Pass Your Yachtmaster

David Fairhall has enjoyed sailing for more than half a century in everything from Dragons to Thames barges. He has raced offshore, including skippering a boat in the Fastnet Race, and made transatlantic ocean deliveries. He sails from Maldon on the East Coast, where he lives. Mike Peyton was the world's best known nautical cartoonist. He wrote several books, illustrated many more, and produced thousands of cartoons for yachting magazines. Peter Rodgers has sailed his own cruising boats for many years, and has done three Fastnet Races, two as navigator. He passed his Yachtmaster Offshore before electronics took over the chart table, but has a keen interest in the benefits and limitations of the latest navigation technology.

Introduction
Navigation
Charts
The IALA buoyage system
The compass
The log
Depth sounding
GNSS
Radar
Tides
Chartwork
GNSS positions
Passage planning
Electronic charts
Learning to use electronic charts
Types of electronic chart
AIS and radar on electronic charts
Other software for chartplotters
‘Not to be used for navigation’
Low risks, big impact
Weather
Basic weather system
Clouds
Depressions
Anticyclones
Local weather
Fog
The Beaufort wind scale
Sources of weather information
Safety and seagoing practice
The Rule of the Road
International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972
Anchoring
Communications
Distress signals
Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
Life saving signals
Safety equipment
Stability and buoyancy of yachts
Coping with bad weather
Environmental awareness
Index