The content of this nice volume reflects the results of the huge practical experience of the author. After more than hundred thousand of nautical miles of real ocean voyaging on different types of yachts and boats, he found it necessary to share the thoughts on the ocean voyaging with all other people, with the hope that this will be useful to them and eventually contribute in the safety of their voyages, no matter what type of craft they sail.

You will find out what you should expect and what you are going to be faced with on the cruising boat, and also get to know what shall be paid serious attention when choosing your boat, how to equip the boat and, of course, how to perform handling in the safest and speediest way. By following the advice provided by the author you will ensure that your voyage will pass with maximum comfort and pleasure, while all difficulties commonly associated with the ocean voyaging, will be minimized to the possible extent.

All available boat designed have been discussed here together with their technical advantages and disadvantages, in order to give people a clear picture before they make their decision when choosing and purchasing the boat for voyaging. Numerous real life examples and nice pictures supplement the text and will make reading even more enjoyable.

The main body of this classic publication is arranged in six chapters. The first chapter is dealing with the ship resistance itself, including the general ideas on that and stream lines with their geometry, one of the deeply immersed planes, skin-resistance, wave-making resistance, Froud’s experiments, increase of the ship’s hull resistance due to the shallow and/or rogue water, the influence that the shoals, banks, currents and slops have on the resistance, and other relevant items.

The second chapter is devoted to the ship propulsion, and here such important matters as propellers and their propulsive actions, hydraulic propulsion, screw turbines/propellers etc. , are covered in detail. The objective of the third chapter is to address reaction between the ship’s hull and the propeller, with due attention paid to the constitution of the wake, analysis of the power that would be required for the propulsion of particular ship, indicated thrust, mean pitch and mean slip, negative apparent ship etc.

The remaining three chapters tell readers about the design of the ship propeller, powering ships and, of course, trial ships. Although released more than a century back, the content of the book retails its relevance today.

This is definitely one of the best titles of the famous author. Written by the lady who managed to become excellent first mate, the volume will provide the newcomers to the world of boating with the practical and professional advice making the process of boating even more enjoyable and relaxing to them.

The list of topics addressed by the author includes, bot is not limited to, provisioning, storage of the food on board your boat, clothing, and many others. Joy Smith has also discussed the cooking and how it shall be done in different weather and sea conditions, entertaining your guests, presents tips for avoiding the seasickness, etc. All of those instructions, when followed, will make your time on board pleasurable. In fact, the publication will be equally interesting to the people having experience in sailing.

Apart from that, the authors has stressed that the first mate shall be duly acquainted and find herself comfortable with her boat, and the importance of this cannot be overemphasized. The matters related to the food storage and cooking have been considered critically important and therefore dealt with in a separate section of the book. The twenty years of Joy’s practical experience have eventually resulted in this brilliant title.

The Guidance for Ship Operators on PSC contains very valuable information on the ILO MLC Convention which addresses matters of shipping companies obligations related to the contractual arrangements, H&S issues, working hours, crew accommodation, manning agencies, seafarers' welfare and catering standards. There should no any difficulties for the majority of shipping companies to get in due compliance with all the requirements of the convention.

Apart from the brief general overview of the PSC inspection of MLC certification, the booklet contains information on the Maritime Labor Certificate and DMLC. The advice provided in the pages of this small yet quite useful leaflet is mainly intended to provide the operators of the vessels with the assistance in avoiding the potential problems that are usually faced in the course of the PSC inspections. It appeared as a result of close and effective co-operation of ISF and ICS, two organizations that are respected and recognized in the world of shipping.

We would recommend this booklet for familiarization to the crew members as well as the staff of the shipping companies ashore as it directly affects their day-to-day activities and will play considerably significant role in making the work more smooth and effective to both seafarer and company.

When drilling through H2S environments, sulfide stress cracking SSC – a form of hydrogen embrittlement – is a frequent cause of drill stem failure. Both stress and the absorption of hydrogen in the presence of sulfide are involved in this type of failure.

Atomic hydrogen, the smallest of atoms, is a product of most corrosion reactions. It can be absorbed by and diffused through steel and other metals. Normally, the hydrogen atoms quickly combine to form molecular hydrogen, which is too large to be absorbed by the metal and bubbles off as gas. In the presence of sulfide, however, the hydrogen remains in the atomic form for a considerably longer time and therefore has a greater probability of being absorbed by the pipe. After being absorbed, the hydrogen tends to accumulate in the area of maximum stress and, when a critical concentration is reached, a small crack forms. The hydrogen accumulates at the top of the crack and the crack grows. The process continues until the remaining metal cannot sustain the applied load and a sudden brittle fracture occurs.

The degree of this effect on a piece of steel is determined by the concentration of hydrogen, the strength of the steel, applied stress on the steel, and the time of exposure:

Strength of the steel – generally, the higher the strength of the steel, the greater is its susceptibility to SSC. The lowest strength drill pipe capable of withstanding the required drilling conditions should be used.

Total tensile load on the steel – the higher the total tensile load on the pipe, the greater is the possibility of failure by SSC. Each grade of steel has a critical, or threshold, stress below which SSC will not occur; however, the higher the grade, the lower the threshold stress.

