What sort of nerds write pilot books? Looking back on writing books for the Med (and other places) Rod Heikell feels a bit of nostalgia for those nearly forgotten skills of pilotage, seamanship, and the joy of sailing. With no GPS or computer aided design, things were a little different from today. Surprisingly some things remain the same, but fortunately you don't get arrested for drawing a harbour plan or taking photos of them any more.
New Members Evening, 13th February, 18.30-21.30, CA House
Recently joined the CA? Join us for our bi-annual new members evening! If you haven’t yet been to CA House, this is your chance to come and enjoy an evening with us, get a real taste of what being part of the CA is all about, take a guided tour of CA House, see our library and information centre, cabin accommodation and where the Secretariat is based, plus meet lots of current CA members. There will also be a talk from Jim Bacon at 7pm on Cruising Weather for you to enjoy.
Extreme Voyagers 2: the Next Generation, by Jeremy Batch
Any toddler who waved a flag at the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant (Spithead, 1897) would have learned at school about the Wright brothers’ first flight only six years later. He would also, if he just exceeded his “threescore years and ten”, have watched men walk on the Moon.
Jimmy Cornell and Adlard Coles Nautical invite you to celebrate the launch of his new book, a definitive guide to help sailors plan a voyage from anywhere in the world to anywhere in the world, with suggestions of alternative routes, recommended times and favourable seasons, tropical storm areas and critical months, suggested detours to attractive places, and strategically located ports of call to be used in an emergency.
Jimmy will introduce with a talk on Voyage Planning in the Age of Electronic Charts.
Jules and Vanessa will talk about their cruise northwards along the beautiful and sometimes dramatic Adriatic, taking in the rarely visited Albanian coast as well as the beautiful scenery of Montenegro and Croatia, still one of the best cruising grounds and popular with CA members.
Due to popular demand, it is advisable to book your place in advance by contacting the Secretariat:
This wonderful cruising ground is possibly the most accessible way of 'going foreign' for UK sailors, as it is only 60 miles from the South Coast.
The advent of electronic navigation has done away with many of the fears of cruising these waters, even for an East Coast sailor more used to mud and sandbanks than rocks and strong tides.
David will concentrate on 'things we wished we had known before we went there' and the talk will be illustrated by his lovely photographs, not all of nautical subjects.
For the last three seasons CA log competition winner, Howard Steen, has cruised in his UK registered Vancouver 27, ‘Martha Maria’ on the Norwegian coast, wintering afloat in the Hardanger fjord and in Arctic Norway (Tromso) and using the boat as a base for ski-mountaineering activities.
Nick Pochin, the owner and skipper of Festina Lente, a Discovery 55, circumnavigated with the Blue Water Rally in 2005-07.
Not content with this, he then sailed west about Cape Horn and North to Alaska, covering 35,000 nautical miles and travelling from 56 South to 59 North against the prevailing winds and currents in six months. Most people advised against it, but Nick is a tad stubborn!
Due to popular demand, it is advisable to book your place in advance by contacting the Secretariat:
Jon Boon, inveterate charterer and London CA member, wanted to sail somewhere as far away and as remote as reasonably possible on a relatively short trip.
Doina Cornell will give a presentation based on her book Child of the Sea (published by Adlard Coles in July 2012) describing seven years spent sailing around the world with her family Jimmy, Gwenda and Ivan Cornell.
