The Mariners Diary 2020
by Peter Rendle 24 Dec 2019 11:08 NZDT
Mariners Diary 2020 cover and back page © Mariners Diary
I've just received my copy of the Mariners Diary, a 426 page tome that includes everything a yacht or power boat skipper needs to know when undertaking a coastal or offshore voyage.
This is obviously a publication that has taken Paul Montgomery and Kate Dennehey a considerable amount of time to compile and edit.
The foreword is written by solo sailor Lisa Blair, a significant authority on the needs of inshore and offshore voyages across the globe.
This diary is specifically written for Australia and New Zealand and it is hard to find anything that has been omitted.
The diary is divided into three sections. The first 200 pages covering a plethora of information ranging from safety, navigation, communication, weather systems
and everything in between. Brilliantly illustrated and written in language that easily understood, it is a reference manual for every contingency experienced while at sea.
The first section would adequately qualify as a comprehensive handbook in its own right. However there's more and the second section contains lists of relevant volunteer and safety rescue services. Contact numbers, radio references, hours of operation, frequencies monitored and latitudes and longitudes of the base stations for Australia and New Zealand. These are followed by a host of information covering Maritime Contacts, metric conversion tables and time speed and distance calculators.
Section three is where the practical input takes place and the diary and log pages make record keeping a breeze with all the headings, needed to maintain an accurate log, already printed.
There's lots of space for each day of the journey to be recorded with 6 hourly segments for each day enabling comments to be kept for each watch period. Each page is limited to two day's entries.
The end result is a comprehensive and accurate account of the adventure.
An index at the end of the diary has every possible subject entry ensuring a quick page reference for each item included in this exceptional product.
A must have item for every one experiencing or intending to go to sea in either a powerboat or yacht during 2020. At $39.95 RRP it is an exceptionally affordable addition to
the ship's inventory. Available from chandleries, Boat Books Australia, Amazon.com or Ebay or directly from Mariners Diary 1300 306 381 or 07 3343 8384