The second edition of East Coast Pilot, published in January 2008, continued and improved upon the design ideas incorporated in the first (2005) edition.

In ECP, we are supplementing the information already available on paper and electronic charts. We have returned to the basic requirements of a pilot and designed the book to be used not just for cruise planning, but actually at the helm as you come in from seaward to your chosen destination. We have been at pains to present the information in a logical and realistic sequence, so that the helmsman can refer to the book for guidance from a safe point outside the river, creek or port, right in to the chosen anchorage, marina or berth. It should become well thumbed and carry the odd smear of mud from the Kent, Essex and Suffolk sea borders. It is meant to be a working item on board, with only passing reference to shore side entertainments. This shortage of anything more than straight pilotage information is born of experience, which has shown that wading through extra pages to reach the nub of what buoy to look for next is not what the anxious pilot wants to do.

            One of the ways we have tried to help the pilot is to provide a number of visual aid ‘road maps’, which give the main buoys and marks into a port or river. They have the various turns to port or starboard marked, together with approximate courses and distances (where needed), and provide an instant reference for the helmsman to identify a mark and make the correct alteration of course for the next one without leaving the helm.

            Of course it is often necessary to make passages coastwise between the off-lying sand banks or across the breadth of the Estuary itself, weaving our way through these treacherous, hidden and changeable banks. For some part of such passages we are out of sight of land and very careful navigation is required to cope with the tides, weather, shallows and deeps. Even for experienced skippers these are challenging passages not to be undertaken lightly or without due preparation.

            By contrast, once inshore and within the seaward limit of many of the rivers and creeks, actual navigation will give way to the American concept of the ‘MkI eyeball’, which is where ‘East Coast Pilot’ comes into its own.

            With this second edition, we have enlisted the help of some 'Honorary Port Pilots'. They will help us keep up to date with the latest information on their areas, and become a vital element in the community of East Coast Pilot users. They are willing to help the cruising yachtsman get the best out of their stay in these waters and will be pleased to hear from visitors seeking advice. Meet them HERE and see details of how to contact them (details are also included in the book).

'Our East Coast'

            All three authors love the East Coast. We have all sailed in many other areas, not only of the British Isles, but of the world, yet each of us has returned to our home waters with exactly that feeling – we’ve come home.

            Yet we often wonder what it is that we enjoy about slopping around in this area of the cold, grey North Sea, where the waves always seem to be the wrong length and made of concrete. Probably it’s that time when we drop anchor in some quiet hole up a secluded creek, snug the boat down and go below to a warm cabin where, with dram in hand, we yarn about the fun we’ve had that day and about other times in other creeks.

            There’s something special about the creeks and inlets, the swatchways and gutways, the fleets and deeps. When the sun, tide and wind all go down together and the boat floats on her reflection, swinging quietly to her anchor, a peace descends and if it doesn’t take your breath away, it certainly makes you hold it in for fear of breaking the calm.

            It’s completely relaxing, just looking and watching as the mud is revealed and the birds – curlew, oystercatcher, redshank, whimbrel, gull, shellduck, heron, white egret – begin to strut, prod, poke and peck, contentedly calling, chirping and crying. The long, mournful wails of the curlew and trilling of the oystercatcher are guaranteed to draw you back, again and again, to these muddy waterways.