Re: [PUP] West coast of Central America Cruising Guide?
----- Original Message ----
From: Peter Pisciotta peter@seaskills.com
To:
Passagemaking Under Power List passagemaking-under-power@lists.samurai.com
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 6:59:25 AM
Subject: Re: [PUP] West coast of
Central America Cruising Guide?
John and Pat Rains, both USCG masters (John
with a
very high tonnage), were probably premier yacht
delivery resource on
the Panama Canal route.
A couple years ago, they set aside their delivery
business in favor of their publishing efforts - they
have written several
books, the most popular of which
was their Mexico Cruising Guide, which seems
to keep
them quite busy and happy these days as they have also
set aside all
other books including "Cruising Ports:
Florida to California" and "MexWX,"
both of which are
out of print, and therefore out of date.
I believe that
both of these books are being revised at this time. Go to the Rain's website
and ask them about revisions. Out of print copies are available on both Ebay
and Amazon from time to time. I purchased MexWX (out of print version) about
a year ago, and I think it is still a good reference.
since the founder of
Charlie's Charts died several
years ago (his publishing legacy continues
through a
family member).
I met Margo Wood, "Charlie" Wood's wife, at the
Seattle Boat Show last January. She continues publishing Charlie's Charts.
She is continually publishing updates which she gathers through loyal cruisers
who send her revisions.
I feel that the more information I have (even when
somewhat out of date), the better informed I can be. Given the amount that
most of us have invested in our boats, the extra cost of these publications is
minimal. Besides, it makes it fun looking through all these resources as we
plan our next jump into the unknown.
Patrick
Willard 40PH
ALOHA
La Paz, MX
"Cruising Ports:
Florida to California" and "MexWX,"
both of which are
out of print, and therefore out of date.
PATRICK:
I believe that both of these books are being
revised at this time.
I certainly hope so, but the last I talked to John
Rains a couple years ago as he was getting out of the
delivery business, I had the impression he wasn't
doing a lot of travel by boat, so I wouldn't be
surprised to learn there will be no update to that
cruising guide.
PATRICK:
I met Margo Wood, "Charlie" Wood's wife, at the
Seattle Boat Show last January. She is
continually publishing updates through cruisers
who send her revisions.
This was the "gold standard" of cruising guides for
years. And I haven't read one in a number of years so
I won't speak specifically about Charlie's Charts. But
in general, cruising guides are interesting but not as
detailed and well-researched as they should be - a
careful eye will find many, many examples of language
pulled directly from the non-copyrighted Coast Pilots.
For example, until Don and Reanne Douglass wrote the
quitissential guide on the US Pacific Coast ($60!!!),
the only guide from San Francisco south was written by
the same person who wrote the only guide for the
Channel Islands off Santa Barbara. In some places the
info was good, in other places, it was clear he had
never visited the place. A park ranger at San Miguel
Island once joked "If I had a dime for every anchorage
that was identified as 'suicidal...'" A good cruising
guide requires the author to make purpose-specific
visits, not just recollections of a cruising voyage.
But I agree with you Patrick - there's very little
more satisfying than sitting down with any
book/article and dreaming-the-dream. It's what I once
heard referred to as the "Huck Finn Syndrome," the
equivilent of floating down the Mississippi with a
straw hat pushed over your brow to shield the sun.
Peter