I recently purchased a copy of THE WAYFARER BOOK and would like to share some info with you. Before I go any farther I will tell you that this is just MY review using my own thoughts and opinions. This is NOT a sales pitch. Unfortunately, I do not stand to gain any financial gain from the Canadian Wayfarer Association or from the book publishers.

OK, now that I have the disclaimer out of the way I can tell you that I was recently sailing on the Canadian Wayfarer website and came across a great book for Wayfarer and CL owners alike.

"The Wayfarer Book" is a popular British publcation often referred to as the Wayfarer Sailor's Bible. Because of the similar/identical design of the CL and Wayfarer, I decided to check this book out. The book is written By Wayfarer sailors For Wayfarer sailors. Right away this tells me that the advice provided has already been put into practice prior to going to publication. It is not overly technical but is not too simplistic either. This book is not necessarily a training manual for a novice sailor but the writers have been successful in producing a reader friendly book.

The first few pages are quite specific to the Wayfarer but by page five the book becomes quite useful to any CL owner. Hints and tips are given on every major aspect of the boat quite literally from stem to stern.
For example, my questions of rudder design have been clearly answered. Other topics include centreboard use and it's settings for various wind conditions. This section also comprehensively covers both standing and running rigging. IE: the shrouds measure 15'10" and the pros and cons of center sheeting vs aft sheeting.
One tip from the section on running rigging that really stands out to me is putting your sheets and lines through a cycle of the washing machine to get all the salt out!! My sheets are normally hosed down or swished about in the tub for a few minutes. I never would have thought of using a washing machine. Use of the clothes drier was never mentioned. Many useful tips are provided throughout the book and I guarantee that at some point you'll be saying to yourself "Why didn't I think of that?"

Chapter 2 focuses on cruising/camping trips. The Wayfarer Book provides some really good checklists that have been tested by Wayfarer owners. This book was written by Wayfarer sailors for Wayfarer sailors. In my opinion, anyone venturing onto the water should always be safety conscience. Serious cruisers must rely on themselves to get them out of trouble and must be prepared for high wind and capsize recovery. Slab reefing is shown in great detail. (I could have used this last fall when I installed my reefing system.) The section on capsize recovery is quite enlightening as well. The use of righting lines (similar to those found on catamarans) is definitely worth a look.

Chapter 3 deals with tuning your boat for high performance. This section is quite interesting because as we all know a properly tuned boat makes our sailing much more pleasureable and long distance passages across open water faster. One thing I notice here is that all measurement are in millimetres. I haven't seen any measurements in centimetres. This is a bit unusual but fortunately the imperial measurements are placed in brackets. In any event the tips here are certainly worth a few reads. This section also has a number of great photographs and diagrams which eliminate any guesswork. Now I know what the boat is supposed to look like. As in section 2, some excellent check-lists and precise fine-tuning guides are provided. (Again in Millimetres and inches, Kilograms and pounds) Rather than providing a troubl-shooting section, suggestions are provided by some of the most knowledgeable Wayfarer sailors available.

Overall I find that this 102 pg book is packed with useful information for any dinghy sailor. Especially those of us who have been blessed with a CL 14/16. My copy of "The Wayfarer Book" will accompany me on many voyages and will be referenced on many occasion. The book can be ordered through the Canadian Wayfarer Website and the retail cost is $38.25 plus shipping. For ordering information contact Uncle Al.
http://www.angelfire.com/de/whiffle/index2.html

Robert
Celtic Kiss #2120