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Reeds Crew Handbook 2nd edition

Reeds Crew Handbook 2nd edition cover

Reeds Crew Handbook 2nd edition

Quantity
Pre-order. Available Sep 16 2025
$14.40 RRP $16.00 Website price saving $1.60 (10%)

Payment for this pre-order will be taken when the item becomes available

Description

Reeds Crew Handbook is the ideal primer or aide-memoire for new crew, and for anyone going on a flotilla or charter holiday, or sailing aboard a friend's yacht for the weekend.

Both a refresher for old hands and an ideal introduction for skippers to hand to new and aspiring crew, this guide gives them all the essential knowledge they need to undertake the tasks traditionally handled by crew aboard any size of yacht, including:

Steering (both with a tiller and a wheel)
Raising, dropping and reefing a sail
Boat handling (using tide, wind, etc)
Handling lines (throwing, coiling, lassoing, etc)
Tying up a boat on a pontoon and against a quay wall
Attaching bow and stern lines and springs
Handling an anchor
Using the radio
Basic first aid
Essential knots

Presented in bite-sized topics in a very accessible and undaunting fashion, and packed with colour illustrations to guide crew through each task, Reeds Crew Handbook is an invaluable primer for new crew before going to sea, and a handy pocket-sized reference for experienced crew when under sail.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Parts of the Yacht
-Hull/deck
-Below

Living on a Yacht
-Food and cooking
-The fresh water supply
-The heads (toilet)
-Electricity supply
-Rubbish
-Sleeping on board

Ropes and Knots
-Rope names
-Coiling a rope
-The winch
-Cleating off a rope
-Knots

Yacht under Motor
-The engine control
-Starting the engine
-Stopping the engine
-Steering under engine
-Prop walk
-Prop wash off the rudder

Yacht under Sail
-How sails work
-Trimming the sails
-Points of sail
-Coming up to wind
-Bearing away
-Tacking
-Gybing
-Steering under sail
-Steering a compass course
-Steering close-hauled
-Sailing downwind
-The preventer

Handling the Mainsail
-Hoisting the mainsail
-Dropping the mainsail
-Reefing the mainsail
-Shaking out a reef

Handling the Headsail
-The headsail
-Roller furling headsail
-Unfurling the headsail
-Furling the headsail
-Reefing and unreefing the headsail
-Conventional headsails
-Hoisting a headsail
-Dropping a headsail
-How to fold a sail

Berthing
-Pontoons
-Arriving at a pontoon
-Leaving a pontoon
-Rafting on to other boats
-Harbour walls

Mooring
-Swinging moorings
-Picking up a mooring
-Leaving a mooring
-Rafting on a mooring
-Fore-and-aft moorings

Anchoring
-Anchoring a yacht
-Setting the anchor
-Lifting the anchor
-The dinghy

On Passage
-Crew tasks and watches
-Lookout
-Taking bearings
-Helming
-Cooking and housekeeping
-Keeping the log
-Off-watch

At the End of the Trip
-Typical end-of-trip tasks
-On deck
-Down below

Safety and Emergencies
-Safety briefing
-Personal safety
-Lifejacket
-Safety harness
-Gas
-Fire
-Emergency equipment
-Emergencies
-Man overboard
-VHF Mayday message

Glossary
Index

Product details

Published Sep 16 2025
Format Paperback
Edition 2nd
Extent 176
ISBN 9781399421782
Imprint Reeds
Illustrations Colour diagrams throughout
Dimensions 6 x 4 inches
Series Reeds Handbooks
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing

About the contributors

Author

Bill Johnson

A Cambridge-educated engineer, Bill Johnson swappe…

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