about

About the Author
Gordon Tuffley is an experienced skipper of power and sail boats. His longest journey, done in stages, was from Coolangatta to Cooktown. He now lives at Cardwell in Far North Queensland and boats on the Great Barrier Reef.
He is pictured here on his own boat, off Orpheus Island, North Queensland.

Do I need to be an experienced skipper?
   The book can be used by anyone who needs to know or wants to know maritime knowledge.
   The experienced skipper will probably use it to check things such as the meaning of a signal flag not often seen, or the meaning of navigation lights on vessels.
   Crew will use it for much the same purposes but will refer to it more frequently. The MAYDAY pages give a template for such a call in which the vessel details can be written. This would be of great use in an emergency so the skipper can delegate the call while attending to other pressing matters. For a sample click here .
   New crew and some passengers will read it to learn.

How often is it updated?
   The book was originally published in 2001 on waterproof paper. This version is still on sale. Details of availability are on the Aide page.
   All sections were revised in 2007 for the electronic version.
   The information is not subject to rapid change. Revision will be undertaken about every 3 years. If the revised information is not extensive the updated pages will be free.
   The book developed from similar information collected over a number of years for the author's personal use. By the time the book was compiled most changes that needed to be made had been made.
   Three more sections suitable for poassengers and inexperienced crew are under development.

What situations has the author found it most useful?
   * Quick reference of sounds and signals not usually met.
   * Training of crew.
   * Graphs of Visibility at sea compared with the Height of the Observer.
   * Not used, luckily, the section on emergency radio traffic (including SEELONCE, PRUDONE, relay and acknowledgement of distrss traffic).
   * Also luckily not used yet, the section on Search and Rescue signals.

What are the author's credentials?
   Gordon Tuffley comes from a sailing family and started boating as a child.
   He has a current Open Coxswains Certificate (Queensland).
   He has completed the navigation and pilotage requirements of the Australian Yachting Federation's Coastal Skipper/Yachtmaster Offshore Certificate.

Where can I use this book?
Most sections can be used in any country or region. The Navigation section is for IALA A countries, which are those in Europe, Africa, Australia and most of Asia (but not North America, Japan or the Philippines).
The book was written in Australia and examples are Australian but this does not reduce their applicability.