This book is designed for the first-time sailor who has either just acquired their own boat or is learning on a friend's vessel. It also serves as a valuable resource for experienced sailors, providing material and lesson plans for teaching others to sail. "Sailing 'The Annapolis Way,' " like the Annapolis Sailing School, emphasizes hands-on learning.

In many parts of the world, qualified sailing instruction may be lacking. While having an instructor can help you learn more quickly and safely than teaching yourself, this book is intended to guide you through various aspects of sailing without relying solely on a trained expert. Throughout the text, we will remind you: Do not attempt to sail without someone on board who has at least some sailing experience.

Please take this advice seriously; in sailing, it's often your lack of knowledge that can lead to trouble. For the past twenty-five years, "The Annapolis Way" has been effectively used to teach individuals how to sail keelboats around 24 feet in length. This book aims to instruct those with small centerboard boats, larger swing-keel boats, or full-keel boats up to 28 feet long.

We will not cover windsurfing—though the underlying aerodynamic principles apply—or racing, which can simply be seen as getting from point A to point B quickly. If you sail your boat correctly, you will indeed be sailing it rapidly.

This study examines selected themes in the evolution of human civilizations through a maritime lens. It does not aspire to provide a comprehensive account of world history in chronological or geographical terms. Instead, it aims to highlight the significant role that seafaring has played in human achievements. While the contributions of seafarers and seafaring to the progress of civilization is a fascinating and diverse topic, it is important to acknowledge that there are many aspects of human activity that are not directly related to seafaring.

A central theme of the book is the development of maritime networks that have connected various societies and civilizations. These networks have served as vital channels for the exchange and distribution of goods, the projection of political and economic power, and the spread of ideologies and cultures. Broadly speaking, these networks can be categorized as either economic or political. Economic networks primarily involve trade, allowing states or organizations to extract, distribute, transform, and consume resources such as food, metals, and timber.

Political networks consist of maritime empires or confederacies where dominant groups direct the efforts of others to fulfill their needs. In practice, these two categories often overlap. The most successful seafaring civilizations can be identified as those that have adeptly leveraged both economic and political networks to accomplish their objectives.

Here is a compact and concise practical guide developed for those who need some introductory information about the GNSS transmitting devices commonly used onboard contemporary ships for the purpose of marine navigation. They say that the real revolution in the field of marine navigation actually took place with the invention of the marine compass some thousand years back, no one knows for sure when exactly.

Having the marine compass and the speed log, the seafarers got the opportunity to conduct much safer voyages. Another revolution occurred in the beginning of the last century when the hyberbolic radionavigation means, and then satellite navigation systems were presented, which eventually allowed to go without the historically traditional practice of dead reckoning.

In this guide the authors are trying to provide some short yet understandable explanations of the working principles of the modern satellite-based technologies and how they manage to comply with the heading data requirements.

Ever since man started to dig holes in the ground, searching for salt, fresh water and minerals, there has been a continuous development. In digging technology, the first wells were dug by hand and as one got deeper, the wells were lined with rocks and wood to prevent them from collapsing.

When entering the oil-bearing zones, fumes and gases started to interfere with “digging”. It became necessary to drill rather than dig and this was the start of the oil drilling industry.

All types of drilling, whether it is for water, minerals or oil, have to abide the laws of physics. It is therefore no coincidence that most of the drilling techniques developed in the different areas of the world, are quite similar. Although a mining rig looks very different from and oil drilling rig, they perform the same function, namely “drilling a usable hole”. Drilling for oil and gas successfully is a process that requires a number of skills and a lot of advanced equipment. As the drilling process becomes more complicated, the drilling tools and the way they are used, must also be updated.

The oil industry began over five thousand years ago. In the Middle East, oil seeping up through the ground was used in waterproofing boats and baskets, in paints, lighting and even for medication.

Whale oil has been used in more recent times as a source of light in houses. However, the high premium for whale oil decimated whale populations and as their numbers dropped the prices rose further.

The demand for oil was now far higher than the supply. Many companies and individuals were looking for an alternative and longer lasting source of what would later become known as black gold. Apart from a brief period of coal oil, the answer came with the development of drilling for crude oil. Land oil wells were first and as demand continued to grow exploration companies began to look below the sea bed.

The first oil well structures to be built in open waters were in the Gulf of Mexico. They were in water depths of up to 100m and constructed of a piled jacket formation, in which a framed template has piles driven through it to pin the structure to the sea bed. To this, a support frame was added the working parts of the rig such as the deck and accommodation. These structures were the fore-runners for the massive platforms that now stand in very deep water and in many locations around the world, including the North Sea. How did they know to look for oil beneath the North Sea? In 1959 the massive Groningen land gas field was discovered in the Netherlands. Geologists estimated that the same rock formations might be found beneath the southern North Sea basin in UK waters. They were right and gas was discovered of the English East Coast in the 1960s.

Clues around the coast of Greenland gave Geologists the idea that there may be oil and gas around Scottish waters.

There have been land oil wells in Europe since the 1920s. It wasn't until the 1960s that exploration in the North Sea really begun, without success in the early years. They finally struck oil in 1969 and have been discovering new fields ever since. The subsequent development of the North Sea is one of the greatest investment projects in the world.

The development of the offshore oil industry in hostile waters has been made possible by many achievements comparable with the space industry. Many fields are located far from land and they are getting further away. New fields are being explored in ever deeper and wilder waters, like the Atlantic Ocean west of Scotland.

