“The Checklist” and “Mariners Trip Planning” by Chris Couch

I stumbled across reference to Captain Chris Couch’s books while reading the July 2016 Edition of Northwest Yachting, Volume 30, No 1.   Not something I read all the time, but it has a lot of great articles and I hope I can find more volumes.  Inside, I stumbled across the section detailing some of the adventures of Captain Chris Couch, a delivery Captain and Poet who has now added author to his list of accomplishments.  Reading the snippets from “The Checklist“, I was hooked and ordered one for about $13.00 or so plus shipping.

After reading it and the other book that was thrown in, “East Pacific Weather and Mariners Trip Planning” I’m impressed.

The Checklist is exactly what it sounds like, a checklist to use daily, weekly, monthly for Mariners on all sorts of boats, not just sail or power.   Sections covered are what I need:   Maintenance, Spare Parts, Basic Safety Equipment, a massive troubleshooting section, trip planning, Quick Checks, Mechanical Checks ect.

However, it’s more than just checklists; as the book includes info you need at  your fingertips like:  Rules of the Road, weather resources in real time, basic navigation tools, Marine Radio, Mexico/Canada/US Customs, Distances and Important Phone Numbers you might need eventually.

Mariners Trip Planning  is all about the weather, swell, current, bar entrances, distances and basic navigation in an easy to read, easy to take along format.  

Best of all, some of Chris’s Poems are included in each book as well as outstanding Marine Photography which I’m betting he took on several of his longer passages.

Both these books are going on my reference shelf on Tulum.  They are published by Compass Headings Publishing and written by Captain Chris Couch.  They retail for $12.95 each plus shipping and are thin enough to take with you in most situations.

This Blog has no financial interest in Captain Chris Couch or Compass Heading’s Publishing and makes no money from telling you that this book might be a good thing to have with you for reference.