• The early years of the Dungeness lifeboat station were ones of uncertainty.

The station opened in 1826, just two years after the RNLI was founded, and in the next 48 years was closed twice and moved up and down the coast to different locations. In 1874 the station re-opened at Dungeness and remains operational to this day. Dungeness Lifeboats, by Mr T. James, is a small, but well researched history, illustrated with several pages of black and white photographs.

The booklet is available from the lifeboat station, price 50 pence, or from the author T. C. James, 8 Copperfields, Lydd, Kent, price 75 pence including postage and packing.—S.J.G.

• Reluctantly, I have had to stop reading Bows Amidships by Bill Beavis (Adlard Coles Ltd, Granada, £1.95) in the office - my merriment was distracting my colleagues. The thing about Mr Beavis' book is that you can't help laughing out loud, and the stories seem highly plausible in an improbable kind of way. The book is a collection of stories, historical facts and cartoons, most of which first appeared in Yachting World and Motor Boat and Yachting.

Of them all, my favourite is the rewriting of the story of Noah's Ark which has Noah complaining about the amount of money he spent on charts only to find them useless when the world is totally flooded. Mrs Noah complains about the number of fleas on board but does not dare to swat anything for fear of wiping out an entire species.

Another amusing tale is of the misdrawn Spanish bowline which ties in nicely with another book that Bill Beavis is bound up with, Knots in Use (Adlard Coles Ltd, Granada, £2.95). It is written by Colin Jarman and illustrated by Bill Beavis. Concentrating mainly on the use of synthetic fibre ropes, the book is divided into three sections, knots, bends and hitches; whippings; splicings. The drawn illustrations are complemented with black and white photographs of the knot in use, and clear instructions on how to tie it and its various uses. Over 40 knots, whippings and splicings are described in the book which should see any sailor out of all manner of knotty problems. I can only hope that Mr Beavis has drawn the Spanish bowline correctly this time.—S.J.G.

• A course in basic astro navigation for yachtsmen is available for £12 including postage and packing. The course has been compiled by Air Commodore J. B. Voyce and comprises a booklet and cassette. It can be ordered from N. J. Voyce, Maranello, 81 Haven Road, Canford Cliffs, Poole, Dorset BH13 7LN..