Almanac for English Channel now online and free

by Des Ryan on 13 May 2009 Cruising sailors who wish to sail the English Channel now or in the future will be delighted to learn that the Wiley Nautical Almanac, for years a hard copy publication, can now be downloaded to your computer, completely free.

Neville Featherstone, editor of MacMillan and Reeds hard copy almanacs for many years, has led a team for the last couple of years in preparing the online version.

The almanac includes tides, weather, navigation and passage planning information for each port and cross-channel passages, and once downloaded can be printed out. Alternatively, merely download and print the seciton that you need.

The information incorporates around 150 harbours and ports, and extends from Lowestoft in the eastern county of Suffolk to Padstow in Cornwall and on the French side of the Channel, from Vlissingen in the Netherlands to L'Aber-Wrac'h near Brest.

Principal information for each port and harbour is:

** Tides: times and heights of high and low water, graphical tidal streams and rates
** Weather forecast: 1-7 days including wind direction and force in knots and Beaufort scale, sea state, air temperature, cloud cover, sun and moon rise and set
** Ports Harbour navigation: waypoints, aerial photographs, charts, navigation and pilotage notes
** Reference section: including information on Navigation, Communications, Safety and UK and Continental Weather sources
** Local facilities: contact details for marinas, fuel, restaurants, chandleries, marine engineers, sail makers etc

For more information, or to download it now, go to the Wiley's http://www.wileynautical.com/view/0/almanac.html!website