You COULD Go Over the Side -- Really! -- Lifelines

No smart cracks this time -- this is serious stuff

I have heard about lifelines from a couple of people ever since I got my first little sailboat. People are passionate in their beliefs about them.

For instance, there's a big debate about whether they should be clad in vinyl or not. Many owners feel the vinyl looks nicer, even though vinyl-clad cable is more expensive than bare cable. Others insist that it's extremely important to have bare cable, because vinyl can hide the first signs of rust, a sign that your lifelines could fail.

Oh my gracious -- then you could fall overboard, right?

Well, yeah, you CAN fall overboard, but it can happen if you have the newest, brighest, tightest lifelines possible.

How is that possible?

Just go stand on the side of your boat, and note where the lifeline touches your body. Unless you're a child, it's going to be WELL below your waist. This means that your center of gravity is WELL above that top lifeline (assuming you have two -- smaller boats will only have one). 

The lifelines can't save you, I don't care what the "experts" say. I know a true expert who calls loose or weakened lifelines "deathlines." He's been sailing for many, many years and figured out long ago that the lifelines won't save him, but it's hard to ignore that word -- LIFEline.

Well, you have to. Words don't trump the laws of physics.

So what are they good for? They're an OUTSTANDING visual guide. They make it very, very clear where the edge of the cliff is. But once you have realized that those lifelines won't save you (and could actually encourage you to topple over), you'll realize why you want to move toward the bow from the HIGH side of the boat. On the high side of the boat, if you do fall, you'll fall toward the center of the boat -- not into the water.

What else can you do? My boat is 100% netted. I even made a frame with netting on it that lashes to my gates when they're closed. I have a coordination problem (talked about in a much earlier post), so I'm more likely than you to go over the side. Not everyone wants netting but I think it's wise for me.

The other thing you *must* do is make sure you have good handholds along the edge of your cabin top. You often see these made of teak. My boat also has a stainless steel grab bar that runs across the beam. We hear the saying, "One hand for yourself and one for your boat," and that's exactly what it means. As you move forward, you should always be holding on with one hand, and you shouldn't be holding the lifeline. You should be holding something closer to the center of the boat.

If the boat is sailing and you need to do something at the mast, move to the mast from the high side of the boat, where gravity will tend to push you toward the boat, not away from it.

Wear nonskid shoes. I don't care how many macho men tell you bare feet are best: if you break a toe, you're going to be significantly hobbled. Test their grip on your deck periodically, as the grip-holding tendencies of your shoes can wear out.

Don't count on the "life" lines to save you. Do keep them in good shape, but they are last-ditch, and in my opinion, best used by attaching netting to them.



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My Chart Plotter Problems -- A Happy Ending!

As I have posted here before, I have had ongoing problems with my chart plotter.

I had had intermittent problems with the chartplotter most of the time I owned it. Fortunately I had gotten the extended warranty on it, because I have a good friend for whom that worked out very well.

My chart plotter started randomly turning itself off. Most of the time it was immediately after I had pushed a button, but sometimes I would just glance at it only to see a blank screen. I took it back to West Marine several times, but since the problem was intermittent, it of course never happened in their presence. It wasn't that they didn't believe me at West Marine, but they did need solid evidence, and I understood that. They suggested I try a different cable, but I didn't have the skills to change the cable, and I didn't want the expense of cable and installation when I didn't know whether or not that was the problem.

One day it started insisting that every spot on the planet was at latitude 32º. I'm fairly certain that isn't true, and since that latitude runs through Atlanta, Georgia, I'm pretty sure it's not where I've been sailing, either. Every single waypoint came up listed that way, although its position on the actual chart was accurate.

So I could use waypoints I had already entered, but could not enter any new ones.

This led to a cascade of problems. I really hate cascades of problems.

I took it to the West Marine where I had bought it. They could see that problem, and said it needed a software update, which they said I could get at the Garmin website. I went there only to find that Garmin doesn't support Macintosh.

So I bought a Sandisk and gave it, and the chart plotter, to someone with a PC. He downloaded the software update for me.

I put the Sandisk in the chartplotter, which told me the Sandisk was blank.

So I took it back to the PC guy and he had no trouble finding the software on the disk.