Amount of atomic hydrogen and H2S – the higher the amount of atomic hydrogen and H2S present, the shorter the time before failure.

Time – it is required for atomic hydrogen to be absorbed and diffused in the steel to the critical concentration required for a crack to begin and failure to occur. By controlling the factors in the previous three listings, the time before which failure occurs may be sufficiently lengthened to permit the use of marginally susceptible steels for a short duration.

Temperature – the severity of SSC is greatest in normal atmospheric temperatures; it decreases as temperature increases. Operating at temperatures in excess of 135 F allows marginally susceptible materials to be used in potentially embrittling environments. The greater the hardness of the material, the higher the required safe operating temperature. Drillers must be careful, however, because SSC failure may occur when the material returns to normal temperature after it is removed from the hole.

In order to minimize the risk of SSC in water-based drilling fluids, drillers should control the drilling fluid pH. When practical, given other functions of the drilling fluid, the driller should maintain a pH of 10 or higher. In drill strings containing aluminum drill pipe, the pH should not exceed 10.5 because aluminum pipe tends to corrode more than steel at high pH level. They should also limit gas-cutting and formation fluid invasion of the wellbore by maintaining proper drilling fluid weight. Hydrogen sulfide invades the wellbore from the formation being drilled.

The drillers should also chemically treat the drilling fluid for H2S inflows from formations, preferably prior to encountering the sulfide, and use the lowest-strength drill pipe capable of withstanding the required drilling conditions, use ultimate care in tripping out the hole after exposure to an H2S environment and avoid sudden shocks and high load.

It is also recommended to remove the absorbed hydrogen from the pipe after exposure to an H2S environment by aging the pipe in open air for several days to several weeks, depending on the exposure conditions, or bake it at 400-600 F for several hours. Note that the plastic-coated drill pipe should not be heated above 400 F.

Finally, the drillers should limit drill stem testing in H2S environments to as brief a period as possible, using operating procedures such as using H2S inhibitors that will minimize exposures to SSC conditions.

Corrosion and SSC can be minimized by the use of oil-based drilling muds. Corrosion does not occur if metal is completely enveloped by an oil environment that is electrically nonconductive. Therefore, under drilling conditions that cause serious problems of corrosion damage, erosion-corrosion, or corrosion fatigue, drill stem life can be greatly extended by using an oil mud.

As most of the readers declared, this volume is a sort of “miscellany” book, meaning that its content reflects the results of the thorough historical review. The author has covered different categories of vessels, including military vessels and working seamen, passenger ships and so many others.

The readers will find interesting stories about the world famous ships of the past including, but not limited to the “Moby Dick” and the “Beagle”, the “Pinta” and other prominent ones. The stories are written in a very reader friendly manner, making the process of reading even more fascinating.

The present publication can therefore be treated as a genuine treasure and a must-have title for all people who are fond of the sailing and cruising. This is a pretty much easy reading, and the text is free of technical jargon and terminology in order to make sure that the contents will be easily understandable to all readers including those with little to no experience and even the absolute novices.

Note that we have another interesting title – The Knot Bible – by the same author. Make sure you have downloaded both volumes and have a pleasant and fruitful reading – welcome to the magic world of sailing.

The present publication is devoted to one of the most important aspect of the yacht design and construction – their seaworthiness. The author of the book professionally traced al of the links that exist between the changes taking place in the offshore racing rule, and the design of the yachts as well as the associated technology.

The seaworthiness is commonly referred to as the ability of the vessel to successfully survive the weather conditions. So, for people who appreciate the real seaworthiness, it is critical to make sure that their yachts follow the specific design and construction principles. This is what the author has paid particular attention, presenting the result of his work in a very reader-friendly way, considering the fact that not all of yachters are professional shipbuilders.

The volume provides clear explanations of the physics of the yacht design as well as its behavior. Note that the readers are expected to study the content rather than just read it. We would say that this title is an absolute must-have for all people loving boats, no matter what type of boat or yacht they prefer. The author is worldwide known and respected for the detailed writings about the yachts.

The present book on dry cargo chartering, prepared and released by one of the most authoritative entities in a world of maritime shipping, is going to ensure that the readers will significantly improve their knowledge and understanding of this particular area of shipbroking. The volume will explain clearly and in detail all commodities that are involved as well as the requirements applicable to the carriage. The ships serving these markets have also been discussed.

The content of the volume is covering the role of each participant of the shipping market paying equally close attention to the ship owners, brokers, charterers and operators. In addition to that, the author has provided good coverage of the freight markets together with the associated documentation, bills of lading, charter parties etc. Ten chapters of this brilliant book will provide readers with absolutely everything they need to know and will present the information in a very logical and easy-to-follow way.

The content opens with the brief information introducing readers to the dry cargo ships. Though it is not the intention of the author to give an exhaustive study of this subject, it still explains so many expressions commonly used in connection with the ships participating in the dry cargo sector. As it is the case with any other publication released by ICS, this one is highly recommended to any person with the interest in maritime shipping activities.