Rod Heikell

For those thinking in terms of cruising in the Mediterranean, this handbook will be most useful in crystallizing thoughts and planning potential itineraries. Then after getting to the area it becomes a continuing valuable point of reference.

This handbook now embraces much more permanent data that was formerly contained in the introductory chapters of its companion the biannual Imray Mediterranean Almanac. However, as it will often be read without the benefit of that Almanac, distance tables show more between the principal harbours within the Mediterranean could usefully have been included in this handbook.

The chapter on the Mediterranean weather in general is helpful and is augmented, in the country chapter, with more specific information on local weather. These short chapters on each of the 23 countries bordering the Mediterranean have been thoughtfully edited

The brief information on the various access routes to the Mediterranean – including those down the Rhine/Danube and from the Indian Ocean up the Red Sea – is thought provoking to those of us who have thought only of more the traditional options of the French canals or down to Gibraltar.

Worth a read – even if you are only dreaming of Mediterranean cruising.

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This Pilot is part of Imray’s well-known series and a good specimen. This 7th edition has been fully revised to take account of new facilities and marinas and other changes. It is clearly and pithily written by an expert: Heikell has sailed these waters for 25 years. There is a useful and wide ranging introduction, covering everything from kilims to weather patterns and a short glossary of Turkish words. The book is generously illustrated with photos and chartlets and conveys some of the show more appeal of the place. Of the historical sites, there is rooms to sketch only the grandest, such as Troy (so take ‘Bean and Freely’ with you too). Given the length of coastline Heikell covers, he does so to a decent level of detail, with much useful guidance on picturesque anchorages, which marks are hard to spot, where to anchor bow-to, where to find provisions. A helpful companion on board or enticing fireside reading while you dream of the sun and clear, warm waters!

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Rod Heikell’s recently updated edition of ‘Mediterranean Cruising’ is a must
for all skippers taking their own boat for the first time to this inland sea. In summer there is usually good weather and good sailing. In winter for live aboards there are places to stay without breaking the bank, in warmer climes
than northern Europe.

The book is logically divided into sections from choosing and equipping the boat that best suits you, berthing and anchoring, a passage guide to enable you to show more visit as many different countries and cultures as possible and lots of references to ‘shoestring’ sailing, even today when the Mediterranean has become such a popular destination.

Read the chapter on weather before committing yourself to leave these shores, and, if in doubt, consult other books on this inland sea’s changeable weather.

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Definitive cruising guide : Ionion Is to Aegean, Rhodes and Crete.

It was over 30 years ago that a young New Zealand history graduate sailed a 20ft plywood sloop from England to Greece; the beginning of a lifetime romance with the Mediterranean. Soon he was to be a flotilla skipper in the Ionian and quickly recognise the urgent need for a yachtsman’s guide to Greek waters; thus Heikell’s ‘Greek Waters Pilot’ was born in 1982. This first edition broke new ground, not just a pilot guide show more to safe anchorages and passages but an introduction to Greece, its people, their culture and their history, a book to be equally enjoyed in front of a winter fireside.

25 years later this pilot book has reached its 10th Edition, each one more comprehensive and more readable than its predecessor, from Aigina to Zakinthos there are nearly 2000 entries filling over 500 pages of essential information to the yachtsman; worth its weight in gold.

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