Starting Your Boating Library

by Peter J. Wihtol

 

Best Single Book

Chapman Piloting, Seamanship and Boat Handling, Charles F. Chapman; New York, Motor Boating & Sailing. This is "the bible" of boating. It is big, thick and heavy. Its list price is about $45 but is frequently on sale each spring at boating hardware stores. You can borrow it for free at your local library. And it is on sale on Ebay. Hints....... purchase a newer edition rather than an older one. Don't be intimidated by the volume of information, just concentrate on the sections of initial interest to you. Your next step would be to take a beginners boating safety course. Incidentally, the material in this book was the primary information source for the US Power Squadron's courses.

 

Because New England Weather Changes Rapidly

The USA Today Weather Almanac, Jack Williams, New York Vintage Books, 1995. This is a well-written and excellently illustrated, easy-to-understand text about how to understand the weather. Boating in New England one encounters sudden and drastically different forms of weather. [You also need to listen to the radio forecasts on television at home, your car radio traveling to your marina and the weather channel on your boat's radio. Many boaters do not do this and they pay the price occasionally.]

 

Best Navigation Book

Boating Navigation for The Rest of Us: finding your way by eye and electronics, Bill Brogdon, Camden, ME. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 1995. The author is a former USCG buoy tender captain, where one must perform the most exacting navigation in placing of navigational buoys. His explanations are easy to understand and they start you simply navigating out of your home harbor, going out in a straight line and returning, just using the reverse compass heading -- assuming no currents or winds to speak of. Then he covers progressively more difficult situations. His methods start by using one's eye-and-compass and then he advances to the use of GPS and other electronic devices.

 

What You Need To Know About Ports And Their Services Available

Maptech, Embassy Guide: New England Coast ISBN: 0-7436-0918. This is an invaluable "Triple A" type of guide to the harbors in Maine, NH, MA, and RI. It provides charts of the harbors and descriptions of the marinas, phone numbers, hailing VHF channels, fuel available approach depths, slip depths, moorings available and services available. Also provided is information on restaurants and provisions, navigation and anchorages, and shore side and emergency services with phone numbers and VHF channels for contact. Price is about $45.

 

Supplemental Boating Information: US Power Squadron Learning Guides

Covering 21 different subject areas, these guides are generally short booklets that provide useful information on a variety of marine-related topics. These Learning Guides are available to members and the public at various marine supply stores, and also directly from United States Power Squadrons Headquarters by calling 1-888-FOR-USPS between 8:30AM and 4:00PM ET Monday through Friday. Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express are accepted. These guides are also available to USPS members at reduced rates through their Squadron Educational Officer. www.usps.org/e_stuff/sup_list.html

 

Boating Insurance Is Not Covered In Boating Safety Courses

Should You Be A Person Considering The Purchase Of A Boat And Boating Insurance, I Strongly Recommend Getting The Us Power Squadron Learning Guide, Boat Insurance. One of the biggest hassles that I and newer boaters have had, has been with the selection of an insurance company for boating insurance coverage, and selecting the proper insurance coverage. Do you really know what marine losses are covered by your insurance policy? Don't be blind-sided by exceptions that come to your attention only after you suffer a loss. Know what you're buying. This guide provides much of what you need to know when you shop for boat insurance.

 

Also talk with other boaters in your local Power Squadron. Ask about which insurance companies are knowledgeable about boats and boaters, which ones give discounts for taking a boating safety course, taking supplemental courses, having extra equipment such as a depth finder, GPS, radar, VHF radio, etc. Talk to boat surveyors and others to learn which insurance companies charge much less for coverage, yet when there is an accident they really hassle you over paying your claim. Our worst local boating insurance story was of a person who had a lot of insurance coverage. But he put his boat on autopilot, went below decks to put on some coffee. His boat slammed into a large charter fishing boat. Many people were injured. The cost of the damage and lawsuits far exceeded his coverage. He lost his home and business and savings.

 

A new twist on potential cost of damages is that should your boat sink and there is fuel leaking from your boat's tanks, an environmental cleanup team will be called to the scene. This service will not be cheap. You must have adequate coverage.