August 5, 2010 11:12
Every word Jeff wrote is fair and balanced, or more to the point, as I believe, entirely accurate.
I am continually disappointed as I purchase guide books for new sailing regions including again this year for my fantastic adventure up the northeast coast to Maine this summer.
Even though I know the alternatives, I have a (bad) habit of continuing to buy big guide books, a habit I need to kick. I think I purchase because I simply don't like to use my computer when I am sailing (no objection to MFD's and marine electonics, just not a computer that looks like what I use at work, e.g. keyboard and mouse), and would rather pull out a paper reference.
Perhaps I purchased the wrong guide book for my last trip a large guide book with marina supported advertising that is on the shelf of my local boating store that covered the whole north east, just in case we didn't make it to Maine.
I first used the new guide book I purchased to get a sense of the local color and differences between the many harbors we were choosing between visiting. . – Guide Book Failed.
To many destination descriptions sounded identical, the worst not providing a real description at all, e.g. "this quintessential Maine designation, blah blah blah." This guide book was seriously not much of a guide.
Second I tried to use the Guide Book last minute when we decided to change our destination to Rockland, Maine and needed to find a marina for the night. Should be easy, right, look up a table of marinas offering services, hail VHF or call a phone number, right ? This is exactly why I carry the book, so without opening my laptop, I have a paper reference handy with information I can quickly access if I need to change my destination, for bad weather or whatever.
Information in the book was just wrong for Rockland, Maine, including what vhf channels are monitored, wrong land line phone numbers, and even who offers transient moorings and slips and who does not. – Guide Book Abysmal Failure Again.
First marina was wrong number, second marina didn't offer what was in guide book, third would rent us a mooring with a bunch of caveats since they didn't normally rent moorings. Huh? Can I believe anything in this damn book? Normally I don't use laptop computers while bouncing around if four foot waves, but I fired up the computer and the Verizon broadband modem, got on Active Captain and choose a marina to contact the way I normally do, and in one phone call we had a place to stay (Trident Marina.)
I am now resigned if I every buy another guide book, I will research it carefully and place value on information about the location and things to do and activity related information (like key scuba diving sites), and generally purchase smaller specialized books where you can read about the author and their point of view to understand the context of what was written. If in doing so I come across the information I need on the internet in an electronic forum where many people's opinions about a destination are gather in once place and well organized, well then, maybe there is no reason to buy another guide book.
I am continually disappointed as I purchase guide books for new sailing regions including again this year for my fantastic adventure up the northeast coast to Maine this summer.
Even though I know the alternatives, I have a (bad) habit of continuing to buy big guide books, a habit I need to kick. I think I purchase because I simply don't like to use my computer when I am sailing (no objection to MFD's and marine electonics, just not a computer that looks like what I use at work, e.g. keyboard and mouse), and would rather pull out a paper reference.
Perhaps I purchased the wrong guide book for my last trip a large guide book with marina supported advertising that is on the shelf of my local boating store that covered the whole north east, just in case we didn't make it to Maine.
I first used the new guide book I purchased to get a sense of the local color and differences between the many harbors we were choosing between visiting. . – Guide Book Failed.
To many destination descriptions sounded identical, the worst not providing a real description at all, e.g. "this quintessential Maine designation, blah blah blah." This guide book was seriously not much of a guide.
Second I tried to use the Guide Book last minute when we decided to change our destination to Rockland, Maine and needed to find a marina for the night. Should be easy, right, look up a table of marinas offering services, hail VHF or call a phone number, right ? This is exactly why I carry the book, so without opening my laptop, I have a paper reference handy with information I can quickly access if I need to change my destination, for bad weather or whatever.
Information in the book was just wrong for Rockland, Maine, including what vhf channels are monitored, wrong land line phone numbers, and even who offers transient moorings and slips and who does not. – Guide Book Abysmal Failure Again.
First marina was wrong number, second marina didn't offer what was in guide book, third would rent us a mooring with a bunch of caveats since they didn't normally rent moorings. Huh? Can I believe anything in this damn book? Normally I don't use laptop computers while bouncing around if four foot waves, but I fired up the computer and the Verizon broadband modem, got on Active Captain and choose a marina to contact the way I normally do, and in one phone call we had a place to stay (Trident Marina.)
I am now resigned if I every buy another guide book, I will research it carefully and place value on information about the location and things to do and activity related information (like key scuba diving sites), and generally purchase smaller specialized books where you can read about the author and their point of view to understand the context of what was written. If in doing so I come across the information I need on the internet in an electronic forum where many people's opinions about a destination are gather in once place and well organized, well then, maybe there is no reason to buy another guide book.