Back I went to West Marine, and then they told me that my Sandisk was too big -- 32 GB. The chart plotters have trouble reading any that are bigger than 16 GB. Oy vey. Eye roll.

For some reason, the chart plotter then began producing accurate latitudes again. What??? But it continued to randomly turn itself off.

So, on December 20 of last year, I again took the chart plotter back to the West Marine I bought it at (instead of the one that was now closer to where now I keep my boat). I had tried another chart plotter on the cable, and that one never turned off. Clearly the problem was with the chart plotter and not the cable.

They told me (are you ready?) that my extended warranty had expired December 15.

D'oh!

Then they did something that assures that I will never trash-talk West Marine again. They said, "Yes, it's technically out of warranty, but you have been bringing this chart plotter back over and over with the same problem, and we know that. Here's your new chart plotter." They handed me a brand new 441S right out of the box.

There's two very specific things I did that helped bring about this outcome. First, I always took the chart plotter back to the store where I originally purchased it. Because of that, they were aware of all the times I had brought it in. I didn't have to convince them that this had been an ongoing problem.

Second, I was never angry or rude to them. I knew they were right, that it might be the cable, and although it was very frustrating that Garmin does not support Macintoshes, this was not West Marine's fault.

Yes, I know. You can buy stainless steel screws cheaper elsewhere. I know you can get a lot of things on line cheaper, and sometimes I do that. However, the people at West Marine were perfectly willing to help me with the most basic things I didn't know when I first started out. That staff doesn't come for free, and neither does the building it's all housed in. A real-time, physical store front has a variety of expenses that an online site won't have -- mortgage or rent for multiple sites across the country, insurance (including flood insurance in Florida, and that's a HUGE bill here), utilities, staff costs, maintenance of equipment such as computers and cash registers -- all of these expenses are less for on-line businesses. Those online businesses didn't go in business for our convenience -- they did it because it's cheaper.

I'm not saying we should never shop online. I'm just saying that West Marine had to pay the staff who worked with me through this problem, and they had to pay them multiple times to do that without bringing in any money in return, but they still did it cheerfully and to the best of their ability. And they did know their product. They had to pay all their other overhead without making a penny on me every single time. If I pay more for a screw at WM, that's OK with me, because they have someone there to make sure I get the right one, and I need that help.

Kudos to West Marine for stepping up.

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Things You Didn't Know You Need on Your Boat

There are a number of things I have on my boat that I wouldn't want to be without. I never would have guessed when I started out I would make use of these things. Here are some of those things, and if it isn't obvious, how I use them.

ELECTRIC CARVING KNIFE: (HUH???) Yeah. You can get "Memory Foam" pretty cheaply (right now, $100 for twin-sized at Wal-Mart). A layer of memory foam makes most berths markedly more comfortable. However, you will have to cut it to fit, and electric carving knives cut all kinds of foam very well.

DREMEL: Probably not a surprise to see that, but I didn't realize how much I would use it when I first started sailing. Among other things, it cuts PVC pipe extremely well, and PVC pipe can be handy for all sorts of things (not boat plumbing, however -- boats flex too much for rigid plumbing).

BARKEEPER'S FRIEND: (in the dry form and the spray form, but not the liquid). This product gets up all kinds of stains.

FORMULA 4-0-9: Does a great job of cleaning many things, but it won't get rust stains up (however, Barkeeper's Friend will).

SNATCH BLOCKS: Snatch blocks open to clasp the line it will be working, and can then be attached to all sorts of things, including any spot on a perforated toe rail and the base of stanchions (be careful about how much strain you put on your stanchions). Many people recommend keeping them out of sight when they're not being used as they are a tempting target. New ones cost around $170 and up, but I have gotten mine at marine flea markets for $20 - 30. They can be used for all sorts of things and can be incredibly useful in an emergency.

CONCENTRATED LIQUID BOULLON: It comes in several forms, including foil packs and small jars. You *can* use real boullon when cooking without having to store the leftovers in your finite refrigerated space.

