2015SAILING LIBRARY Books reviewed by Colin Jarman
Bill Anderson is YM’s seamanship guru. He was RYA chief instructor from 1972 to 2000 and created the Yachtmaster schemeM
any years ago, when
there were fewer
marinas, a British
yacht arrived at
the small Brittany
holiday resort of Morgat. They
had not intended to stay but
it was fl at calm so rather than
motor on they decided to anchor
off the huge, drying sandy
beach and enjoy an afternoon of
swimming and sunbathing.
By evening there was still not
a breath of wind so they decided
there was still little to be gained
by leaving, they would go ashore
for dinner. It was now about
two hours before High Water
so to shorten the dinghy trip
they moved closer inshore and
re-anchored in a depth of three
metres on fl at sand, intending to
move out again into deeper water
before the tide fell.
They enjoyed an excellent
meal ashore and were back on
board, happy but weary, in plenty
of time to shift berth. But the
idea of having to haul up the
anchor, move out and re-anchor
was unappealing so the crew
suggested that since it was stillfl at calm they should simply stay
where they were and climb into
their bunks with the lee cloths
up. In a couple of hours the yacht
would ground, dry out completely
and lie on the sand at an angle
of heel of about 70 degrees over
Low Water but by morning she
would have re-fl oated. They had
seen the area where they were
anchored at Low Water, it was
clean fl at sand with no gullies or
isolated rocky patches, there was
no danger in allowing the boat to
dry out for an hour or so on it.
The skipper was not keen.
What if the wind fi lled in or swell
started to roll in while they were
aground? True, neither wind nor
swell forecast but forecasts were
not always accurate.
He put his doubts to the crew,
who were unimpressed. They
were clearly going to be an
unhappy team if he insisted, so he
went along with their plan.
In the middle of the night the
skipper woke up. He looked at
his watch: 0230, half an hour
before Low Water. They must
be high and dry. But they were
still bolt upright. What couldPrecariously balanced
- how would you react?
For Bill’s answer, see p29By Andrew O’Grady,
published by Imray at
£12.99 per section
Like many pilots today, these
are published in print and
e-book forms, with e-books
fi rst (Apple OS only.) The
e-book pages look like print
but you use tappable links
to turn a page. It takes getting used to.
The advantage over print is that photos
and chartlets can be tapped to pop up at
a much larger size. The author has cruised
Chile extensively, and drawn on data from
trusted cruising friends. If you’re going
there, buy a copy, but consider the format
option carefully. There’s much to be said for
the e-book, which includes colour photos
not in the printed book.By Rod Shiers,
published by Lodestar
Books at £12
The author decided
sailing around the UK
was the perfect way to
celebrate retirement.
Being dismasted prior
to the start ensured careful preparation,
which resulted in a successful trip for him,
his Westerly Fulmar Shearwater and a
changing crew of friends and family.
Starting from Portishead and sailing
clockwise via Bangor, Stromness and the
English Channel, Shearwater covered 2,400
miles. With inevitably mixed weather,
progress was not always good, but there
were also moments of elation to offset the
frustration. The adventure is nicely written
and my only regret is the lack of illustration
beyond three sketched route maps.By Percy Mitchell, published
by boatbuildersstory.co.uk
at £12.50
This is the original story of
West Country boatbuilder
Percy Mitchell, fi rst published in
1968, with extra chapters by son Gary. After
his apprenticeship in 1921, Percy took over a
Mevagissey yard aged 22 but a commission
for a 39ft fi shing lugger forced a move to a
bigger yard in Portmellon, where he stayed.
A self-taught designer, Percy drew and
built wooden craft from pram dinghies to
70ft yachts, and many working boats. One
of his best known yachts was Windstar,
sailed by King George VI and Princesses
Elizabeth and Margaret. It all makes for an
interesting tale, illustrated with black and
white photos and line drawings.A Boatbuilder’s
Story
Chile North
and Chile South
All Aboard!
have happened? Had the crew
very quietly weighed anchor and
moved the boat out into deeper
water without wakening him?
Impossible, they would have to
have used the engine and that
would certainly have woken him.
Had he miscalculated the time of
Low Water? No, even if his sums
had been slightly inaccurate, Low
Water the previous afternoon had
been at about 1430 and the areawhere they were now anchored
had clearly been well above the
low water mark.
Now you take over. Your boat
is 12m long, draws 1.8m and by
today’s standards she is narrow,
with a beam of just 3m. She has a
long keel. You have a crew of fi ve.
The tidal range is 7 metres. What
are you going to do? WPHOTO: ANDREW BARWICKIn calm weather and the right
location, drying out need be
no more than an embarrassing
incident, as witnessed in the
entrance to the Hamble River
a few years ago