The Baltic Sea
Author: RCC Pilotage Foundation
Publisher: Imray
Price GBP: £40.00
ISBN: 978 184623 187
3rd Edition, May 2010
Buy this book at Imray Nautical Charts and Books
The only general compendium of the Baltic Sea available in English. The 3rd Edition has been revised and extended with improved coverage of the west coast of Sweden, the Gulf of Bothnia and the Baltic States.
The nine countries bordering the Baltic Sea offer an immense variety of cruising grounds, peoples and cultures. There are thousands of harbours and innumerable anchorages, and it would take an entire bookshelf, to cover them all in detail. The information contained in this book is therefore selective. It has been chosen for its value both at the planning stages – preparing the yacht, choosing the most suitable route, timing and communications etc – and again on arrival, when a general overview of each individual country is followed by specific harbour information. Where detailed cruising information is readily available – effectively Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland – only selected harbours are covered, chosen, with a few exceptions, as fulfilling certain key needs. Where cruising information is more limited – Poland, Kaliningrad, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia – many smaller harbours are also featured in detail. In addition to comprehensive suggestions for further reading (and sources in each country from which they may be ordered), more than 200 websites are listed, again chosen for their relevance both at the planning stage and en route. In order to facilitate the latter, as well as for general communication, details of internet access points are included for most major harbours.
This 3rd edition has been produced by a team from the Royal Cruising Club and contains substantial changes. Coverage of the West Coast of Sweden, the Gota Canal and Gulf of Bothnia has been extended and there is more information detailed information on the Baltic states. Throughout there are new plans and photos and the technical data on countries and navigation has been thoroughly revised.
ENDS
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Although this is the only pilot available for the Baltic, it should be used with caution. I found (2011) that a significant amount of harbour information was out of date, including one experience of berthing at midnight where indicated in the pilot, only to be indignantly and emphatically shooed away at 0300 by locals, who said it was not permitted for foreigners to berth there (in Latvia).
Of course it can only be kept up to date by people sharing their experiences, but unfortunately, the editors don’t seem to take this on board: of 68 updates I sent in, only 15 were added to the updates on the Imray web site.