Practical Sailor's gear and boat reviews take the guesswork out of your buying decisions.

Volume 29
Number 17
September 2003

Coastal Cruising Guides

A capable cruising guide can make the difference between anxiety and confidence while sailing. It can make shoreside chores efficient, and even provide good bunk reading by lamplight while the winds whistle. Not all of these capabilities exist in the same book, however.

We can mention here only a large sampling of the guides available — and these are the ones in print.

Most sailors find entering a new harbor adventurous, and it is. However, most of us also find it, at best, a jaw clamper. Especially at night. And if the weather is terrible, it can equate to a kidney stone. However, good charts, careful piloting, and a GPS receiver will bring you safely into the harbor.

It beats how it was done in 1609 by the intrepid Englishman, Henry Hudson, who for three weeks had to feel his way in the shallow-draft Half Moon to explore the river he claimed for the Dutch (he was sailing for the Dutch East India Company).…

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