Our Most Frequently Asked Questions

We can usually send goods on the day of your order unless ordered late in the day. Being the publisher we are very rarely out of stock of anything.

Cockpit Cards are used by anyone who wants a means of quick reference that is not going to turn to pulp as soon as a wave or rain threaten. Sailing Schools use them ashore, as part of their theory training and afloat as they are ideal to pass around the cockpit whatever the weather. They are also useful for all the RYA sailing and navigation courses from Competent Crew to Yachtmaster. They are also in use by a wide variety of training organisations and many others such as the Water Police etc.

Sailing Today Magazine devoted half a page to a very favourable review with a verdict of ‘Recommended for all cruising boats’.

Our cards are all fully encapsulated using a heavy duty material, this means that the cards are all fully sealed at the edges. Laminated items on the other hand, are covered with a thin plastic and then trimmed so that all edges are prone to water ingress.

Some of the cards are in sets – Lights & Shapes, Chart Symbols & Abbreviations and Essential Knots. These are kept in sets using a ring, the hole being punched through the plastic only, thus ensuring that watertight integrity is maintained.

They are printed using ‘Light-Fast Ink’ so should be very resistant to fading. This is very important for the ‘Mayday’ card as it is usually positioned near the VHF Radio and often in partial sunlight.

They are all popular, but the ‘Lights & Shapes’ set is always a favourite, the graphics are very clear and there is such a lot to learn and try to remember. Navigation lights are shown as if seen from ahead, astern, port and starboard. The Chart Symbols and Abbreviations is also popular as is the encapsulated Mayday Card as all boats with a VHF radio should have something like this to hand. We do sell a lot of the Complete Set of Cockpit Cards and this costs about 10% less than buying them as individual items

The full title is ‘The International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea’ or IRPCS often abbreviated to ‘Colregs’. These set out who gives way to whom, what navigation lights should be shown etc. The Lights & Shapes set, Rule of the Road and the Sound Signals are extracted from these rules. Most refer to them casually as the ‘Rule of the Road’ or the ‘Rule of the Road at Sea’.

We have published a Shipping Forecast Sheet and published a second edition of our Secondary Port Calculation Sheet. These are both A4 and are encapsulated with a Matt plastic. We have not included these in the Cockpit Card Series although they share many of the same qualities such as being printed with Light-Fast Ink, and being very clear and concise.

If you have any suggestions for other subjects we would be pleased to hear your ideas. Customer feedback was one of the reasons we were so keen to publish Chart Symbols and Abbreviations.