The Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation was founded in 1976 with the objective of advancing 'the education of the public in the science and practice of navigation'. Its members write - and keep continually updated - pilot books covering many different parts of the world. In the past twenty years Kitty van Hagen has cruised the Pacific extensively with her husband, Simon; through the Panama Canal to the Galapagos and on to Hawaii; up to Kodiak and the Pacific Northwest; a season cruising round Vancouver Island before heading south to San Francisco; to Mexico and a year spent exploring the Baha; from Mexico to New Zealand via French Polynesia; three years making the seasonal run between New Zealand and the island groups of the Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga and New Caledonia before sailing on to Australia; then a return to New Zealand where they continued to be based for several years, sailing round North and South Island as well as the Chatham Islands and Stewart Island and across to Tasmania. Kitty is co-author of Yachting Monthly's highly acclaimed Classic Passages and author of The Sailing Cook Book (Collins) and The Happy Ship (Faber and Faber). Kitty has also written various articles for Cruising World, Sail and Yachting Monthly magazines.