After the North Sea UK disaster in 1988 when on 6 July, the North Sea Piper Alpha oil platform caught fire and exploded killing 167 of the 228 on board. The industry and the government waited until 1990 for the publication of the Cullen report. Lord Cullen discovered that the main cause of the explosion was the failure in the operation of the permit to work system, for which there are now very strict guidelines. This system is used to over-sea work, preventing potentially dangerous work being carried out. It also prevents dangerously conflicting work being carried out by a combination of workers and it ensures that proper laid down procedures are adhered to. The report brought about many changes and a journey towards much greater safety awareness, procedures and regulations.

Today the industry is very safety conscious. It has to be for its very survival. For example, the safety record of an exploration rig can make a big difference to whether or not an oil company will want to hire it. Oil companies cannot afford to have their name associated with accidents.

When you first arrive, you are given a tour of the installation, detailing all safety aspects including fire extinguishers, emergency muster stations, lifeboat stations and procedures. You will be introduced to the rig safety programme.

Everyone attends weekly safety meetings and daily pre "tour" meetings. The weekly meeting is an in-depth look at industry wide safety news and other safety related issues on the rig. Companies share safety information with other companies throughout the industry. This helps to avoid repeated incidents. A fire and boat drill are often held on the same day which involves a mock fire and a mock abandon the rig exercise. The pre-tour meeting is usually a description of the work carried out when you are off shift, the work you will be doing, the work others are currently doing that may affect you and any other relevant issues of the day.

Accidents do happen as in every industry. However, statistics show that with the massive improvements in offshore safety procedures, you now have a higher chance of having an accident if you work on a building site than you do on an oil rig.

Petroleum or crude oil is an oily, flammable liquid that occurs naturally in deposits, most often found beneath the surface of the earth. Over millions of years, plant and animal remains fall to the floor of shallow seas. As the seas recede, the plant material is covered by sediment layers, such as silt, sand, clay, and other plant material. Buried deep beneath layers of rock, the organic material partially decomposes, under an absence of oxygen, into petroleum that eventually seeps into the spaces between rock layers. As the earth's tectonic plates move, the rock is bent or warped into folds or it "breaks" along fault lines, allowing the petroleum to collect in pools. Man was not unfamiliar with crude oil. In the Middle East, seepages and escaping petroleum gases burned continuously, giving rise to fire worship. It was also used for building mortar, roads, in a limited way for lighting, but was primarily used for healing everything from headaches to deafness. It was also used in war, for obvious reasons.

One more pearl of the world-famous Reed's series of publications, this one dealing with the instrumentation and control systems. The author made an excellent and successful attempt to fil in the existing knowledge and information gap between the professional math treatment widely utilized by the control engineers, and the descriptive literature normally provided by the manufacturers.

The readers are expected to possess some engineering knowledge as well as the experience in this field. It will be mainly appreciated by the marine engineers at different levels. The introductory part of the volume is followed by several; sections, each of them dealing with the particular measurements, such as the telemetering, kinetic control systems and many others.

The theoretical part is supplied with the test examples at the end of each chapter which, together with the exam questions, will ensure that the topic is well understood. Of course, for more detailed information the readers should approach the manufacturers of the control equipment.

For so many years, this publication by Alan Chappell served as an excellent information source for all those planning to acquire their sailboat. It is a truly invaluable guide and a real must-have one for the future boaters. In fact, the book is the only single volume providing all necessary technical data on all boats available for sale at the time of its release. The text and table information are supplemented with numerous drawings and specifications, as well as the images and even prices of more than a thousand boats.

It was the ultimate intention of the author to demonstrate to the readers the whole choice of the sailboats in the United States, to make the process of choosing smoother and more enjoyable. Understanding that the readers do not have too much time to perform the in-depth researches, he made a ready-to-use one, covering literally all types of sailboats. All info originates from the official manufacturers so it is trustworthy. The material is arranged in three sections, devoted to the sailboards, monohull boats, and, finally, multihulls.

The present introductory volume was prepared by the specialists of the OffshoreEnergy to serve as a nice and informatory textbook to the offshore oil & gas industry. The material is arranged in a number of easily readable and understandable sections covering the most important aspects.

The main idea of the authors was to work out the book that would be interesting to the people even outside the industry, owing to which approach the volume will be a perfect one to the newcomers to the industry and even those thinking of linking their life to the oil and gas exploration and production.

In most cases, these people would need a good overview of the industry. The book opens with the top important topic, i.e. health and safety, including the procedures involves, hazards and work management systems, mandatory safety training and other matters.

Then, the reader continues to explore the essential info about oil and gas, geology, exploration, drilling operations and subsea technologies, structures, upstream/downstream logistics and many others.

For more than forty years, John Gaythwaite's "Design of Marine Facilities" title has stood as a premier reference for the engineering and design of ports, harbors, and marine terminals. The third edition upholds this distinguished tradition, offering precise and authoritative insights that civil engineers need for constructing and maintaining the infrastructures essential for berthing, mooring, and repairing ocean-going vessels.

The author delves into a broad range of topics critical to the field, including, but now limited, to the ship characteristics and various design features of facilities, different loads and fender systems, fixed structures, geotechnical design etc. This edition offers a comprehensive revision and substantial updates, with expanded coverage on critical topics such as seismic design, tsunami impacts, sea level rise, and the design of fixed aids to navigation.

It also incorporates new insights into the rehabilitation, maintenance, and repair of marine facilities, alongside facility inspection, assessment, and life-cycle asset management. With its practical perspective and clear explanations, "Design of Marine Facilities: Engineering for Port and Harbor Structures" is an indispensable resource for port authority engineers, marine terminal operators, marine contractors, port planners, and other industry professionals. Additionally, it serves as an excellent introductory text for students exploring the fundamentals of marine facility design.