Atlantic Spain and Portugal

Henry Buchanan & RCC Pilotage Foundation

Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson

£45

The best-presented pilot guide I have had the privilege to review. The text is clear and waffle-free, the photographs uniformly apposite and well-captioned and a system of subheadings offers at-a-glance summaries for every likely haven: ‘The only shelter from the east between Cedeira and El Ferrol’; ‘Beautiful, unspoilt river with challenging entrance’; ‘No place for sailing yachts’.  The area covered extends from Cabo Ortegal (Galicia), past the grimly-named Costa da Morte to Cabo Fisterra and the Rías Bajas.  Onwards, modern swell-forecasting websites (+GPS) have transformed access to the long west coast of Portugal before Cabo de São Vicente is rounded towards the Algarve.  Then comes western Andalucía, the 55-mile Río Guadalquivir and finally Gibraltar. Absolutely excellent.