Handbooks and Guidebooks

Our Handbooks and Guidebooks range covers almanacs, pilot books and cruising guides for Irish and UK waters – reference material that goes beyond a chart to add real local knowledge on harbours, anchorages, tides and hazards.

An almanac is an annual reference covering tide tables, port and harbour information, radio frequencies and safety contacts in one volume, worth having current each year rather than relying on an old edition, since details like contact information and light characteristics do change. A pilot book or cruising guide goes further for a specific cruising area, adding written local knowledge – where to anchor, which approaches to avoid, local hazards a chart alone won’t flag – genuinely useful for cruising unfamiliar stretches of the Irish west coast, Connemara or the Aran Islands. These are a complement to charts and electronic navigation, not a replacement – keep them aboard as a backup reference and for the kind of practical, written local knowledge that doesn’t show up on a plotter.

Buy the current edition where possible, since older editions can carry outdated harbour information.

Frequently asked questions

What’s the difference between an almanac and a pilot book?

An almanac is an annual general reference (tides, safety contacts, port data); a pilot book or cruising guide focuses on detailed local knowledge for a specific cruising area.

Do I need a current edition, or is an older one fine?

Buy the current edition where possible – harbour details, contacts and light characteristics can change, and an outdated edition may carry incorrect information.