Advice for a new skipper

[lowenna]

As someone who will be buying their first boat next year and becoming the skipper for the first time, can someone tell me the routine for entering a new harbour? (Up to now, that's always been someone else's problem.)

Do I always call up on VHF? If so what do I say? Do I go straight to a visitors' pontoon and wait? And what about when I visit other countries (in and out of the EU)? Any general advice?

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[Anonymous]

I'll pass on the detail, but regarding the 'general advice' I suspect that you will get quite a few responses along the lines of "go on an RYA sailing course" or "ask the skipper while you are sailing as crew as they will surely happily explain it to you" and, of course, that is the most obvious and arguably sensible answer. However, if that's not what you want to do you can do a lot of self-study....

A book on 'Competent Crew' and 'Day Skipper' would be a good investment. Buy a Reeds Almanac and study the harbour details - this answers many of your questions. Someone might give you an old copy just for study, or the 2005 is out now, I think?

The Tele-Pilot videos would be excellent for you - they have a basic set at a special price and a workbook to help you study. These are videos of live passages and they are excellent.

If you haven't got a VHF radio licence I strongly suggest that you get one. The course is easy, fun and not expensive. Everyone passes. You will also meet a lot of other people who are also starting out. It is a good investment as well as a legal requirement.

I hope you enjoy your new boat. There is a heck of a lot of experience in this forum so stay around, read and contribute to the threads and don't be afraid to ask. Good luck!

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[gjeffery]

If you fill in your profile, you might be offerede advice that relates to your location.

Suggest you buy charts and a Nautical Almanac, and follow the directions.

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[lowenna]

I did the Day Skipper Practical but I was more interested in the navigation, sailing, etc, at the time to ask. The instructor, no doubt, had been to the harbours many times before so they weren't new to him. Like boiling an egg, this is something which is blatantly obvious to anyone after a while but not so clear to the first time skipper.

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[Leisure27]

Reeds Almanac or a Pilot book for the area will tell you if it is compulsory to use the VHF to contact the Port Authority or Harbourmaster before entering. If they don't then it is optional. You can go straight to the visitors pontoon and figure it out from there if you are more comfortable with that. The same applies whether in the UK or EU.

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[tillergirl]

The simple answer is that it depends and the advice to read up the Almanac for the port/harbour and look at the charts is very sound. Some harbours have a recommended route for small craft (eg Portsmouth and Harwich) so as to take you across deep water routes and keep you out of the way of large commercial vessels. Some of these have no port entry system (eg Harwich) but you are expected to listen out on the Port Working Channel so that you don't get in the way of a large ship movement. Some of this can get complicated - one channel for port working, another for high speed ferry warnings and still you are expected to listen on 16 as well.

Other ports have an entry system (eg Ramsgate, Calais). You are expected to call for permission to enter but if you can't, provided you follow the lights you will avoid trouble. Call them, ask for permission to enter and then enter when you've been told to wait will generally get you a verbal over the radio. Believe me its been done.

Entering marinas - generally they welcome a call on 37 or 80 depending what channel they are working on and if you ask for a berth for the night, they will ask you beam and length and allocate you a berth number over the radio. Here on the east coast they will generally tell you whether the finger pontoon is port or starboard and whether the berth is this side or that side of main pontoon. Many will even be helpful if you say you're new to the game and would like an easy berth. If you can't call, most have a temporary visitors pontoon that you can stop alongside while you walk to the tower to ask for permission to stay. 99 times out of 100, if you pleasant and polite, they are (east coast that is). The 100th time I got no answer to my radio call so pulled up on the waiting pontoon by the sign that said tie up here while being allocated a berth, found no one so walked to the harbourmasters office and while queueing there was hauled out by a man who appeared saying ' who in the b' hell put their boat on the waiting pontoon!' In those circumstances you just have to realise that that everybody can have a bad day.

Curiousities - call on channel 80 which is a duplex channel and the marina says 'three of you called at the same time - please call me in turn!' You can't because you can't hear the other callers on Channel 80. Go into some French marinas and they expect you to find your own slot. Don't know if Calais is still like that now they have many more pontoon berths but once in the harbour (having followed the port entry system) you waited on a buoy for the lock and bridge to open. Orange light means opening in 10 minutes - the grid clears, all boats intending to enter slip their buoys, the light goes green and they're off and first in get the best. That's why Renault have the best F1 start system on the grid - its natural to them.