MAYONNAISE: It enhances many dishes and sandwiches. It does not have to be refrigerated (read the label -- it even says that!) Mayonnaise actually has a high acid content and is inhospitable to salmonella. It isn't the mayonnaise that grows food poisoning bacteria -- it's the food it's mixed with. So *always* use a clean knife or spoon to scoop it out. By the way, refrigerate any left over pasta or rice -- or feed the crabs with it. Pasta grows salmonella very easily. But keep your jar of mayonnaise free of contamination and you can use it for months. The one I'm using now has been open for five months (including hot summer months). I learned this from my mother-in-law, who kept her mayonnaise, opened, in a cabinet. She was French, and when I questioned her about this, informed me rather archly that the French had invented mayonnaise and that she knew a bit about it (she did -- she studied cooking at the Cordon Bleu in Paris). 'Nuff said for me!

P-TOUCH LABEL MAKER: I label all my storage boxes. My top companionway step is actually a small storage box. Everything that goes in there has a "1" on it (made by the P-Touch, because those labels stick so well and last forever). 95% of the time, whatever tool I need is in that little box. I also have everything labeled that goes in my cockpit box. It makes it much easier to put things away. P-TOUCH labels are impervious to weather. I know someone who has had his headsail train track labeled for years with where the track should be for close-hauled, broad reach, etc. All the lines on my boom are labeled: topping lift, top reef, bottom reef, etc. My line clutches are labeled: spinnaker, headsail halyard, mainsail halyard, etc. This makes things much easier for people new to my boat. 

KNEE PADS: Once you have them, you'll keep them handy.

SAILING GLOVES: Don't give me that macho attitude that real sailors don't wear gloves! If "macho man" cuts his hand or gets a serious friction burn out of pride, he's still a handicapped crew member. Get gloves and wear them. I keep them in my "skipper's cockpit box" -- I'll write about that shortly -- so they're always handy. That way I always put them on. 

I would love to hear from other posters regarding things they have found useful enough on their boat to let them take up some of their finite storage space. I know this board can be hard to respond to. If you can't do that, just email me at

Rakuflames@gmail.com

I'll be glad to post it and give you the credit. I know I have lots to learn from you guys. Bring it on!

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Bugs!

It's a fact. Boats are havens for bugs. You know, the awful ones. The ones we whisper "roach" when we see them, right before we run around screaming.

I've had reason to do a little research on them, unfortunately. It turns out that they can live inside or outside. They're opportunistic. Now, anyone with any sense can look at a boat and see that with its dark, damp corners, it would be a haven for bugs. If you don't keep your food in bug-proof containers it's really just a matter of time. But I had done that. I grew up with that as a child and continued the practice all my life. I never even thought about it.

Several of my neighbors had also mentioned seeing them as well, and the timing was suspicious. The marina had just had to re-plumb the entire dock, and I think it disturbed some outdoor-living beasties. At least one male and female (or a female with eggs) decided my boat was a great place to move to.

Well, I'm nearly 68. I know it's Florida, but I grew up in Florida, and I've lived here since 2005, and I've never, ever had bugs ... until a couple of months ago. Here's the problem with bugs and boats -- there are many, many places for them to hide. You may not realize they're there as quickly as you might in a house.

Complicating things, I have a pet. We moved out and bombed the place. That has gotten rid of the occasional palmetto bug (who really don't want to be in your home or on your boat, and who do not eat things like the little crumbs you didn't see and didn't sweep up), but it did not faze these critters.

Plus, then I had to wash down the entire interior of the boat. Even if I hadn't felt that was necessary for me, cats rub up against everything and then lick their fur.

Naturally, when the first bomb didn't work, I did it again. Apparently I like difficult, repetitive chores.

I talked to an exterminator who said that spraying might keep them from coming aboard, but especially in a boat, with all its hiding places, it would not solve the problem. He suggested a paste that he places, exposed, in places the little critters are likely to go. I wasn't really comfortable with that. My cat rubs against every new thing to put her scent on it. I didn't want exposed poison on the boat.

So before doing that, I went to the store and I found RAID "large roach baits." this is a paste poison but in a container that would protect the cat. I put lots down in every conceivable place.

That solved the problem quite rapidly and effectively, I'm happy to report.

So here's the

LESSON LEARNED:

Be proactive. Get something like RAID's "Large baits," and put them out *before* you have a problem. I wish I had, but this boat will be protected from now on. There are a couple of brands of this type of bait, and switching them occasionally might be a good idea. Just assume the beasties are out there, looking to make your boat their home ... because they are!

