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When Simon Scott was the CEO of
The Moorings about many years
ago he told me his greatest concerns
about sailing skills regarding
the company's boats were anchoring
and navigation. Faulty anchoring
practices cause damage when dragging
boats get tangled with other boats
and when they go aground. Faulty
navigation can cause grounding,
occasionally bad enough to result
in the total loss of the boat.
During the last 10 years technological
advancements have made both anchoring
and navigation easier for bareboat
charterers. More mooring buoys
in bareboat locations and better
windlasses have made anchoring
easier. More navigation aids and
wide availability of GPS has made
navigation easier as well. Even
with these advancements, there
are still a few losses of boats
every year. As rare as these events
are and fortunately, human casualties
are even rarer, I would like to
offer a few tips to make navigation
easier and safer for bareboat
charterers. Normal bareboat chartering
is limited to daytime sailing
and is almost always done within
sight of land so navigation under
these conditions isn't rocket
science. But there are some things
you can do to make navigation
easier and safer. Following these
suggestions will reduce stress
and make bareboat cruising more
fun as well.
Take an Approved Navigation Course
Make sure your knowledge and skills
in coastal navigation are up to
standard. Courses that teach to
a national (or international)
standard are offered by ASA and
US Sailing schools, the U.S. Coast
Guard Auxiliary and U.S. Power
Squadrons. The standards set for
these courses generally go beyond
what you'll need for bareboat
chartering but completion will
give you confidence as well as
the tools you'll need for successful
bareboating.
In a typical Coastal Navigation
course you can expect to learn
to:
* 1. Identify the chart symbols
and explain the terms and characteristics
used for navigation aids including
shapes, colors, and lights used
in the buoyage system.
2. Identify sources of official
publications.
3. Select publications required
for prudent navigation.
* 4. Use various instruments for
navigation.
5. Use the tide and current tables
to find times and heights of tides
at reference and secondary ports
and direction and rate of current
at reference and secondary stations.
* 6. Convert courses and bearings
between true, magnetic, and compass.
* 7. Check compass deviation.
* 8. Plot dead reckoning positions.
* 9. Plot fixes by various means
such as bearings, ranges and distance
circles.
10. Plot running fixes.
11. Determine set, drift and leeway.
12. Compensate for the effect
of set and drift or leeway.
13. Use danger bearings to determine
if a vessel is deviating dangerously
from a course.
* These are the skills you should
be most prepared to use during
bareboat charters. Though not
everything is on the list is necessarily
required during the average bareboat
charter cruise, passing such a
course confirms a high level of
navigational competence that will
give the bareboat charter skipper
the greatest confidence.
Pay Attention at the Chart Briefing
Listen and ask questions at the
chart briefing at the beginning
of the charter and use your cruising
guide during the charter. The
folks at the charter company are
going to know a lot more about
the local sailing area than anyone
else and they want you to have
a good time. The chart briefing
will provide lots of good suggestions
about places to go and will also
let you know about places that
are off limits to the company's
charter boats. Sometimes a "red
line" chart is provided to
highlight dangerous or off limits
areas. Heed the advice at the
chart briefing, especially regarding
keeping out of a certain areas.
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