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26 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com MARCH 2016

SAILING 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 scheme

I

n high summer the islands

of Oléron and Ré, off the

west coast of France, attract

slightly more yachts than

there are visitors’ berths.

The very obliging harbourmasters

hate to turn visitors away, so they

cram the last few into berths

which are just possible to get into

but mighty diffi cult to get out of,

just like lobster pots.

I encountered a lobster pot

berth last summer in St Denis

d’Oléron: a fi nger berth, port

side to, on the north side of the

visitors’ pontoon. Our neighbour

to starboard was much smaller

so we had ample room to

slot ourselves into the berth.

Unfortunately he left shortly after

we arrived, to be replaced by a

much larger boat, which only just

fi tted into the available space.

Two days later we wanted to

leave for the 21-mile passage to

St Martin de Ré. Both harbours

have shallow entrances, restricting

entry and departure to slightly

less than three hours either side

of High Water. It would be easy

enough to make the passage over

high water, as long as we left at

the right time. With HW at 0400

and 1630, this meant leaving at

0130 or 1430. The latter seemed

more attractive. The weather

forecast was for a calm night and

morning, with the NW sea breeze

fi lling in early afternoon, building

to force 5 and veering northerly

by evening, a common pattern on

this part of the coast.

At 1400 we started securing for

sea and planning our departure.

The wind was Force 4 from NW

and building. The fi nger berth

was about 8m long, so our stern

overlapped it by some 3m, our

neighbours on either side were

‘How would

you escape

this ‘lobster

pot berth’?’

For Bill’s answer, see p29

THE BOAT

IMPROVEMENT GUIDE

By Ian Nicolson, published

by Amberley at £14.99

This is another collection of

Nicolson’s bright ideas for

improving boats, illustrated

with his clear, simple

hand-drawn diagrams. These include a row

of clothes pegs for holding the navigator’s

notes at the chart table, and a ‘crash bar’

to stop you being thrown off the loo in

heavy seas. Some are more easily applied to

wooden boats than to glassfi bre ones, but

the principles can often be adapted.

Most people these days would buy a

custom-made solution rather than make

their own, but the ideas could inspire you.

It’s thought provoking and will grab the

imagination of any boat-owning DIY fans.

RYA INTERNATIONAL

REGULATIONS

FOR PREVENTING

COLLISIONS AT SEA –

2ND EDITION

By Tim Bartlett, published

by the RYA at £12.99

For Colregs to keep us all

safe, the skipper or master

of any vessel must apply the rules quickly

and accurately. That requires an intimate

knowledge and understanding of them, and

how many of us can say we have that?

For each rule, Bartlett gives a clear, simple

explanation of its practical application and

meaning, using both words and diagrams.

Available either in print or as an e-book, it

makes learning, understanding and applying

Colregs a lot easier and for that the author is

to be congratulated.

CAPTURE

By Colin Darch, published by

Austin MacAuley at £7.99

This recounts the author’s life

on all sorts of merchant ships

across much of the world

over half a century.

It’s a strange blend of tales

and anecdotes, but culminates in

the author’s accepting the job of delivering a

tug from St Petersburg to Singapore, during

which he and his crew were captured by

Somali pirates and held for ransom.

Surprisingly, Darch avoided retirement a

little longer and undertook a few further ship

movements. Throughout the book he gives

the reader an insight into a world quite alien

to most of us, even though the seas we sail

are the same. In that sense it is ‘enlightening’,

but it is not always an easy read.

about the same length. The width

of the navigable fairway astern

of us was not much more than

one boat’s length. The handling

characteristics of our boat are

determined by her hull shape: a

long keel which is very shallow

at the bow sloping down to the

deepest point just forward of the

transom-hung rudder. The rig

is slightly unusual, an unstayed

cat ketch with a bulky carbon

mainmast about half a metre aft

of the stem and a slightly smaller

mizzen just forward of the cockpit.

It works well under sail but under

power the combination of a lot of

windage forward, with not much

underwater area to stop the bows

being blown to leeward means

that she has very predictable

handling characteristics, which

make for an easy life if you plan to

work with her turning preferences,

but a hard one if you don’t.

At 1430 we were ready to go.

Now you take over. There are a

few other things I should tell you

about the boat. She has vane

steering gear which projects about

1.5 metres from the stern and a

stubby platform bowsprit, about

1m long, on which the anchor is

stowed. The stern kicks hard to

port when going astern, gently to

starboard when going ahead. You

have only one crew member, but

she is strong and agile. W

Visitor pontoon

St Denis d’Oleron

Exit

marina

Sill

WIND

NW, Force 4

CHART: MAXINE HEATH