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Cleaning Your Boat

     Or, I Didn’t Even Know It Was That Dirty!

Boats get dirtier than houses and apartments do, and faster than other homes do. I’m sorry to tell you this, but it’s true. You don’t climb around on the roof of your house and then walk into your living room with bird poop on the soles of your shoes. I don’t even know where all the dirt comes from, but it particularly gathers right inside the companionway entrance. Boats have many odd cracks and crevices inside, and they seem to come embedded with some kind of dirt magnet.

To reduce your interior cleaning, keep the outside of your boat clean. You might as well have the best cleaner you can for the job, because gelcoat stains easily, and around here, birds seem to find that entertaining. We are soon entering blackbird season here, and that means boat-cleaning season, because blackbirds love to eat some kind of dark berry that does not change color between entering and exiting said blackbird.

And, they love to flock at marinas. I have no idea why, but when I had my first boat at Gulfport Municipal Marina, I was so excited. I was going to scrub it, and then wax it, a two-day job. So I scrubbed that boat and got every bit of bird poop off. I came back the next day with the wax – but went back to scrubbing. There wasn’t any time to do any waxing by the time I was done. The same thing happened the third and fourth day.

The fifth day, I came back with a couple of tarps from Wal-Mart, and I tarped that boat. Bird poop comes off the aluminum side of a tarp with a hose, much much more easily than it comes off a boat’s surface. Within a week, five boats in the marina were similarly tarped.

Where I am now, we aren’t mobbed by blackbirds – thank goodness! But the boat still needs to be cleaned often. A friend recommended Barkeeper’s Friend, a non-abrasive powder that does an excellent job of getting stains, including rust, off the surface of a boat. Sometimes you have to use it several times, but if you keep coming back to it, you’re going to get all the stains out. It will also clean anything else on the boat. Barkeeper’s Friend is very cheap and a little goes a long way.

Barkeeper’s Friend has now come out with a new product, in a spray bottle. The liquid is very thick, and as with the powder, a little goes a long way. I found the old liquid Barkeeper’s Friend unsatisfactory, but this new spray, with a spray nozzle and the word “MORE” across its front, is outstanding.

 I used it on the PfiferTex netting around my cockpit, scrubbing both sides with a stiff brush and rinsing thoroughly with a hose, and it came out looking brand-new. It also gets green algae out of fabric (it was appearing on the zippers and in the Sunbrella Bimini). Always test in an inconspicuous place first, but I’ve never found it to fade or stain anything.

Get yourself some Barkeeper’s Friend, both the powder (which is not in a waterproof can) and the spray. You’ll find that you use it for many tasks.

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Courses at the Coast Guard Auxiliary

_______

May 8, 2013

     There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats.”

Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows)

I started sailing by taking the Basic Sailing course at Boca Ciega Yacht Club (BCYC). There are other schools in the area, including University of South Florida and Eckerd College, that can get you out on the water in a small boat, really controlling the boat you’re on, but BCYC is the one I’m familiar with.

And it’s a lot of fun. You learn the points of sail, or the position of the sails in relation to the wind; how to tack (turn the bow through the wind to sail in a different direction); jybe (turn the stern through the wind to sail in a different direction); backwind the headsail, which makes tacking easier in light wind; heave to, or set the boat at a slow and controlled drift so you can do things like eat lunch; dock; and rescue a person who has somehow managed to fall off your little boat in spite of your expert sailing skills. Hey, anything can happen!

Learn those things at BCYC and you get the treasured little card that says you are qualified to take out their 16.5’ Catalinas on your own (with a sailing partner – they’re designed to be sailed by two people). I’m sure all the small boat sailing classes in the area are very good, but of course I have a bias for my club.

However, there’s still a lot more to learn about sailing. You’ll find, when you sail on a bigger boat, that although the principles of things like tacking and jybing are the same, the execution will be somewhat different. In addition, a number of extra pieces of equipment will be on those boats that you haven’t yet learned how to use, such as reefing systems. To sail safely on bigger boats, it’s crucial to know how to use that additional equipment.

There’s also a whole world of rules and regulations that don’t apply to small boats sailing in very restricted areas during daylight. So how do you learn those next steps? BCYC has only the 16.5’s for instruction. You can go sailing with others on their boats, but that instruction will be hit-or-miss, and if you study more systematically, you’re unlikely to miss the important things.

