navigation and piloting.

"It's been very apparent to me that there's a real lack of basic knowledge about boating,'' author Mr. Ralph Richardson said.

"In Bermuda you can purchase a boat of any size with no previous experience, and there's no licence requirement. I hope this book can help to improve water safety.'' The book, "The Bermuda Boater'', was launched with a party at the Royal Hamilton Amateur Dinghy Club last night. It contains sections on rules of the road, distress signals, navigation, weather forecasting and boat handling techniques.

Mr. Richardson is operations manager for the Enterprise tourist submarine, a prize-winning navigator in the Marion to Bermuda yacht race, and a member of the Water Safety Council.

He has taught navigation courses at the Warwick Community Centre for the past seven years.

And while he only started writing the book this January, he said work really began years ago as he started putting together notes for his navigation course.

"When I first put together the course, I decided to do it based on local charts,'' Mr. Richardson said. "That meant there could be no textbook. Of course, the authors of all the imported textbooks had used waters that were most familiar to them.'' At first, Mr. Richardson said he thought his course would appeal to people hoping to earn local marine pilot licences, which would allow them to skipper tour boats.

But it quickly became clear that the interest was wider than that, he said: At least 80 percent of his students were people who simply wanted the skills to operate their own boats.

Between 300 and 400 students have gone through Mr. Richardson's classes over the years, including a few dozen now working as licensed pilots.

From now on, his students will have their `The Bermuda Boater'' will become a textbook for the course.

But Mr. Richardson said he hopes the $15 book is read by a good many boaters besides his students -- both those who know what they are doing on the water and those don't.

NAUTICAL READING -- Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan ,left, discusses The Bermuda Boater with author Mr. Ralph Richardson at a book reception yesterday.