Clyde Cruising Club Sailing Directions - when will updates be published?

[dunedin]

Anybody know when in April the CCC will publish their updates to their (superb) Sailing Directions?

Brought the books off the boat and was hoping to update them at home, but no sign of updates yet. Need to decide whether to abandon and take back to the boat for use.
PS. I was surprised to find out they only do updates annually, not even urgent / safety ones mid year. And surely Feb or March would be a better publication date for corrections before everybody goes cruising?

 

[MM5AHO]

Did you ask CCC?
There's been a change in editor due to retirement. The amendments are being worked on. Amendments are published annually. Then when a new edition is published for each area, the amendments are re-set, as they'll all be in the new volumes. If more volunteers helped that might possibly be increased? Annual amendments is more often than many others areas sailing directions. But changes are a live matter, changes happen all the time, and that's why NtMs are so popular. They are one of the sources for the amendments. Where would the information come from otherwise? Some (a lot) info comes from users. Do you contribute?

 

[dunedin]

Did you ask CCC?
There's been a change in editor due to retirement. The amendments are being worked on. Amendments are published annually. Then when a new edition is published for each area, the amendments are re-set, as they'll all be in the new volumes. If more volunteers helped that might possibly be increased? Annual amendments is more often than many others areas sailing directions. But changes are a live matter, changes happen all the time, and that's why NtMs are so popular. They are one of the sources for the amendments. Where would the information come from otherwise? Some (a lot) info comes from users. Do you contribute?

Thanks. And yes (to multiple sources)

 

[Aja]

Did you ask CCC?
There's been a change in editor due to retirement. The amendments are being worked on. Amendments are published annually. Then when a new edition is published for each area, the amendments are re-set, as they'll all be in the new volumes. If more volunteers helped that might possibly be increased? Annual amendments is more often than many others areas sailing directions. But changes are a live matter, changes happen all the time, and that's why NtMs are so popular. They are one of the sources for the amendments. Where would the information come from otherwise? Some (a lot) info comes from users. Do you contribute?

In my day amendments were published on the website as soon as the graphics or narrative became available.

 

[srm]

And there was me happily using an ancient copy of the hard back blue book along with a folio of chartlets on the basis that rocks rarely move.
However, the appropriate chart from early 1900s did show a shallow rocky patch in one anchorage that was missing from a current century commercial guide that boasted of its digital cartography. Only realised it was there when looking down from a hill and seeing the dark patch in the water just astern of my boat.

 

[dunedin]

And there was me happily using an ancient copy of the hard back blue book along with a folio of chartlets on the basis that rocks rarely move.
However, the appropriate chart from early 1900s did show a shallow rocky patch in one anchorage that was missing from a current century commercial guide that boasted of its digital cartography. Only realised it was there when looking down from a hill and seeing the dark patch in the water just astern of my boat.

Well I arrived at Cullivoe, Yell last year late in the evening, snd late for the tide so ducking close inshore, and was somewhat confused by the breakwaters not matching my in theory up to date charts, or the CCC Guide.
I later realised I had failed to apply the 2023 updates to my Orkney & Shetland CCC, as this would have informed me about the new marina built in the past year .
These now all applied.
Things do change.

 

[srm]

Well I arrived at Cullivoe, Yell last year late in the evening, snd late for the tide so ducking close inshore, and was somewhat confused by the breakwaters not matching my in theory up to date charts, or the CCC Guide.
I later realised I had failed to apply the 2023 updates to my Orkney CCC, as this would have informed me about the new marina built in the past year .
These now all applied.
Things do change.

Oh dear, you obviously needed a massive update. Its umpteen years since I was last in Cullivoe, Yell, but at that time both the voe and the Island were most definitely part of the Shetland Islands. If they are now in your Orkney CCC book there has obviously been a tectonic change in the ten years since I left.

Yes, things do change, but my Blue Book only covered the West Coast. CCC published separate guides for Orkney and Shetland much much later as I still have my first editions, bought when they were first published. Never bought later editions but did add my own observations.

I did look at someone else's copy of the Shetland guide years later to see a serious error with an anchorage symbol on the nice colourful chart of Out Skerries. Obviously the compiler had taken someone's word without actually checking if the marked spot was a sensible place to anchor. I suspect someone was having a joke at his expense. The symbol is where I eventually got my boat stabilised after dragging during a wild September night in the mid 80's. That evening's forecast from Shetland CG was for light and variable in the centre of a depression. Shortly after a wall of wind moved in and the boat's anemometer remained on the 60kn stop until dawn. At times it felt as if the wind had eased quite a bit but the anemometer was still at 60 kn. We moved the boat to a more sensible spot as soon as conditions allowed.

So with this and my post #5 above we have two potentially dangerous errors in anchorage charts published in "up to date" cruising guides for Scottish waters that I have first hand experience of. I wonder how many more there are?

I had a similar experience to yours taking a charter party in to Velas, Ilha Sao Jorge, late at night. Instead of the expected single light on the end of the breakwater there was a confusion of fixed and flashing lights. A cautious approach resolved them as being part of the works extending the breakwater and pier with boundary buoys. All part of cruising.

 

[MM5AHO]

There's a limit to discovering rocks. They don't move usually, but various people do keep discovering new ones.
You must have been sailing for a long time, srm, to have bought a first edition (1909)

Dunedin's post about discovering some rocks in Shetland wasn't saying that that Cullivoe is in Orkney, just that its in that book titled Orkney and Shetland. It covers both groups of islands as well as Wick to Inverness.

It does have a chart of the Out Skerries, Shetland (P88) with 2 anchorages shown (anchor symbols). Yours is the first report of them being dangerous (even though not a direct report)

The CCC sailing directions rely to some extent on reports from users (like Dunedin has done) and where verified changes suggested are made. If you give more detail on these dangerous anchorages, changes could be made. I wonder though which edition you looked at over someone's shoulder?

 

[srm]

There's a limit to discovering rocks. They don't move usually, but various people do keep discovering new ones.
You must have been sailing for a long time, srm, to have bought a first edition (1909)

Yes I have been sailing for some time, having bought my first cruising boat in 1974. If you read post #7 properly you will see that I purchased first editions of the Orkney Cruising Guide and of the Shetland Cruising Guide. They were originally separate books and published around 1975.

The 1909 book you refer to is the guide to the west coast, originally published in a dark blue hard back cover together with a folio of charts printed from hand drawn originals. I make no claim to having a first edition of that publication, just a copy that was passed on to me.

I do not know which edition of the Northern Isles book I looked at, with the owner's approval. It was one of the glossy colour ones and some years ago. The owner had some connection to the CCC publications, which was why I looked at the book, and I told him the story of the symbol I noticed. If it has not been removed from the publication you will find it near the north end of the NE entrance between the islands of Out Skerries. A pleasant enough spot in settled high pressure conditions but not to be recommended as a general anchorage. The anchorage towards the south end of the NE entrance is usually good in appropriate wind directions. I have been there a few times, though it is where I was initially anchored on the night I mentioned.

Perhaps you can pass these comments on for the editors' consideration.

 

[MM5AHO]

The anchorage in Long Ayre NE mouth, bigger bay to NW of Outer Croagle rocks is still marked. The narrative does say it can be affected by a NE swell. The other anchorage is in the West bay "towards the bridge". A third mentioned but not marked is off the school in 6m.
Thanks for the input.