This is a Web copy. For nearly a century, Chapman has been the first name in boating expertise. No craft should launch without this handy, compact, new reference that captures the essential fundamentals for any boater. In amply illustrated and marvelously concise style, it covers everything from distress on the high seas to navigation aids. Large-sized boxes show a variety of visual distress signals, and explain how to transmit a mayday call. Here are the "rules of the road" for right of way, how to determine the risk of a collision, and what constitutes the danger zone when two boats come close. Find out about manoeuvring, fog, and sound signals. There's a wide array of images of distress and other flags; information on clouds, fronts, and other weather systems; and details on trailerboat handling. Unit conversions, docking and undocking, tides and currents, bridge clearances, anchoring tips, sailing techniques, first aid: all this and more is in here.