Aide memoirs and useful tricks for remembering stuff boaty

[boomerangben]

Following another thread about RYA training courses and my experience where tricks and tips for remembering stuff was lacking in the course I did, I thought a thread that compiles little tricks and tips might be useful for others new to this game:


For starters:

If to starboard, red appears,
‘‘tis your duty to keep clear

On cardinal buoys the cones point to where the black stripe is

For application of variation and deviation, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk is Very Tasty for Compass, Deviation, Magnetic, Variation, True
(Other anbreviations are available!)

 

[Poignard]

"When the sea hog jumps,

look to your pumps,"​

 

[capnsensible]

Red and green should never be seen
With the bow of a tanker in-between.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

My pet peeve is that things like lights and shapes are totally unsystematic, and hence very difficult for someone like me to remember - I have to have a framework for things so that I can remember them. Mnemonics for individual lights aren't enough (yes, I know - white over red is the pilot's white hat over his red nose!). Road signs work like that - we all know a red circle is a prohibition, a red triangle a warning, and so on, so the basic outline of the sign tells you what sort of action you need to take. Buoys are nearly as bad - some groups are systematic (e.g. channel markers and cardinals), but some are arbitrary (e.g. clear water). Even the CEVNI signs - which are closer to road signs - aren't as systematic as they should be.

If anyone has a properly SYSTEMATIC way to group lights, shapes and buoys, I'd be very interested! But I can't detect one, and for me that makes them unmemorable.

 

[KevinV]

"When considering right of way
The cheapest hull will hold sway"

 

[johnalison]

My pet peeve is that things like lights and shapes are totally unsystematic, and hence very difficult for someone like me to remember - I have to have a framework for things so that I can remember them. Mnemonics for individual lights aren't enough (yes, I know - white over red is the pilot's white hat over his red nose!). Road signs work like that - we all know a red circle is a prohibition, a red triangle a warning, and so on, so the basic outline of the sign tells you what sort of action you need to take. Buoys are nearly as bad - some groups are systematic (e.g. channel markers and cardinals), but some are arbitrary (e.g. clear water). Even the CEVNI signs - which are closer to road signs - aren't as systematic as they should be.

If anyone has a properly SYSTEMATIC way to group lights, shapes and buoys, I'd be very interested! But I can't detect one, and for me that makes them unmemorable.

I think I am the same. I find mnemonics unhelpful, with very few exceptions, such as remembering warp vs weft, where the weft 'goes from weft to right'. I am basically a visual person and I find it much easier to visualise a compass and chart than work out the meaning of 'west is best'.

 

[Boathook]

I find "might is right" quite helpful !

 

[zoidberg]

'THIS WAY UP' stencilled on catamaran hulls.

 

[Minerva]

I find "might is right" quite helpful !

But both Wildly incorrect and potentially troublesome when it leads to your “erratic” behavior when you’re the stand on vessel and someone bigger is trying to avoid you!

 

[dunedin]

My aide memoire is Boat Reference app on.my phone. Always to hand if needed and more reliable than human memory.
IMHO safe navigation is about knowing where to find information, not a memory test.

 

[Mark-1]

True Virgins Make Dull Company, Add Wine.

One is always right

 

[Boathook]

But both Wildly incorrect and potentially troublesome when it leads to your “erratic” behavior when you’re the stand on vessel and someone bigger is trying to avoid you!

If I'm the stand on vessel I carry on, but if someone is bigger than me .......

 

[dunedin]

True Virgins Make Dull Company, Add Wine.

Funnily enough that is the only aide memoire that sticks from my Higher Navigation course at school

 

[Mark-1]

Funnily enough that is the only aide memoire that sticks from my Higher Navigation course at school

The only aide memoire's that I still remember today from Uni are the filthy ones.

I'm sure there is or was a GCSE in Navigation. I google it periodically and can never find it.

 

[ylop]

If to starboard, red appears,
‘‘tis your duty to keep clear

I don’t really know how that one makes it easier to remember! Nothing stops you switching s/b and port or red and green. Not a ropey rhyme stops you switching keep clear for stand on.

Generally I find Mnemonics are used by “teachers” to get people through tests/exams when the same effort might have been better spend on understanding the fundamentals. The exception would be where things need done in a specific order.

 

[veshengro]

Just the one I promise not to go on an' on an' on...

If upon your port hand is seen a steamer's starboard light of green,
there is now't for you to do, for it's his duty to keep clear of you

 

[RunAgroundHard]

CADET (compass add east true)
WOBBLE (water, oil, belt, bilge, levels, exhaust)
Sudden Rise After Low Sure Sign Of A Stronger Blow
Da da da dahhhhhh (Beethoven's 5th, U are standing into danger)
White over Red, pilot boat, always sitting on their arse, red bum
Red over white, fishing boat, fisherman always pissed, red nose
Flag W I require medical assistance, whisky to aid recovery.

That's all I can remember from an age ago.

 

[Black Sheep]

For mast-top lights:

Red over White - frying tonight! (fishing boat)
White over Red - Captain's in bed (Pilot on board)
Red over Red - Captain's dead (not under command)
Red over Green - Sailing machine

 

[S04]

The only aide memoire's that I still remember today from Uni are the filthy ones.

I'm sure there is or was a GCSE in Navigation. I google it periodically and can never find it.

I can't speak for GCSEs but there definitely was a GCE O Level in Navigation.

 

[Biggles Wader]

True Virgins Make Dull Company, Add Wine.

One is always right

Or the other way-----Captain's Dick Makes Virgins Tremble
The only useful ones are those that are memorable.IE rude!