An Old Salt's Practical Guide to Boating

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An Old Salt's Practical Guide to Boating

4th Edition

Published by Donald Bates-Brands at Smashwords

Copyright 2019, Donald Bates-Brands

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Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This Ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This Ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1: Docking and Boathandling

Survey your docking situation and look like a pro

Use of spring lines

Coming into the dock

Leaving the dock

Chapter 2: Methods of Navigation

Eyeball navigation

Reading the water

Dead reckoning

How to obtain accurate fixes

Chapter 3: Aids to Navigation

Using lighted buoys at night

Chapter 4: Electronic Navigation

GPS

LORAN

RADAR Help or hindrance

Chapter 5: Anchoring

Chapter 6: Understanding Your Compass

Compass adjusting for the pleasure boat

Chapter 7: Why Lookout?

Chapter 8: Collision Avoidance

Maneuvering around commercial traffic

Chapter 9: Safe Speed

Chapter 10: Sound and Light Signals

Running lights can be your best friend

Sound signals

Chapter 11: Marlinespike Seamanship

Chapter 12: Marine Communications

Chapter 13: Computers on Boats

Internet

Chapter 14: Trip Planning

Chapter 15: Log Keeping

Chapter 16: When Things Go Wrong

Jury rigging

Grounding

Chapter 17: Sea Sickness

Sailing before the bucket or how I conquered mal de mer

Chapter 18: Patience

About Donald Bates-Brands

Other Books by Donald Bates-Brands

Introduction

Within these pages is the real meat of core information that you need to be a safe and competent boater. It’s presented in an easy reading salty tale format. I’d like to think that this book will offer the pleasure boater a unique perspective on his sport. After spending over forty years with boats and ships of all kinds, I feel that traditional boating texts are too dry, long and hard to read. I’ve been across the North and South Atlantic Oceans with the USCG and worked commercial tugboats from Canada to Texas. All the while, I’ve been active with pleasure boats. This includes participating in OpSail 76 with a Chesapeake Skipjack and sailing the South of England with a British friend.

Each different class of marine interest has a different way of doing and looking at things. I have married a combination of these approaches as my own method of approaching the sea. It’s a practical and non-theoretical approach. There are no cumbersome calculations that you’ll never bother with here. You will find suggestions that are doable for real life situations that you’ll see in day-to-day pleasure boating. Many of my methods will be shorter and easier than conventional wisdom. At other times, I may go into more detail on a topic than you are used to. There’s method to my madness, this information will help you. Whether conventional or not my advice is based on sound sea-sense and years of experience. So get comfortable, sit back and let’s go armchair sailing.

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Chapter 1

Docking and Boathandling

Survey your docking situation and look like a pro

Ever wonder why some people slide into a dock like they were parking a car and others seem to run into no end of unforeseen problems? Chances are, the easier a docking looks, the more thought has gone into it. A seasoned old salt can put a lot of thought into a maneuver while seeming to be just enjoying the weather. The pro will access many factors without apparent effort. Someone once told me that I had the easiest job in the world operating a large tug and oil barge. I thanked them for the compliment. If I had made maneuvering that unit look easy, then I knew I was doing my job well. There are actually a lot of things to consider as you are approaching a dock and the less experience you have, the more conscious thought is needed.

First to consider is wind and current. Remember that the effect of wind and current on your boat increase dramatically as you slow down. Many people fail to consider this. As they first approach the dock everything looks good until they slow to a crawl for their final approach. That is exactly when wind and current will grab you. Some people like to compensate for this by coming in fast and backing down hard to stop the boat suddenly in just the right spot. This can work and on rare occasions, it might be a good idea, but generally, it is an invitation to disaster. You have no room for error. It's either make a perfect landing or splinter fiberglass.

A better plan is to slow down early so that you can see how these forces will affect you before you are in a close quarters situation. Sometimes it is even helpful to stop dead in the water off the dock and observe what happens. That way you can make an informed plan and know what will happen when you are on top of the dock. Approach the dock slowly allowing for or even using the wind and current to your advantage to set the boat into the dock easily.

Ask yourself these questions. Do wind and current oppose each other? Which has the stronger influence? As a rule of thumb, when in doubt, assume that current will be the stronger force. Since water is denser than air; even a weak current can dominate over seemingly stronger winds. Do wind and current set you on or off the dock? What part of your boat catches the wind the most? Will the bow tend to blow with the wind or does the stern set in more? Can you use this to your advantage or does it present a problem? Generally, the best way to make use of the prevailing conditions is to set up your approach to turn whatever conditions you have into an advantage.

One example of a frequently botched maneuver is landing parallel to a dock with the wind blowing off it at right angles. A common method is to come in fast, cut the bow hard to one side and back the stern hard to the dock. The boat is supposed to lay alongside the berth long enough for you to get your lines out. A better method is to back up to the pier with fenders placed strategically. When you get to the pier, a gentle shot ahead will keep you from hitting it. Put out a spring line and gently work the engines ahead. You should swing into the dock and be able to hold the boat on the spring line until all other lines are out.