Its not as bad as it sounds. Get the almanac and appropriate charts, read them up and will common sense you won't go wrong.



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[lowenna]

Thanks. That's the sort of information I needed. No doubt, after a few new harbours, it will all seem very straightforward.

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[Stemar]

I was were you are now a couple of years ago. I'm now contemplating my first cross-channel trip as skipper. Yes, I'm still a bit nervous arriving at a new port, but I know it's not rocket science, so basically, I just get on with it.

You'll get it wrong from time to time, but as long as you only damage your pride, there's no harm done, and if you can figure out where it went wrong and why, you'll have a chance to avoid it happening again. This is called experience. "I'm an experienced yachtsman" means "I've made lots of mistakes." Sometimes it also means "I learned from them."

I've some experience now, but expect to gain more...

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[BrendanS]

As others have said, it varies from marina to marina and harbour to harbour. Going to a new port is always easier if you are with someone experienced, so think of joining a club with an active cruising program, and go with them - always much easier the first time if someone else is doing all the organising and booking

Post on here (or on scuttlebutt preferably, as that is more cruising related) to see if anyone else is going same day as you, or for general guidance and in depth knowledge of your destination - people generally love sharing their local knowledge. Do some homework first though, or you will be accused of simply asking everyone to do your passage planning for you

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni

 

[ShipsWoofy]

One little piece of advice you may or may not be interested in. Unless you 'have' to be on a pontoon don't be too quick to call the marina in a new harbour. It often pays to call the harbour master first (see almanac / pilot). More often than not he will allocated you a free wall mooring or close wet mooring for a 1/4 the price of the marina 50 yds away.

Of course this may not be your bag and like many you will enjoy paying more than your average b&b costs for a night where you provide all the facilities including the bed !

As someone with I guess a fair amount of experience of entering alien ports I still get the willies when entering a new harbour. The sand banks, rocks, looking for the white house to line up with the old oak tree so you can turn to 185° etc. But this makes it fun, you work as a team with your crew, looking for marks, panicking, being relieved etc.

It is all part of the fun. And that includes trying to talk to some of the berthing masters on the VHF who expect you to know the full geography of their harbour.

Normal conversation.

x marina this is TC
TC this is x marina
x marina we are looking for a berth for the night we are approximately 20 mins away
TC this is x marina, no problem, please state your size
x marina, we are 26 ft catamaran
TC chu! ching! that will cost you squillions, you are most welcome, please proceed to E1 and report to the office upon berthing....out
x marina where is E1
x marina where is E1
x marina this is TC
crackle

fun!

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk>Woof</A>

 

[gjeffery]

Further thought is that many harbours/ports have wed sites, and publish directions, often with photos. Chichestter and Portsmouth are good. They also publish Local Notices to Mariners (LNTM). So, well worth surfing the ports that interest you.

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[pragmatist]

Well some marinas and harbours may be friendly - we generally find they can't be bothered to answer the VHF and using a mobile phone is normally more successful (this doesn't include large/commercial harbours where they do answer the VHF). You don't state where you plan to sail but in the West Country they're terribly helpful - nip into any of the W Country rivers and they'll be there like a shot to help you (yes, can genuinely be helpful - e.g. picking up a buoy in pouring rain when they do if for you !) and of course to relieve you of a pile of fivers !

And as a personal hobby horse - avoid Ramsgate like the plague. Port Control are OK but if the marina bothers to answer you they couldn't care a d**n, won't know of any spare berths and won't give you decent directions if they did.


<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK - but serious about not being in the UK !

 

[Sea Devil]

When you go into foreign ports the language problem frequently makes calling up on VHF difficult.

Almost all marina's have a visitors pontoon. You go in and make towards this pontoon... If you see a 'marinaro' then you can give him a shout and he will tell you where to go... if not go alongside - find the office and ask. I am certain this works in UK ports and marinas as well ...

I think that pilot books are frequently more important than detailed charts =- it is worth gettin one for the area you are going to.. They have chartlets of all the ports and marinas showing the visitors pontoon - entry details - and a working vhf frequency if appropiate... as you approch try the VHf but if no response then just go in as I have discribed... In every country of the world it works more or less as I have discribed...

There is in fact no 'official' method but a chartlet really does help

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