The Cruising Association publishes new edition of the Inland Waterways Guide to France & Belgium

The 2019 edition of the Cruising Association's guide Cruising the Inland Waterways of France and Belgium has just been published.

This authoritative 204-page guide, edited by Gordon Knight and Dr Roger Edgar, is now in its 23rd edition and available directly from the CA's online shop at https://www.theca.org.uk/catalog as well as from the Lulu.com bookstore, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Described as their 'Bible' by regular users and yacht skippers planning routes to and from the Mediterranean, the guide contains a wealth of information on cruising routes, cruising preparations, supplies, equipment, licences and documents, useful addresses, books and websites as well as listing around 250 mooring places throughout France and Belgium. The listings include comments on facilities, depths, prices, closest shops, restaurants and nearby attractions. The latest edition also includes details of fuel locations, either alongside or within easy jerrycan distance.

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Boat Owners Association of The United States: “Pay Our Coast Guard” - and so say all of us!

BoatUS is supporting legislation to pay members of the U.S. Coast Guard during the partial government shutdown.

With the federal government shutdown now in its fourth week, Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS) is supporting bipartisan legislation to immediately restore pay for U.S. Coast Guard members. S. 21, “Pay Our Coast Guard Act,” recently introduced in the Senate by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), and its companion bill, H.R. 367, “Pay Our Coast Guard Parity Act of 2019,” introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), aims to restore paychecks to the more than 40,000 active duty U.S. Coast Guard service members.

BoatUS is urging recreational boaters to ask their members of Congress for support of S.21 and H.R. 367 and offers a simple way to do that by going to: https://bit.ly/2AMDbJy.

In a January 15 letter to Sen. Thune and Rep. DeFazio, Vice President of BoatUS Government Affairs Chris Edmonston wrote, “While we understand the current debate over funding of the Department of Homeland Security is primarily about issues not directly related to the U.S. Coast Guard, we are concerned over the potential deterioration of its ability to fulfill its wide range of missions including search and rescue, boating safety regulation, and support for aids-to-navigation. We support your effort to ensure that USCG personnel will receive compensation notwithstanding the final passage of the DHS 2019 appropriation legislation. This will allow them to focus on their missions and help ensure the safety of recreational boaters.”

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Propele Electric Boat Motors Announces The EP Carry

Revolutionary Motor Designed Specifically for Dinghies and Tenders

 PropEle Electric Boat Motors, the innovation leader in portable electric propulsion, announced today the EP Carry. Now in full production, the innovative motor system provides lightweight, efficient, simple-to-use propulsion. The EP Carry is designed specifically for dinghies, tenders, small rowing and other craft under 13 feet and 600 pounds. The new product line delivers ship-to-shore simplicity, and quiet electric power with unique, patented features for easy control, comfort and safety.

Weighing in at a mere 14 pounds, the revolutionary EP Carry motor is sold complete with a 7-pound buoyant battery pack – making it the lightest electric motor system on the market and compact enough to easily handle and lift by hand. This light weight, combined with advanced ergonomics, allows for simple and fast set-up and operation, all from a seated position. The motor clamps onto a transom or motor mount and sets up in less than a minute. With a pull on the tiller arm to lift the prop, boaters can beach their dinghy, eliminating the challenges of traditional outboards that require reaching back or latching with a second hand. All controls including reverse gear are within reach at the end of the longest tiller arm of any outboard motor.

In spite of its small size and low weight, the EP Carry provides ample propulsion for one to three hours, depending on the power level selected. Designed to deliver long runtime for multiple ship-to-shore trips, most small boats can expect speeds of 3.5 to 4.2 knots with a range of 3-6 miles per charge. Lithium battery packs offer reliable operation with fast recharge times.

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The Camino Voyage – An Epic 2,500 km Modern Day Celtic Odyssey

The Camino Voyage, a full length feature film by Dónal Ó Céilleachair (pronounced O’Kelleher) of Anú Pictures, left us wishing it wouldn’t end.  We saw it in a special screening as part of the Celtic Camino Festival in Westport, County Mayo. The theatre was packed with Celtic Camino Society members from many countries, including visitors from as far away as Vancouver Canada, the US, Holland, Spain, UK and all over Ireland.