The advantages of backing in are several. It's easier to fender and protect your stern. Bows like to climb over docks. The wind generally catches the bow more than the stern. By backing into the wind, you are working with and not fighting this natural tendency. And last a boat will generally stop much quicker from a shot of throttle going ahead than astern. Pay attention to the way your boat lies at slow speeds and learn to work with it.

Don't forget to consider the construction of the dock itself? Is it well fendered? Is it a finger pier at right angles to the wind and current or is it a bulkhead parallel to these forces. Is there a place to put out spring lines to advantage? Will you have to be a contortionist to get the line out or can it be easily dropped on a handy cleat or piling. Are there any obstructions and do you need to consider the position of other vessels in the area? Is the pier a solid bulkhead below the waterline or is it on pilings that permit the current to rush through under it? Are there any other obstructions to consider, such as the skegs of outboards sticking out from the neighboring slip? Are the obstructions such that you can put out a fender to catch an oops, or is touching the object (like an outboard skeg) simply not an option? Sometimes, your best move will be to abort the docking and try again somewhere else. Better to give up; than to be calling your insurance agent in the morning.

After taking in this information, lay out lines and brief your helpers in advance. One maneuver that I personally hate is to tie up a small boat between pilings and a bulkhead where the boat is too short to rest against anything while you are getting the lines out. Situations like this make it absolutely essential to have all your lines laid out before you make your approach. Most important are the lines that are going to be put on those offshore pilings. Someone can always hold the boat off the dock while you get the offshore lines out.

In short, the time spent approaching a dock should be spent observing as many things as possible. The more detail you can note and put into a smooth seamless plan, the better your docking skills will be. Like so many other jobs, it's the preparation that makes the difference. A smooth landing will not impress everybody. It looks too easy. The reward comes in saving wear & tear and knowing you did a job well.

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Use of spring lines

We've all seen it -- or maybe experienced it. The Weekend Warrior approaches a finger slip on a blustery day. At first all looks well, but then the wind catches the boat. He guns his engine in an attempt to keep from crashing into the finger. In doing so he misses the finger and crashes into the bulkhead ahead of him. The result -- broken fiberglass, bruised wood and a badly battered ego. Despite all the best efforts of this unfortunate skipper, his boat went out of control and there was nothing he could do about it. The boat just would not hold up against the wind.

AH, but wait a minute. Maybe there was something that could have been done. Did he try to use spring lines? Spring lines can make the difference between major damage and a smooth, seemingly effortless docking maneuver. Skillfully used they can make the operator look like an old salt. Large commercial craft use them in virtually every docking. It would be virtually impossible to bring in and position ships without them.

What exactly is a spring line? It's a line you put out from your boat to a dock or piling to aid in maneuvering. By use of your engines and rudders working against this line you gain more control and can virtually eliminate drift as a problem.

Here's how our Weekend Warrior could have saved his day. He should have eased up to the finger pier with his bow into the wind close enough to catch a line on the pier. By working his engines ahead against the line, the boat's bow would have come against the finger. (Don't forget fendering!) Letting the line slowly slip through the cleat, while keeping tension on the line the whole time, would have eased the boat ahead. This tension will keep the boat against the dock. The rudders could have been used to keep the boat pointed the right way. Once completely in the slip he could have continued to work against the spring to hold the boat in place while tying up.

Some important notes here:

Anytime you are going to have to slack a line with tension on it, do not put any half hitches on the cleat. Use figure eights or round turns. That way you can simply take turns off or put them back to control the line without having anything jam. You are relying on the friction of the line, not knots to hold your boat. Three or four turns are usually sufficient. The size of cleats and lines needs to be matched so that you can lay on and take off turns easily without jamming.

Consider putting a line out double so that both ends are made fast on your boat and you can let go easily without climbing on the dock. This is a particularly good idea if you are operating single handed. Another advantage of a doubled line is that it can be half the diameter of a single line. This can make it handier to get out, take in and make fast.

Always consider fendering. In some cases the dock itself will have sufficient protection. Your boat's rub rail may suffice or you may have to put out fenders. Just don't forget them!

Spring lines can enable you to do things that you would never think possible. I was once docked alongside a bulkhead with a Chesapeake Skipjack with no auxiliary engine. These old oyster sloops are quite heavy and do not turn readily. In order to leave, I had to turn the boat around in a little over its own length and head out in the opposite direction from the way it was moored, all under sail alone!

At the dock, the bow was into the wind. We put the sails up and rigged a double spring line at the stern. We then took in all other lines. The jib was backed to one side to force the bow away from the dock. Before long, the boat was pivoting around on that spring line and in position to sail away. We threw the eye of our line off and held the other end fast on the boat. After the line slipped around and off the cleat on the dock, we pulled it in and we were underway.

Such a stunt can look very impressive, but if thought