We had occasion recently to try the technique of attaching two anchors to the same chain, one coming off the bow first and dragging the other behind it, since both our main anchors had been lost and neither of the secondary anchors was meaty enough to trust. 

This arrangement held us firm through several hairy situations, including gusts up to 50 knots in the Lagoon in Sint Maarten, in July, not the best holding ground at any time. There was a Danforth anchor first and a CQR following it. The captain said that, given the famous propensity of French cruisers to turn up, dump the hook and all the chain on top of it, leap into the dinghy and disappear ashore, it tickles him that some of the best anchoring advice he has seen comes from a Frenchman! 

And before you leap up screeching racism - some of our best friends are French and they agree entirely that it does seem to be a bit of a syndrome amongst bareboat charter clients from their country...

There are more reviews of Anchoring and Mooring Techniques over on Amazon's book site.

It seems pretty comprehensive - we didn't agree altogether with everything in it, certainly in matters of taste and use of materials for the interior, but we are not typical cruisers, or people come to that! 
There is a lot of very useful information, it would certainly be a boon to anyone thinking of taking up cruising, or preparing to do so. 

It doesn't seem to have an ISBN or other number but you can contact the authors c/o Beowulf Publishing Group, 323 Matilija Street, Suite 112, Ojai, CA 93023 from whom you can also, apparently, acquire The Bluewater Handbook, A Guide To Cruising Seamanship by the same authors. 

According to the legend, which may well be out of date, you can order by telephone on: (805) 653 - 7208 and pay with Visa or MasterCard if you so wish.
If you happen to be able to confirm or update that telephone number or have a relevant e-mail or website address, perhaps you could e-mail us with it and we'll add it to the above - hope you don't fall into the trap of thinking someone else will have e-mailed us with it already...if everyone thinks that, we'll never get that address!

Well! Good old Amazon have sorted that out too! Now you can read online reviews of the above and various other books by Steve and Linda Dashew!

'Sensible people' I hear you mutter, and you're probably right! Still, we'd love to  meet them, they sound delightful and this book by Annie is splendidly practical, amusing, entertaining and although, in the proper spirit of the thing, we have acquired the 1993 edition in exchange for another book (we certainly ended up with the better tome!), the advice is absolutely pertinent to the year 2000. 

Whatever you do don't imagine this book is some sort of hippie treatise - Annie takes a seriously intelligent approach to getting the most out of life, money and all that comes to hand - how do you think the rich get to stay that way? Not by wasting resources and ignoring helpful hints on how to make and stretch a dollar! 

Well, we have found copies of Voyaging On A Small Income at Amazon but, judging by the prices, Annie Hill must be voyaging on a fat bank balance these days ;-) Still, the reviews are fascinating and there are other, more economical books on the same topic mentioned on the same page, including one by Lin Pardey, so it's worth going to take a look anyway... 

Once again, Amazon to the rescue - we found a link to several Eric Hiscock books and have put it into our Electronic Book World site.

An Ocean To Ourselves -by Harold La Borde - ISBN 0582 767113
This slim paperback first published by Peter Davies of London in 1962 and re-published by Longman Caribbean in 1978, reprinted in 1979, is the true story of Harold La Borde's quest to obtain a yacht and cross the ocean, his meeting and marrying Kwailan and their voyage aboard the 26'9" ketch 'Humming Bird'  up the Caribbean island chain and across the Atlantic, first to the Azores and eventually to Falmouth. Harold's writing style is quite charming and ensured that we would want to buy and read the other two books, which of course we did. Amazon have managed to provide us with a link to available copies of An Ocean To Ourselves

All Oceans Blue by Harold La Borde -  no ISBN 
Published  by the La Bordes in Port of Spain, Trinidad in 1977 this is a fairly large hardcover volume, liberally sprinkled with photographs, depicting the family's circumnavigation aboard the 40' ketch 'Humming Bird II', and all they saw along the way. An excellent book. You may have to visit the La Bordes to get a copy however! Seriously though, we are uncertain of the availability of the book internationally but, if enough readers say they would be interested in purchasing a copy of this and/or either of the others,  we will certainly communicate the interest to the La Borde family and perhaps more copies will emerge...

Lonely Oceans South - A Voyage To Cape Horn - by Harold La Borde
Again originally published by the La Borde family themselves this is a slim paperback crammed with photographs taken by Pierre la Borde. The book describes the voyage aboard the 55' ketch 'Humming Bird III' but also, perhaps more importantly, the soul-searching, the anxiety and the loneliness of separation as Pierre and Harold regretfully put Kwailan ashore. Harold was unwilling to risk leaving their other son André without any family at all if anything should happen to Humming Bird III, and as Kwailan got off so her husband and son were joined by Pierre's girlfriend,  Ave Narinesingh, who took on the cooking and crewed side by side with father and son.  Pierre La Borde was awarded the Humming Bird Gold Medal for his part in the successful voyage. Amazon have managed to provide us with a link to such copies of Lonely Oceans South as are available.

No matter how long you sail or how far, there is always something else to learn, some new technique to try - the saddest sailor is one who thinks there is only one way to do anything - the happiest is the one who has sampled the options currently known to him, or her, and chosen the one that suits best. We found several very useful tips in the book, after a joint total of eighty-five years' sailing and cruising!

Amazon, as usual, have come up trumps with links to paperback as well as hardback editions of This Is Basic Sailboat Cruising, both new and old!

You'll find free electronic readers and a wide range of books, many of which you can download free. CD libraries are also available through this online shop - you may like to take a look without leaving the magazine...