The Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation publishes pilotage information through books and a range of media acessible through its own website www.rccpf.org.uk.
Reviews of the most recent RCCPF Publications and other books written by RCC members are shown below.
Mark Fishwick compiled his first West Country Cruising in 1988, and the publication of a Tenth Edition by Fernhurst Books is a testament to its continuing popularity.
Cruising Guide to the Netherlands and Belgium is a new first edition from the Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation.
Skip Novak on Sailing: Words of Wisdom from 50 Years Afloat is a fascinating collection of articles contributed to Yachting World between 2014 and 2023.
A Cruising Adventure and How-To Guide by Nicholas Coghlan
Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation Balearic Islands 12th Edition, David and Susie Baggaley
Andrew Wilkes reviews Marek Jurczynski's publication
Skipper Lynam developed his love of the sea and sailing as a schoolboy at King William’s College on the Isle of Man becoming, in time, a successful canoe sailor.
Review of Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation publication ‘Norway, Mainland coast, fjord and islands, including Svalbard and Jan Mayen’ 4th Edition
Bermuda, Azores, Madeira Group, Canary Islands and Cape Verdes:
Editor: Jane Russell, RCC, RCCPF Publisher: Royal Institution of Navigation, 2020. Available as a free download
Nigel Wollen reviews Mark Fishwick's West Country Cruising Companion
An excellent pilot by Madeleine and Stephan Strobel updated May 2020.
4th Edition. By Rod and Lucinda Heikell. A Review of this welcome update by Will Pedder
This practical guide deserves a place of honour on the chart table of any sailing yacht venturing to the Chilean channels or, as Bill Tillman referred to them, ‘the magical place of the unknown’.
"The book is a triumph, and represents a significant raising of the bar. Jo is to be congratulated, and I do hope readers will be enthused sufficiently to cruise the South China Sea."
This book is a very practical guide to long distance ocean sailing, compiled by a very accomplished and experienced practitioner and aimed at the would-be ocean sailor.
This meticulously updated 8th edition invites the cruising sailor to safely explore numerous exquisite locations, reassured by the author's wealth of experience.
Our review of September 2019 updated to include CCA review as a download. This book is not a “how to do it” manual, more a compendium of the most important issues.....
"I commend Christopher and the RCCPF team on producing an excellent book that will be an invaluable resource to anyone making this trip (Trinidad to Tobago) for the first time"
Reviewed by Peter Bruce who says: "This Second Edition is thoroughly comprehensive and gives those with it a huge advantage over those without."
Reviewer Jay Devonshire writes: "An up to date Pilot Book is an essential, and this latest publication is to to be recommended."
For many a sailor, crossing the Atlantic Ocean is their holy grail, the equivalent of scaling Mount Everest for a climber. Both are immense challenges and preparation is key.
The RCC Pilotage Foundation has recently brought out a fourth edition, published by Imray, of their extensive guide to The Baltic Sea and its Approaches.
‘Gibraltar and the five Mediterranean costas of Spain form the subject matter of this pilot.’
Paul Heiney's lavishly illustrated book warrants a well-deserved place in the chart table and has plenty of general interest for those seeking inspiration for their next cruise.
This is a beautifully produced and extremely well structured guide to this very long and diverse cruising ground. Reviewed by Katharine Ingram
The Canary Islands Guide is very much a guide for tourists rather than a pilot book, but as such it has the information for a touring yachtsman to enjoy these islands.
For such a small country The Netherlands has an amazing 6,000km of navigable waterways and there is something there for everyone.
The revised edition of the Arctic and Northern Waters Pilot is a compelling volume that takes the reader into waters that few will travel, for those who go there it is essential reading.
Reviewers Katharine & Peter Ingram write: "This RCC Pilotage Foundation book is a beautifully produced and extremely well structured guide to the vast cruising area that is the Pacific Ocean."
The Clyde Cruising Club
Orkney & Shetland
Including North and Northeast Coasts of Scotland
Sailing Directions and Anchorages
The new (3rd) edition of The Clyde Cruising Club’s (CCC’s) Orkney and Shetland Sailing Directions and Anchorages was published by Imray earlier this year. Wisely it includes the sailing directions for the north and north-east coasts of mainland Scotland (Cape Wrath to Inverness) which are essential information for approaching the Northern Isles from Scotland, or vice versa.
Like its predecessors it is in six sections:
Preface and Introduction 8 pages
1. Cape Wrath to Scrabster 8 pages
2. The Pentland Firth 9 Pages
3. Wick to Inverness 7 pages
4. Orkney 27 Pages
5. Orkney to Shetland 4 pages
6. Shetland 67 pages
All the information has been thoughtfully up-dated to January 2026. The clarity of the text is improved by small changes to the layout and by use of different fonts. A few photographs have been re-sized and others have been substituted, improving the illustration of the text. All the anchorage and approach plans are clear and easy to understand. The areas affected by the fiercest tides, The Pentland Firth, Eynhallow Sound and Westray Firth in Orkney; the Sumburgh Roost, Yell Sound and Muckle Flugga in Shetland all carry suitable warnings and much good advice. The importance of understanding and making use the tides is emphasised throughout the text and should be heeded.
The CCC’s output is a remarkable series of pilots stemming from more than a century of experience recording and sketching Scotland’s inimitable coasts, islands and anchorages with great clarity and assembling the increasing torrent of information from CCC members, from locals and from the wider yachting fraternity.
The contrast between these two island groups is fascinating. Orkney is a haven of archaeology stretching back five thousand years or so to from the Bronze age to the twentieth century; really secure anchorages are few but every island has sites of significant interest that can be visited in moderate weather and the marina at Kirkwall is easily approachable. Shetland occupies more than half the book. The scenery is wilder, the coast much more indented, with a great number of sheltered anchorages, endlessly fascinating for the inquisitive cruising yachtsman. Archaeology from ancient times is not lacking. I have cruised these islands extensively for many years with a growing family and with a host friends, and with much guidance from local people; I consider this volume to be an essential companion and source of wisdom for any cruise in Orkney and Shetland.
CJHT 2026