Coast Guard Auxiliary to the rescue! The CGA in St. Petersburg offers a year-long cycle of supplemental classes for both power boaters and sailors. In addition to a basic boating safety class which lasts six weeks, they have a more in-depth one that lasts 13 weeks and a wide range of supplemental classes including coastal navigation; how to use your chart plotter; reading charts; anchoring safely; and hurricane preparedness. I have taken a number of them. They were all well organized, well taught and extremely useful on a day-to-day basis.

In addition, if you take the six week class and pass the test, you are then eligible to join the Coast Guard Auxiliary yourself, which is likely to get you a discount on your boat insurance.

If you live in the United States and have access to sailing, there may well be a Coast Guard Auxiliary near you. Check it out and see what they might have to offer you.

However, don’t completely ignore the value of reading. I don’t believe anyone can really learn to sail from a book; but once you get the basics down, books can tell you about finer points. I have said before that Sailing for Dummies was tremendously helpful to me once when I got caught in a bad situation, and that’s the truth. But try other books as well. If they don’t make sense, set them aside for now, but come back to them later. Find supportive sailors around you and ask questions about what you read, and sail on other people’s boats every chance you get.

Once you’ve started sailing, don’t ever stop learning about it, and don’t ever be satisfied with your level of skills. There will always be more you can learn. Those things may make you and your boat more safe, or it may just make sailing more fun, but either way it’s a win.

IT'S A BIRD … IT’S A PLANE … IT’S A … FREIGHTER???

     Or, DANG – those things move fast! 

_______

May 2, 2013

     A loaded supertanker traveling at normal speeds takes 20 min. to stop.

Unless you sail only on smaller inland lakes, sooner or later you’re going to have to deal with narrow shipping channels. Shipping channels are dredged out to be deep enough to let freighters and cruise ships travel from port out to sea, or through the Great Lakes, or up and down major rivers, without risk of running aground. We have an important shipping channel in and outside of Tampa Bay.

You may not have yet taken a boating safety course. If you haven’t, you may not know it, but these very big ships always have the right of way in those channels. You, as the smaller boat, cross those shipping channels (and you do cross them, not use them) at your peril.

There may be a shipping channel near to where you typically sail. If so, you have probably seen large freighters, or perhaps cruise ships, from a distance. Here’s what you need to know about them:

They move very, very, fast, and

They stop very, very slowly.

As the quote above says above, it can take a freighter 20 minutes to come to a full stop. What’s more, if you’re close to them, they cannot see you. Even if they could, they couldn’t do anything to avoid you. They can’t leave that channel. If they hit you, they will not be considered at fault.

Many sailors have heard that boats under sail have the right of way, and that motorized vessels must give way. Up to a point, that’s true, but that rule is true because of the bigger rule – right of way is determined by how maneuverable each boat is – not how it is powered. Generally speaking, a sailboat is less maneuverable than a powerboat of comparable size. But freighters and cruise ships aren’t very maneuverable at all when they’re in a shipping channel.

I photographed this freighter as it was moving toward the Skyway Bridge and the Port of Tampa. As I approached the shipping channel, I could see it off in the distance. I did not use any zoom on this photo. Very rapidly, this freighter was not far from me at all. If I hadn’t been paying attention, I could have ended up in the shipping channel with a huge ship steaming down on me, unable to stop. Either I would get out of the way, or it would crunch me and my boat into little bitty pieces.

Any time you are anywhere near a shipping channel, scan early and often for those big babies. Shipping channels use the same markers as the channels used by pleasure craft (in other words, us), so they’re easy to spot. You do the same thing you do to make sure you’re in your channel: you spot two red or two green, and line them up. That will show you where the shipping channel is. It will also be clearly marked on your chart plotter.

As you approach the shipping channel, turn your engine on (make sure no lines are dragging in the water first). You can leave it in neutral, but if you should suddenly realize there’s a big ship near you, you can use that extra power to maneuver. Never try to beat a freighter or cruise ship: that’s like trying to beat a train at a railroad crossing. It’s just not worth it. Tack, or gybe, or use your engine, and just get out of the way until that ship has passed. And take a good look at how fast it’s really traveling.

