enjoying your boat
May 31st 2007 20:09
How to enjoy your boat. In the previous blogs I have talked about fire, life jackets, rules of the road, communication, life rafts and signalling. It all amounts to not very much if your vessel is not the best you can have. So if it is not suitable for offshore don’t do any more than run around on a lake or river. Don’t expect your boat to do what it is not made to do. Here is a bit of a check list that in my opinion will see you right.
The weather: Always check the weather and learn from www.bom.com.au how to read the weather.
The boat: It doesn’t matter if it’s a canoe made from corrugated iron sheets or a palatial yacht, it is your ticket to the fun park.
Your mission: Plan to have fun and remember that everyone else you invite along wants to have fun as well.
Be a skipper: Be a skipper not a captain Bligh. You are a leader not a big shot boss!
Learn: Learn as much as you can. Not everything is available in books or on the net. Join a sailing club, take lessons from a professional and see that your partner & 1st mate does so too. (not the same class as you)
Learn some more: when you know everything, be a bit humble and learn some more. I have been on the water for over fifty years and I am currently enrolled in a full time mariner’s course, learning!
Boat condition: Have a shipwright check out your boat. He will tell you scary things but everything must be taken in context. He is covering his butt and looking for work, Dig through what he tells you and do what you feel is right, get a second opinion. Your boat must be in the best condition it can be in.
Safety gear: Your local authority will have rules and regulations. Before you go out and buy heaps of gear, have them check out your boat and tell you what is required. They appreciate being asked.
Communication: You need a minimum of a VHF radio and operator’s licence. There are radios that don’t require a licence but remember your learning curve. Being at these kind of classes is a great learning opportunity for all kinds of things. Great marine networking.
Get a set of flags: Learn to code messages and send single flag messages. Not many people know how to do this but you are part of a chain, changing how things are done. This is fun and a great skill.
Morse code: Not required but an easy skill to learn and use.
Navigation: Learn to use the coastal navigation system of paper charts and compasses then go and buy the cutting edge of techno gear. At least you will know what it is supposed to do. Also remember that you will probably never know everything about navigation, it is a giant learning curve. Even at school you must learn to write on paper before using a computer.
Other sailors: The more they claim to know the more they will knock your wanting to learn old sailing skills because they don’t have the inclination. Pick the wheat from the chaff and work out who is giving you the best information. Standing at a bar or propped on a stool waves are four times higher and boats twice as long and the wind hardly ever get below force 8. Tall stories are fun but take them for what they are.
Love your boat? The two best days of a man’s life are when he buys his boat and when he sells it. In between these two days you will have a love affair bordering on being immoral. Your partner needs to be part of this menage-a-trois if you want a peaceful coexistence.
Boating is just about the best thing you can do with your time. Apart from learning many skills, enjoying time on the water, enjoying the sporting side of it, there are many other hobbies that spread out from here. Try and involve your partner in any way you can. I do know of one wife that to placate her husband, goes boating each weekend with him. She wears a large sun hat, sits in a deck chair and knits. She doesn’t touch ropes, scrub decks or anything slightly nautical. She is however very supportive because nothing else is asked of her.
The weather: Always check the weather and learn from www.bom.com.au how to read the weather.
The boat: It doesn’t matter if it’s a canoe made from corrugated iron sheets or a palatial yacht, it is your ticket to the fun park.
Your mission: Plan to have fun and remember that everyone else you invite along wants to have fun as well.
Be a skipper: Be a skipper not a captain Bligh. You are a leader not a big shot boss!
Learn: Learn as much as you can. Not everything is available in books or on the net. Join a sailing club, take lessons from a professional and see that your partner & 1st mate does so too. (not the same class as you)
Learn some more: when you know everything, be a bit humble and learn some more. I have been on the water for over fifty years and I am currently enrolled in a full time mariner’s course, learning!
Boat condition: Have a shipwright check out your boat. He will tell you scary things but everything must be taken in context. He is covering his butt and looking for work, Dig through what he tells you and do what you feel is right, get a second opinion. Your boat must be in the best condition it can be in.
Safety gear: Your local authority will have rules and regulations. Before you go out and buy heaps of gear, have them check out your boat and tell you what is required. They appreciate being asked.
Communication: You need a minimum of a VHF radio and operator’s licence. There are radios that don’t require a licence but remember your learning curve. Being at these kind of classes is a great learning opportunity for all kinds of things. Great marine networking.
Get a set of flags: Learn to code messages and send single flag messages. Not many people know how to do this but you are part of a chain, changing how things are done. This is fun and a great skill.
Morse code: Not required but an easy skill to learn and use.
Navigation: Learn to use the coastal navigation system of paper charts and compasses then go and buy the cutting edge of techno gear. At least you will know what it is supposed to do. Also remember that you will probably never know everything about navigation, it is a giant learning curve. Even at school you must learn to write on paper before using a computer.
Other sailors: The more they claim to know the more they will knock your wanting to learn old sailing skills because they don’t have the inclination. Pick the wheat from the chaff and work out who is giving you the best information. Standing at a bar or propped on a stool waves are four times higher and boats twice as long and the wind hardly ever get below force 8. Tall stories are fun but take them for what they are.
Love your boat? The two best days of a man’s life are when he buys his boat and when he sells it. In between these two days you will have a love affair bordering on being immoral. Your partner needs to be part of this menage-a-trois if you want a peaceful coexistence.
Boating is just about the best thing you can do with your time. Apart from learning many skills, enjoying time on the water, enjoying the sporting side of it, there are many other hobbies that spread out from here. Try and involve your partner in any way you can. I do know of one wife that to placate her husband, goes boating each weekend with him. She wears a large sun hat, sits in a deck chair and knits. She doesn’t touch ropes, scrub decks or anything slightly nautical. She is however very supportive because nothing else is asked of her.
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