Motorboating – Start to Finish

Motorboating Start to Finish is the perfect book for you if you are new to motorboating and need to learn the basics, or if you are experienced, but wish to broaden your skills and develop your techniques. This easy-to-follow, step-by-step guide takes you through the basic principles, preparing to go to sea, your first voyage and safety at sea. It includes advice on choosing and buying a motorboat, essential equipment, boat handling, tides, weather and navigation, all taken from courses delivered by the UK’s biggest sailing school, the UKSA. This book is accessible to all levels, giving those new to motorboating straightforward advice, and showing experienced powerboaters how to take the sport to the next level with professional tips that will help improve speed, skill, safety and enjoyment. It is a complete reference for every level of tender, RIB, fishing boat, motor cruiser or sportsboat driver. This book is packed with hundreds of illustrations and photographs, and is a great way to learn, develop and refresh your powerboating skills.

Table of Contents

GETTING STARTED; BASIC PRINCIPLES: Powerboat types, Parts of the boat, Propulsion systems, Buying a powerboat, Transporting and launching trailable powerboats, Knots and ropes; PREPARING TO GO TO SEA: What to wear, Essential equipment and safety checks, Getting onboard from dinghy and dock, Rules of the road; FIRST VOYAGE: Boat handling and trim - mooring and anchoring, Tides and weather, Basics of navigation, Radio etiquette; SAFETY AT SEA: Passage planning, Navigating in restricted visibility, Boat handling in heavy weather, Towing, Fire prevention and control, Man overboard; Glossary of terms; Acknowledgements

Barry Pickthall is a respected sports writer and photographer and has been covering all aspects of sailing and boating for the past 35 years, 20 of them as a yachting correspondent to The Times newspaper. He has been covering the international stage for the past 4 decades from the Olympics to America's Cup and Round the World Races. Barry is also a qualified sailing instructor – having graduated from one of the first courses held at the UKSA.