How Did that Winch Get All Tangled Up?

       Or, I only looked away for a moment …

April 30, 2013

     "He that will not sail till all dangers are over must never put to sea."

Thomas Fuller

I have said before that sometimes sailing is a little dangerous. Really, that’s OK. Lots of things adults do can be a little dangerous – or even very dangerous. We all know people who have done downhill skiing. We also know you can get injured, and we have heard of rare cases of famous people who died while skiing –- Sonny Bono. Michael Kennedy. I know three people who ride or rode motorcycles, and all three have had fairly significant accidents resulting in a badly broken ankle, a badly broken wrist, and some broken ribs. My late husband completely severed his Achilles tendon –- a serious leg injury –- playing, of all things, volleyball. What are you going to do –- just stay at home? Won’t work –- most accidents happen in the home!

We shouldn’t let a small degree of risk keep us from doing things we love. However, it makes sense to be aware of the risks involved. So from time to time I may point out some of these risks. They are easier to describe than the joy of sailing. And when you know about them, you’ll enjoy sailing more because you’ll know you’re prepared.

So – on to overrides. An override means a line that has wrapped itself badly around the winch, as shown in this picture:

  Headsail sheet “wrapped” around a winch. The line 
is now frozen and the winch will not move.

Now, I can tell you four things about overrides:

1)   They happen when the line approaches the winch from the wrong angle.

2)   There is a safe, and a very UNsafe way to solve the problem.

3)   It WILL happen to you if it hasn’t already. It’s a common event for newer sailors and sometimes catches very experienced sailors by surprise. 

4)   The boat will now sail in circles. Just accept it. You’ll have to turn the engine on to force the boat to stay on the needed tack to solve your problem.

That takes us back to #2.

The guiding principle for all fouled lines is this: lines can be dangerous. You really have to pay attention to where your hands and feet are. If you try to force the line off the winch while it is “loaded,” or with a lot of tension on it, you could lose one or more fingers. I’m not kidding –- I know someone it happened to under similar circumstances. One of his hands no longer has a ring finger because he tried to loosen a line under tension.

So what do you do? Relieve the tension. Unless you’re racing, start the engine. Give it just enough power to overcome the force on the sail and move the boat in a straight line instead of circles.

Put the boat on whatever tack you need to so that the wrapped sheet (what we call the lines that control the headsail) becomes the “lazy” sheet –- in other words, there is no longer any load on it because your headsail is now to the other side of the boat. Of course, it can’t go all the way, because you’re going to have to free up that override first. If the headsail is out to port when the override happens, then the tension is on the port sheet. Since it’s the tensioned, or “loaded” line, that gets wrapped, this means to change your tack so the boom is out to starboard. Now the strain is on the starboard sheet and you can safely remove the wrap.

NOW –- take a moment to consider how that wrap happened. Probably, whoever was pulling that sheet in didn’t pay attention to how it was wrapping around the winch. You need to be looking at the winch when you’re using it.

LESSON LEARNED: You might not always have to turn the engine on, but any time I have a significant problem that’s the first thing I do (make sure there are no lines dragging in the water -- even in neutral, a line can get wrapped around the propeller, and then your life will *really* complicated). It can help you solve all sorts of problems, including problems you don’t know how to solve –- yet. With the engine on, I –- or my crew and I –- don’t have to get things perfectly right using only sails in order to get things under control again.

Where to Keep Your Boat

      Or, Once again -- Hitting hard things is what breaks boats!

_______

April 29, 2013

     "Land was created to provide a place for boats to visit."    

Brooks Atkinson

 Take another look at this video, filmed while Tropical Storm Debby was pummeling the Tampa Bay area.

You can see how rough the water is out on the bay and in the canal, but as the video pans around, notice how much calmer the water is in the marina. That is Boca Ciega Yacht Club’s (BCYC) marina. The one just further north, the Gulfport Municipal Marina, is also very sheltered. The BCYC marina is sheltered north, south, east and west.

In stormy weather, where you keep your boat can be crucial.

When I got my first boat, I lived in a condo that had very reasonably priced docks. At first, I thought that was great. Then one day we had a front come through. I looked out at my boat, and that little thing was rockin’ and rollin’! I could only hope I had learned enough about tying her up to keep her safe. As it happened, I had, and she was OK.

