Boatswain's Manual

This long awaited Sixth Edition has been revised by Captain Cormac Mac Sweeney BSc. MNI. It has been brought up to date to bring in current legislation and additional material added as required.

Most seamanship books available to young seamen are of the advanced text-book type, intended for candidates studying for Certificates of Competency as Mate or Master and dealing with the technical subjects connected with their Examinations.

Such books are of little use to those who wish to learn the rudiments of seamanship work. For this reason, these pages have been compiled as a book of elementary knowledge for the beginner and also as a reference-book for older deck ratings, especially those who seek information relating to everyday seamanship problems, or who wish to prepare for the qualifying examination for the Certificate of Qualification as Efficient Deck Hand (E.D.H.) or for the Certificate of Competency as A.B., issued by the Department of Trade.

The Regulations relating to the issue of these certificates are included so that the seamen may appreciate the practical value of the information included in the book. The Chapters are arranged to deal with general ship equipment, manual seamanship, mechanical and cargo gear, tanker knowledge, boatwork, cleaning gear, painting, miscellaneous hints and navigational equipment in roughly alphabetical order and should be useful to executive officers and others for reference purposes. Metrication is still slow to come into everyday use and Imperial units are retained except in areas such as paint and rope where the manufacturers have given a lead.