CRUISING

• NORTHERN EXPOSURE
  The stunning waters of Alaska are a wild frontier for cruising yachtsmen, as Tom and Vicky Jackson discovered

• Landfalls ? vlissingen (Flushing)
  Peter Cumberlidge takes a fresh look at an old favourite. PLUS new-style pull-out waypoints chart

• Blue water letter
  The passage back to New Zealand is a special one for Colin Lowe and his family

• CREW WANTED: ELEPHANT & CHIMP
  Was Gipsy Moth IV really a devil to sail, and what could ? or should ? be done to improve her handling, asks Paul Jeffes

• Home truths
  Ken Endean sailed around the UK and spent just £371 on moorings while discovering a new side to Britain?s coast

• EXPLORING A WATERY WONDERLAND
  The water in the Grenadines is fabulous, says James Jermain, except when it falls from unusually leaden skies

• HIGHLANDER
  Dick Durham is enchanted by the lonely islands and towering highlands on a charter around the Isle of Skye

• Win a beach club holiday
  Head to the sun with our £2,000 Sunsail competition

• It?s got to be perfect
  Carol O?Shea takes a wry look at the pitfalls that await the innocent yachtsman seeking his dream boat

• Win an antifoul service
  Enter our Seajet competition and we?ll make sure your bottom is in great shape for the new season
  Boats and gear

  BOATS & GEAR

• LONDON BOAT SHOW
  Did the Docklands show still manage to pull in the crowds?

• SHOW STOPPERS
  Ingenious products that caught our eye at ExCel

• New gear
  The very latest products that made their debut at London

• NEW BOATS
  James Jermain reports on the newest cruising boats

• The yanks are coming
  Sleek and sexy she?s not, but the Catalina 42 will still have mass appeal, says James Jermain

• A plot to be desired
  Peter Bruce gets to grips with an electronic chartplotter
  after years of navigating the traditional way

• GARMIN GPSMAP76c
  Mini gear test of this Garmin hand-held GPS

• HOW SAFE IS YOUR lifejacket?
  Subjecting safety gear to professional scrutiny can reveal a surprise or two!

  SAILING SKILLS

• TAMING TIDES
  Tom Cunliffe tells you what you really need to know when working out tidal heights

• In on the night-tide
  Judging what risks are worth taking is a crucial aspect of a skipper?s skills

• Learning Curve: in at the deep end
  Lyn Withall is gale lashed during her first passage as skipper

• Ropework
  Step-by-step guide to making a short splice

• Question of Seamanship
  Stern-to or bow-to? What would you do?

• Any questions?
  Yawing at anchor, yacht registration,
  gas safety and more

• Skippers? tips
  Plotting a course and leaving a raft

  REGULARS

• Editor?s log
  The view from the helm

• Opening shot
  The terrible power of the sea

• CRUISING NEWS
  Yachtsman?s tragic death

• Readers? letters
  The ARC and gatecrashers

• This Cruising Life
  Libby Purves on exporting domestic bliss to one?s floating home

• Cunliffe on Cruising
  Tom Cunliffe questions the relevance of gadgets and gizmos for everyday sailing

• Subscribe and save
  Details of our latest subscription offers

• Around the coast
  What?s been happening in your home waters

• Next month
  Sneak preview of what?s over the horizon

• Confessional
  Forgive me Father for I have sailed?