But I thought about it, and I looked at how the docks were built. They weren’t terribly stout. I realized that if the dock broke, my boat would not be secure. In addition, I was at the mercy of my dock neighbors and could only hope they had tied their boats up well. As I looked around, I saw that not everyone had, including the boat next to mine. So I had my beloved boat tied up at a flimsy dock that was quite exposed to heavy weather.

So I moved my boat to the BCYC marina. It cost a little more, but when the next storm came through, I saw the boats rockin’ and rollin’ at the condo docks. I got in my car and drove to the marina to check on my boat. I expected it to look like a bucking bronco, but the marina is well sheltered and the boats weren’t moving at all. The bay was all churned up, but all was calm in the slips.

This area also got brushed by the edge of a hurricane in 2004. In the marina just west of BCYC, multiple boats were severely damaged, because those docks were exposed in a way that BCYC’s marina is not. Not one boat was damaged at BCYC in that storm. Being sheltered counts.

In addition to the BCYC marina being physically sheltered, everyone using it has to sign a lease that includes instructions about how boats must be tied in bad weather. We actually have club members walking the docks during storms, adjusting lines as needed, so all the boats ride the storm out well. (That’s another reason to join a club, and if possible, keep your boat there).

Consider more than price when deciding where to keep your boat. Ask other sailors in your area, and they will be able to tell you which marinas are sheltered and which are not. 

You Are the Skipper of your Boat

       Or, Be quiet and sit down! (Not you –- your crew!)

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April 28, 2013

"The chance of mistakes are about equal to the number of crew squared."

Ted Turner

I sailed, not all that long ago, with someone who had a couple of decades of sailing experience. However, he knew little about the hazards of coastal sailing, and did not know how to read channel markers. On the other hand, he was very good at sail trim, and there was a lot more he knew and could do very, very well.

How could this be?

Well, I’ll tell you: his experience was as a racer, not as a cruiser, and on other people’s boats, not his own.

What did this mean about his sailing skills?

First, he had never been responsible for any part of navigation. He didn’t have to know how to get the boat in or out of a marina. He didn’t have to read the charts. He had no idea how to use a chart plotter. He trimmed the sails and was very good at it, and he knew a whole lot about sailing in general, but he was never responsible for the overall safety of the boat and crew.

I know another sailor (me) who doesn’t race. I’ve gotten pretty good at leaving and returning to the dock. I’ve taken classes on navigation (and a bunch of other things) and have taken the boat out to practice the course material.

However, I’m not an expert sail trimmer –- yet. A little racing might improve those skills (depending on what I did during the race). I know nothing about racing strategy.

The problem with all but the most expert sailors is that they don’t know what they don’t know. (That includes you and me, of course).

This means we should listen to other sailors on our boats. However, it does NOT mean we turn the decision-making process over to them. I have been in a situation where I was criticized by an expert sailor because I started a tack two seconds before or after he would have started it, but guess what: we didn’t hit another boat (or a channel marker); no one went overboard; we didn’t run aground; the boat neither sank nor exploded; etc., etc., etc. In other words, both opinions regarding when to start the tack were equally adequate. Probably he was thinking as a racer, and I was just making a turn.

LESSON LEARNED: don’t let minor differences in judgment undermine your confidence. Just because someone else might have made a slightly different decision doesn’t make you “wrong.”

Here are some guidelines for hearing others out when possible without surrendering “skippership” of your boat:

1. If you have an emergency, and you’re certain you’re right, give specific orders and do not allow a discussion until the crisis is over. It’s your boat, and you’re the skipper. Afterwards, encourage discussion. You may both learn something.

2. If a decision has to be made soon but not immediately, and you respect the skills of the person who has an alternate idea, discuss both options freely. End the discussion if the other person will not hear your point of view. Then you make your best judgment.

3. If you’re in the middle of the discussion and the situation suddenly deteriorates (ex: you "skip bottom" -- the keel is brushing the bottom of the channel -- and you need to choose a safer course immediately), say “Discussion on hold” (not “Discussion over!”), and give directions. Not opinions -- directions.

