Connie, In answer to one of your questions, hard copy charts still exist. I have one of South Puget Sound aboard my M-15. West Marine carries books of real paper charts and will be happy to sell some to you. Steve M-15 # 335 -----Original Message----- From: Conbert Benneck Sent: Wednesday, August 14, 2019 10:13 AM To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com>>For and about Montgomery Sailboats Subject: Re: M_Boats: Sailing safety Hi Peter, An Addendum to my previous email - Can you sail at night? Can you identify various boat-type position lights and what they mean? How about buoy markings and lights; can you use them as intended, or are they just a jumble of confusion? - Can you do dead-reckoning navigation or are you lost unless tied to a GPS or chart plotter umbilical cord? - Electronic navigation may be lovely (I've never used it, it was invented later) but what happens if you loose boat electrical power? ... or don't have replacement batteries on board? Now what do you do? Do hard copy nautical charts still exist? Is you back-up a PC? - Have you ever checked the accuracy of your magnetic compass? If not, why not? It is your primary navigation instrument. - Do you know what a lead-line is and how to use it? Do you have such a primitive, but very useful tool on board? - Do you have a barometer on board to alert you to a weather change? A dropping barometer indicates deteriorating weather.... - Have you ever seen a *Pilot Handbook *or a *Light List*? The Pilot Handbook gives you information that a Captain needs to know heading for unknown shores. Can you get fresh water? Supplies? Are the natives friendly or unfriendly? Are there special weather conditions in that area? The Light List gives you exact details of every navigational light in an area; height of light; on a pole or is it a buoy? Color? Markings? All the information you need to make a positive identification of a particular lighthouse; or harbor entrance navigation lights, and their exact location. - Do you have Tide Tables for your sailing area, ... and do you know how to read them? They also show you the tidal flow from low tide to high tide; and from high tide to low tide; rate of flow and direction. This is important if you are sailing in a place like the English Channel with 26 foot tides that flow at 4 knots. This is where the expression "Go with the flow" originated. If your boat can only do 4.5 knots, it makes no sense to try to sail against a 4 knot tidal flow. Wait till the tide turns and then your over the ground speed is boat speed 4.5 knots plus tide flow 4 knots =s 8.5 knots over ground - which is all that really counts. Connie On 8/13/2019 5:34 PM, Conbert Benneck wrote:
Hi Peter,
Safety:
This really has nothing to do with the size of your boat, assuming that it is a seaworthy boat like the Montgomerys are, but it has everything to do with the amount of sailing experience you have amassed over time. In other words, have you accumulated enough sea miles so that you feel comfortable being out in whatever conditions Poseidon throws at you?
Let me give you my first example: an ocean going; very safe 30-footer that has been around the world several times sailed by various owners.
If you give a rank sailing beginner such a boat, who has had very little sailing experience; doesn't know how to reef a sail; doesn't know what precautions to take if the weather deteriorates; can't "read" the weather, or the changing wind speed, and who hasn't a clue of what they should do next, can't navigate; doesn't know how to use a marine radio; they are a disaster looking for a place to happen.
If the weather deteriorates; or the fog rolls in; or a front passes through and things get rough; they haven't a clue about what they should be doing for their own safety or for the boat's safety.
The other end of the scale is the experienced seaman - Captain Bligh set adrift in an open long boat with 18 crew members in the Pacific ocean by the mutineers.
Captain Bligh sailed the open long boat across the Pacific to Indonesia, and landed there safely.
Sailors sailing very small boats have successfully crossed the Atlantic and a M15 sailed from San Diego to Hawaii.
Sailing on inland lakes can be far more dangerous sailing than being out on the open ocean
Lakes can be subject to sudden extreme gusts blowing out of a valley. One minute it's a flat calm and a minute later its batten down the hatches; the lee rail is underwater, and your boat is vastly over canvased....
Out on the ocean you may have a front coming through but you - with nautical experience - can see its coming far off in the distance and start by reefing and putting on oilskins and boots; putting in the hatch boards and closing the companionway hatch.
You also are listening to NOAA weather radio; other radio traffic in the greater area gathering information so that you, as Captain, can decide what to do next. You may head for a harbor a mile or two distant; or if out on open waters you prepare the boat for rough conditions; make sure that everything is stowed properly down below; put on safety harnesses; check that all sea cocks are closed and the toilet bowl is empty; prepare some hot coffee in a Thermos bottle if your destination is several hours away.
Lots of sailing experience is the big difference between what for you is reasonable and normal, or what would be sheer terror for a newbie.
There is an old statement: it is better to be standing on the dock wishing you were out sailing, then to be out sailing wishing your were standing on a dock.
Your lack of sailing experience keeps you on the dock.
Previous sailing experience under varied weather conditions tells you it will be rough out there, but let's go..... we have a schedule we want to meet.
The more you expand your sailing knowledge the better, and safer sailor you will become.
Happy sailing
Connie