No Day Too Long An Hydrographer's Tale by Rear Admiral G. S. Ritchie published by the Pent/and Press at £15.50 ISBN 1 872795 63 3 The chart is such a commonplace item aboard a boat that it is often taken for granted. But spare a thought for the dedicated work of the hydrographers who have brought the chart up to such high standards, just some of which is recounted by Rear Admiral Ritchie in his third book on matters hydrographic.

The volume spans nearly 50 years dedicated to providing means of safe navigation to vessels all over the world, starting in 1936 and including the five years from 1966 to 1971 when the author held the position of Hydrographer of the Navy.

Although a personal account of the sea surveyor's life at sea and ashore the volume also traces the advances made in surveying techniques and the quest to record the deepest sounding. During Steve Ritchie's working life the computer and automatic cartography replaced charting methods first used nearly 150 years before and the technical progress is woven neatly into the fabric of a fascinating life.

The Hunts and the Hunted by J. W. Mackintosh Published by The Pentland Press at £10.50 ISBN 1 872795 67 6 Reminiscences of times past, no matter how tempestuous those times, can often be of only passing interest to those who were not directly connected with those events.

However, in his account of life at sea during the Second World War, mainly in Destroyers, J. W. (Dick) MacKintosh has a delicacy of touch in his writing which grasps the reader's imagination.

He has recall of enough detail to paint a word picture without obscuring the overall scene and to produce a book which makes fine reading.

A reviewer too young to remember the war found the volume fascinating, those with a more personal involvement would undoubtedly find it even more so.

For Those in Peril 50 Years of Royal Navy Search and Rescue by John Winton Published by Robert Hale at £25 A detailed account of the 50 tween helicopters and lifeyear history of Royal Naval boats in SAR work there are Search and Rescue, from the numerous mentions of the air-sea rescue launches of the RNLI, notably in the Fastnet war to today's helicopters and rescues of 1979 and the Penlee their crews. tragedy of 1981 but also ex- Given the close links be- tending to other joint services.Three more booklets from the pen of the prolific Jeff Morris, honorary archivist of the Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society: The History of the Porthdinllaen Lifeboats Detailed account of this Welsh lifeboat station from 1863 to the present day.

The History of the Aith Lifeboats The second station to be opened in the Shetlands, from the Watson of 1933 to today's Arun.

An Illustrated Guide to our Lifeboat Stations - Part 7 Scottish lifeboat stations, past and present.

All three booklets are available from the author, Jeff Morris at 14 Medina Road, Coventry CV6 5JB at £2.50 each, including postage and packing.Nicholas Leach, a member of the Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society has published three booklets on historical aspects of the lifeboat service and two early classes of RNLI lifeboats.

The Origins Of The Life-Boat Service A history of the development and progress of coastal lifesaving provision up to 1810 - £4.50, including p&p.

The Largest Life-Boats In The World The history of the 60ft Barnett class, the largest lifeboat in the world when the first was built in the early 1920s - £1.75, inc p&p.

The Surf Life-Boats Concept and history of nine small (32ft) lifeboats built from 1938, including experiments with water-jet propulsion - £2 inc p&p.

All three books are available from Nicholas Leach at 17 Glenelg Mews, Beacon Road, Walsall WS5 3LG.How To Design A Boat by John Teale Published by Adlard Coles Nautical at £7.99 ISBN 0-7136-3529-0 Potential purchasers of this inexpensive 150-page paperback should be warned that it is a very dangerous book! Read it, and any design lurking in the back of the mind and eluding commitment to paper is sure to lead to pads full of sketches, and then the first steps on the slippery slope of turning ideas into lines plans.

With such limited space the coverage of minutea of design must give way to simplicity and general principles, but the kernel of boat design and the necessary simple mathematics are well covered in an easily assimulated and easy to read style. Although no one is likely to turn out a race-winning yacht or award-winning lifeboat on the strength of this book alone they will finish it with a greater awareness of design, and perhaps be able to draw a workmanlike 'mainstream' vessel.

Recommended for anyone who would like to understand more about the creation of a design, or for those who feel ready to start work on their own. Now where did I put that drawing board...? Surveying and Restoring Classic Boats by J. C. Winters Published by Adlard Coles Nautical Books at £25 ISBN 0-7136-3611-4 The sight of a forlorn, onceelegant boat lying in the saltings or at the back of a boatyard tugs at the heartstrings and can lead many an impecunious enthusiast to think that he can restore her and enjoy her for the proverbial song. He or she could be right, but they had best read J. C. Winters' book first! An excellent guide to the ailments which can afflict classics of all ages and packed with useful, and practical, information learnt from many years as a surveyor and classic boat owner and restorer.

The Wreck Of The Deutschland by Sean Street published by Souvenir Press at £15.99 ISBN 0-285-63051-2 The wreck of the Deutschland on the Kentish Knock in December 1875 not only led to the death of 42 of her complement but also inspired the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins to write his religious allegory 'The Wreck of the Deutschland' and led to the establishment of the RNLI's lifeboat station at Harwich.

On the centenary of the event in 1975 Sean Street heard a reading of the poem and was fascinated enough by the unanswered questions posed by it to embark on the 15 years of research which culminated in this book.

The tale is complex, and more than a century after the event has taken some unravelling.

The result is an interesting insight into the life and times of a ship, her passengers and the population ashore. Tales of Old Cornwall by Sheila Bird Published by Countryside Books at £4.95 ISBN 1 85306 212 X Sheila Bird has written eight books with a Cornish theme and the latest is a merry treat. As might be expected this collection of yarns has a strong nautical flavour with stories of smuggling, wrecks - and rescues.

There are 25 tales with titles as diverse as 'Parson Dodge to the Rescue!' and 'Christmas at Truro Workhouse', but of special interest to readers of THE LIFEBOAT are The Valiant Lif eboatmen of Padstow' (several outstanding rescues of the 1850's and 1860's) and The Wreck of the New Commercial' (an incident leading to the establishment of Sennen Cove lifeboat station).

Easy to read and entertaining, the book will appeal to anyone who knows or loves Cornwall.

The Hunts and the Hunted by J. W. MacKintosh Published by The Pentland press at £10.50 ISBN 1 872795 67 6 Reminiscences of times past, no matter how tempestuous those times, can often be of only passing interest to those who were not directly connected with those events .

However, in his account of life at sea during the Second World War, mainly in Destroyers, J. W. (Dick) MacKintosh has a delicacy of touch in his writing which grasps the reader's imagination. He has recall of enough detail to paint a picture in words without obscuring the overall scene and to produce a book which makes fine reading.

A reviewer too young to remember the war found The Hunts and the Hunted fascinating, those with a more personal involvement would undoubtedly find it even more so..