4. People who do not own their own boats may have some very good skills, but if you own your own boat, you learn things about your boat that the crew doesn’t know (that’s why we call you “skipper!”) They may follow directions very well, but may not have the “big picture” when it comes to handling your particular boat. And besides, it’s your boat, and you’ve taken it out and practiced (you did, didn’t you?) You know your boat. If you don’t have practice sessions for yourself, pick a skill to practice. Be a skipper who is learning to make good decisions.

If you have people on your boat who are experienced sailors, explain all this to them ahead of time. If they can’t agree to it, they should, frankly, sail on their own boats. Do not sail with people who have come aboard to prove that they know more than you do, or who imagine that you would be better off if they took over. You may not be able to count on them to follow your directions when it is important to do so (see my comments above that you may actually know more than some very experienced sailors, especially on your own boat.)

As the Bible (almost) said, there’s a time to listen and a time to take charge. Don’t mix the two up on your boat.

A Knotty Problem -- updated photos

 

     Or, I thought Sail School was going to put me in a “remedial knots” class!

I am a person who prefers to tie her boat up without help. No one does it the way I want it done. I know where I want the lines, how slack I want them, what knots I want used. I have it all figured out.

I didn’t get there quickly, or easily. In Sail School, I really struggled with some knots, particularly the bowline. That’s unfortunate, because the bowline, with its cousins and aunts (“bowline on a bight,” for instance) are highly useful knots. After I’d managed to learn the bowline, I could only do it if no one was watching. No kidding. (That means I really didn’t know it very well.)

So if you’re struggling with a knot, or knots, you have my full sympathy.

Here’s what you need to know about knots: they need to be easy to tie –- and also, easy to Untie. Consider the cleat hitch:

 

This cleat hitch above has been done perfectly. The working end –- the one that leads to the boat –- is leading from the right direction on the cleat. There are no extra wraps. Someone is holding the bitter end tight, but it isn’t wrapped ‘round and ‘round the cleat.

Ever see that? (See above.) Don’t do that. You might need to free that line quickly, and wrapping the extra line around the cleat –- or doing more loops on the cleat than necessary to complete the knot –- only slows you down. You might have to undo it in the dark, and having lots of extra line wrapped in silly places for no reason will only make that harder. If there’s extra line, just coil it neatly. Then no one will trip on it, but it won’t interfere with the line’s uses, which are both to hold the boat and to release quickly. Your dock will look neat and tidy, and your neighbors will not mutter your name under their breath.

As you look at the cleat hitch above, you’ll also see that it is actually attractive and symmetrical. It has one loop on each end, and two parallel sections. It just looks good. Good knots look good. Here’s a clove hitch:

Again, you can see that it is symmetrical and attractive. Ditto for a bowline. When it is pulled tight, you’ll see that the base of the knot has three neatly interwoven lines. When you look at these knots, you can easily figure out how to untie them. This is how nautical knots turned into an art form. Put “Celtic knots” into Google and you’ll find dozens of pages full of beautiful examples of intricately-woven knots. The knots you use while sailing will be simpler and more utilitarian, but they can still be frustrating to learn.

I’ve heard the craziest tips for the bowline: the rabbit hops out of the hole, runs around, gets scared and jumps back down into the hole. The truth is that you can stick the line in the wrong place at any point while that poor rabbit scampers around! There's a much easier way: just go to this website!

http://www.animatedknots.com/

You can practice at your computer, or –- really –- there’s an app for that! You can get it at that website and put it on your phone, or IPod, or IPad.

That’s what I did. I put it on my Ipod, and when I needed to use a bowline, I just whipped that baby out and accepted its help. I also practiced knots as I watched TV.

See, it isn’t enough to know the knots. You have to be able to do them quickly, and easily, and often, while telling other people “NO! Please don’t jump from my moving boat to the dock!” or “NO! Don’t push the boat that way! We’ll hit the boat in the other slip!” or “NO! Please wait for directions …” People really want to spring into action while you are leaving or returning to the slip, and often they feel they should know what to do even when they don’t. You have to be able to keep a sharp eye on the other people on the boat while docking or undocking. You don’t need to be racking your brain trying to remember how to work that cleat hitch, or untangling the mess that was supposed to be a bowline.

LESSON LEARNED: Practice knots until they're instinctive. Some day when other things are going wrong, you'll be very glad you did.