Before setting out again, you must make sure you have your safety equipment up to date. This mandatory material includes documents such as the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (RIPAM) and the description of the buoyage system, the lights and lights book, the tide tables, the logbook. These documents are proposed by SHOM and must be updated every year. A simpler solution for boaters is to equip themselves with a structure that will be renewed every year.
In this area, you have the choice between the Bloc Marine and the Almanach du Marin Breton. We cannot advise you too much to choose the Almanach du Marin Breton and we will explain why.
Created in 1899 (118 years!), this work brings all the documents to be in order, but above all represents a solidary choice. Indeed, we do not know enough, but this book is published by an association (l'?uvre du Marin Breton) which helps the families of sailors in financial difficulty thanks to the profits from the sales of the Almanach. This aid, granted in the form of interest-free repayable advances (or grants, depending on the situation), often makes it possible to get out of the"bad times"... In 2016, thanks to its readers, the Work of the Breton Seaman was able to make some 11,000 euros in donations. The Association has also granted interest-free loans of more than 40,000 euros to 40 families.
This work was imagined by Jacques de Thézac, an aristocrat who devoted his life - and his money - to the protection of sea workers. It is also to him that we owe the Abris du Marin, the pink houses on the coast that served to shelter fishermen while waiting for favourable weather.
In the 624 pages that make up The Almanac, you will find :
- Sailing Directions detailed area by area from Dunkerque to Hendaye (including the south coast of England) :
- the Lighthouses and Navigation Lights directory with their positions and characteristics,
- port approaches, recommended shipping channels, main hazards to be known and avoided,
- detailed current maps
- the tide tables,
- Useful information for stopovers in order to prepare the navigations:
- The complete description of 340 ports: contact details, contacts, services, reception capacity, rates, remarkable sites to visit during a call,
- The detailed plan of the anchorages and pontoons for visitors,
- A full chapter on marine weather (international, national with all contacts, hours of bulletins broadcast by zone).
- The essence of maritime regulations and mandatory administrative texts.
- The logbook
Published every year in November, the Almanach du Marin Breton is available for 25,00 €. Since 2014, a less complete edition that suits coastal navigation is also available. The coastal Almanac is divided into 4 geographical zones (North Brittany, South Brittany, Normandy and South Loire) and sold for 13,00 €.
