Waypoint staff recommends...          If there's one book I'd like to see in my Christmas stocking, it's the Boater's Pocket Reference.  It's compact--just the right size for a sea bag, and gives the lowdown on virtually every boating topic imaginable from knot tying, boat handling, navigation, charting, GPS, and much more.  We have a copy at the counter on display, and can't stop looking at it; we find something new every time we look.      Diana (Jessie) has more years of boating and world cruising experience than twenty of us put together.  So, when she makes a recommendation, we listen.  Diana likes the On-Board Emergency Handbook, and tells us that it's one of the first things to grab when things start to go wrong.  It describes clearly and simply how to deal with every sailor's worst nightmares.  No one every wants to have to deal with an emergency, but the On-Board Emergency Handbook will help you rise to the occasion.      Headed toward Panama?  Marsha and Rick on She Wolf give four thumbs up to the Panama Cruising Guide: a Complete Sailor's Guide to the Isthmus of Panama.  It features 188 of the most up-to-date charts of the area with more than 200 color photos, including those oh-so-valuable aerial shots of the approaches to anchorages.  Waypoints from the author's extensive surveys make navigating this beautiful area much simpler, and his local knowledge of custom and the Canal will help you to transit.           It's not too early to think about the passage to the South Pacific.  Diana highly recommends Guide to Navigation and Tourism in French Polynesia.  It's a beautiful book, with some of the finest charts of the area we've seen--beautiful reproductions of the French Hydrographic (SHOM) charts that are the gold standard for the area.  Information is current, and pilotage is detailed.      Shirley teaches sailing and navigation to both recreational boaters and commercial mariners.  She recommends that all boaters have a Coast Pilot on board.  Surprised?  You shouldn't be.  A Coast Pilot contains a wealth of information that's valuable to any mariner.  It's updated regularly, and corrections and amendments are made available weekly. And, for the scope of the publication, it's a bargain!      Another great stocking stuffer or grab bag gift is A Comprehensive Guide to Marine Medicine.  It's a great little book, chock full of medical advice for your next adventure on the water.  It's not too technical to be easy for the layman to understand, but it's thorough enough to help you do more than apply a band-aid.  It includes some slick improvisational techniques for when you're limited on supplies and gives "when to worry" tips for guidance on when to seek professional assistance.      Shirley teaches an advanced passage making course where students sail offshore over a period of days.  Part of the course deals with troubleshooting and repairing onboard mechanical systems.  She recommends that if there's one book to have it's Nigel Calder's Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual.  A new, updated edition features many illustrations, troubleshooting charts, and tables.       Enjoy a good mystery?  There's a new series out that we're enjoying--except for losing sleep!  When we pick them up, we can't put them down!  Ex-Coast Guard Commander Charlie Noble--now a marine private investigator--steps into a dangerous, puzzling web of intrigue when he's called to investigate a threat to a pipeline beneath and environmentally sensitive bay in Red Herring.  He's back in the hunt in Precious Cargo after a boat's anchor rises from the ocean floor with the body of a young woman impaled on its flukes.  Stay tuned for his next adventure in Whiskey Gulf.