The movie is about a crew – including a writer, two musicians, an artist and a stonemason – who embark on a Camino expedition not by land but by sea in a traditional boat they built themselves. Their naomhóg, a wood-framed canvas covered boat, carried them 2,500 miles in three six-week long stages over three summers across the Irish Sea and the English Channel, along the coasts of France and Northern Spain and canals inland to Santiago de Compostella. They rowed and sailed the entire way, until they reached the last stage. They transported the naomhóg by car to Santiago, then carried her to the entrance of the Cathedral. It was an epic and inspiring journey, often dangerous and always gruelling.

The Camino (the Way) is the name of any of the pilgrimage routes to the shrine of the apostle St. James (Santiago in Spanish) in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in Northern Spain.  The route they took was once called the Camino Inglés, one of the sea routes. It traditionally started in A Coruña or Ferrol to which pilgrims arrived by boat from Great Britain and Ireland. But the north coast of Spain was deemed too dangerous for the small vessel.

read more & see the trailer

Top 10+ Cookbooks for Boaters - Recipes To Keep Your Crew From Jumping Ship

The Boat Cookbook: Real Food for Hungry Sailors
by Fiona Sims

For anyone with a tiny galley kitchen and an appetite for fresh, gorgeous food, there's good news: no more tins or bland leftovers aboard. These fabulous and easy recipes (all using no more than two pots and taking no longer than 30 minutes) will allow you to spoil yourself in harbour, keep things simple at sea, and make delicious meals and tasty snacks in advance. Featuring baked eggs with salmon, chorizo and chestnut sausage rolls, spicy lamb burgers with tzatziki, herb-stuffed trout, salted caramel and banana crunch, chocolate fruitcake and an amazing rum punch, this is seriously tasty food that's genuinely easy to make.

As well as the author's recipes, there are contributions from top chefs (Chris Galvin, Angela Hartnett, Kevin Mangeolles and Ed Wilson) and sailing legends (Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Brian Thompson and Dee Caffari). There are handy tips on setting up the galley, an idiot's guide to filleting fish, and how to host the perfect beach barbecue, all illustrated with tempting colour photographs and beautiful hand-drawn illustrations.

'There really is something for everyone to try, and enough scope for you to really spoil yourself and your crew the next time you are on board. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I intend to - happy cooking!' Chris Galvin, sailor and Michelin-starred chef

for more cook books or to order thsi one, click here

Skip the Straw - Go Straight for the Drink

Ian Walker tells it like it is - Join him and #SkipTheStraw!

In the U.S. alone, we use more than 500 million plastic straws every day, and most of them end up in our oceans, polluting the water and harming marine life. Boaters can stop this problem - #skipthestraw and go straight for the drink. Join the movement to stop single-use plastic straws:https://www.sailorsforthesea.org/join-our-crew

click here to see the video

Twelve Great Unsung Irish Explorers

From: The Irish Post, June 17, 2015

Irish explorers stand at the heart of the epic story of Antarctic exploration, which is currently commemorating the 100th anniversary of Shackleton’s famous Endurance expedition.

It was an era of discovery echoing with episodes of unimaginable hardship, awe-inspiring endurance and incredible feats of survival. Yet the Irish heroes at the centre of the drama were quickly forgotten and shoved to the margins of history.

The men included the enigmatic Edward Bransfield, the unassuming Francis Crozier, the charismatic leader, Ernest Shackleton and the unsung hero Tom Crean. These men discovered Antarctica, mapped the frozen wastes and were the pathfinders who penetrated the brutal interior, but were soon forgotten.

These men sailed to the ice during Ireland’s period under British rule and after Independence, it was impossible to celebrate any association with the British. With striking symmetry, the age of Antarctic exploration ended with Shackleton’s death on January 5, 1922 — two days before Dáil Éireann ratified the Anglo-Irish Treaty of independence.

Bransfield and Crozier were already footnotes to history and those like Crean, Forde and Keohane, who together had served 80 years in the British navy, were compelled to remain silent about their exploits. Few books were written about these men, no statues were erected and their names faded from history. 

Only now is Ireland starting to recognise these men. Statues have been erected to Crean in Anascaul, Crozier in Banbridge, Forde at Cobh, Keohane in Courtmacsherry and the McCarthy brothers in Kinsale. The cabin where Shackleton died will soon be placed on permanent display in Athy, Kildare. 

read about the explorers here