At last we have Eric Coleman's authoritative book on dinghy cruising, taking expert and beginner alike and with equal interest through every aspect of the activity. This is above all a well organised book, and its answers to all the questions we may want to ask - what kinds of cruising can one do in a dinghy, what kind of boat should one use? - are answered undogmatically. The arguments are given with a proper discussion of causes and effects, so that the reader can make his own final decisions based on clearly understood factors.

We are taken through the A to Z of dinghy cruising. There is advice on how to choose a first dinghy, and a warning against buying an expensive new boat before one has found out what suits one’s individual needs. There are very useful chapters on seaworthiness, comparing light with heavy dinghies, and traditional with the more modern shapes of hull, and showing the advantages and disadvantages of both, and why Eric comes down in favour of traditional for coastal cruising. Some possible rigs are discussed, and there is sensible advice on fittings and equipment, on how to make a tent, how to make locker lids water-tight, and there is a sensible and realistic chapter on safety. Boat-handling as the dinghy cruiser needs it is discussed, and we learn some interesting tips on weather lore.

The chapter on navigation pleases me particularly, with its rather surprised recognition "some navigational enthusiasts take bearings from time to time to find out where they are." The things one really needs to know in order to sail a dinghy along the coast are rather different from big cruiser navigation as usually taught. Eric is always realistic.

The beginner could really take this book as his day-to-day guide on his first ventures afloat. All the phases of such a beginner's introduction to dinghy cruising are given step by step, and the subsequent chapters show what he can do in day sailing and in exploring estuaries. There is plenty here for every kind of dinghy cruiser. I think none of us will be such experts that there is nothing new for us, and no one will be put off by any idea that one can only cruise in dinghies if one is fit to undertake marathons. The modesty of some of the most enjoyable ventures is revealed, and these are just as interesting as the most diehard exploits. That there is a place for many sorts of cruising and many different kinds of boat is one of the things that these pages make clear. They should reduce the number of people who buy the wrong sort of boat for the wrong sort of cruising, and should encourage carefully planned steps towards knowing one’s boat and knowing what one can do in her without danger to oneself or to others.

There is a fascinating chapter on the dinghy cruising of an earlier age by sailing canoe, and lastly the picture is brought up to date with an account of Eric's own very original design for Roamer, his uncapsizable self-righting dinghy.

There are some pleasant and useful photographs of D.C.A. members and their boats and gear. There are copious drawings and diagrams, all well placed to clarify the text. This is a book to use, not merely to read, and it will fill a long empty gap on our shelves. Joan Abrams