Navigation on a small boat

[Guest]

In Yachting World previously

In YW a few years back ..... article called :

Small Boats travel further.

Boat owners were interviewed about the travels / trips and cruises .......... 20ft Norman motorboat with 2 students ...... circumnavigating UK in hops from harbour to harbour, working in bars etc. to pay for it. Westerly 35's etc. etc. leaving marinas weekends and over to IoWight etc., occasional france trips ..... 2-3 days. Bigger boats leaving seldom and some even paying the marinas to lift, scrub and keep boat as owners didn't use them ...... when asked ... too much bother organising crew, fueling, getting everything this that etc. So they sat drinking G&T in the cockpits looking good with blue peaked caps on.

Small - what is that ???? Its what YOU can do, not the boat really !!!!


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !

 

[tgalea]

Re: In Yachting World previously

Hi,

Yep. Can't agree more. But sometimes you do look for words of re-assurance !

Cheers

Tyrone Galea

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[tgalea]

Hehehehe!

Funny but true. VERY unfortunately where i come from the majority look down on anything below 30ft - considering them to be a mirror 10 with a small cabin.

Of course, it is your personal skill together with that of your crew which dictates what you should do with a boat. We have all read about good men and women who crossed the pond in small boats with none of the modern hi tech aids.

Being surrounded by such spoilt people locally and at the same time being a good follower of this forum I looked for opinions from other people because at times when all seem to discourage you ... you do tend to sort of give in.

However I assure you that having heard your opinions which only confirm mine, i look forward to next summer to perform my little adventure.

Regards

Tyrone Galea



<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[tgalea]

Oh thanks for the offer.

No i woudn't ask you to go to the trouble of doing that because honestly all I was looking for is a few people who actually encourage you rather than discourage you.

It is so sad to see the real sailing / handling skills die away as larger modern and sophisticated boats set to sea making sailors more complacent, lazy and negative.

I did however read August PBO which featured the Contessa's trip to the Med.

Thanks for you help.

Regards

Tyrone.



<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[tgalea]

Re: Too small a boat?

Hi Richard,

Cannot agree more. It is so satisfying to read posts on this thread with words of support and encouragement.

As i said in my original post I do appreciate that it takes preperation, skill, right weather conditions, etc.

I always look up to people who know more than me because i believe i can only learn something new. Being my first time i looked around locally for information from people who do the particular crossing a few times every summer.

All i found were words of discouragment from all sources... that was when i decided to have a last go with "fellow" sailors in the U.K.

Thank you for your support and as i said to others who replied, i will one day next summer take up this little adventure and look forward to proving that it takes skill rather than size.

Cheers & thanks once again

Tyrone Galea

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[roger]

I like using routes and waypoints. If you are on track you are not likely to be running on the rcks. Obviously you check against the chart using one of the systems already mentioned.
I assume you have a fixed GPS (much easier to read). If you mount this in the cockpit you can look at the rolling road and be sure you are on track. The snag is you have to input waypoints etc. on deck. Otherwise you put it down below and get a repeater on deck - same procedure.
The next step after that is to go electronic but that is real pricey.
On a small boat it is more difficult to keep a log in rough weather. It's probably easier to do that down below in the dry with the charts too. Its probably best to put the GPS down below.

<hr width=100% size=1>Roger

 

[Hurleyburly]

Did a search for Garmin accessories and came up with a wonderful device for my handheld Garmin 12. Holder with a suction cup.

Mount it in the cockpit with no nasty screw holes and read it from the helm, or take it below if necessary.

Obviates the need for fixed (and shamefully expensive) electronics.

Might even be able to pick one up at Southampton in a couple of weeks.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Adrian]

I'v got the swivel mount with a suction cup <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.globalpositioningsystems.co.uk/images/gps/accs/b148ma3.jpg> here</A>
Its great, sticks to the GRP no problem, also sticks to the car windscreen so i can play on the way to the boat as well!


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

 

[Guest]

Small cheap notebook PC ....

Cheap s/hand Notebook PC, Seaclear Nav program, GPS and cable ....

Set it auto log every so many minutes, nip below to see position automatically plotted, the GPS up in cockpit - if one of the newer ones will be water protected and showing XTE / dist to w'pt etc. So all in all keeping you on the straight and narrow. If you have a Tillerpilot with NMEA input - then you can even steer the boat by the PC ..... leaving hands frre for that ring-pull and chart board !!!!

BTW - Seaclear is Freeware and bloody marvelous !!!!

ncl@naviatech.ee if anyone needs info / advise on this ...



<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by nigel_luther on 04/09/2003 09:34 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[Guest]

Cheaper alternative ....

Mobile phone car holders .......

You can normally find one that allows for 12v connection leads / data cable etc. and they are sprung universal size jobs. If not for GPS - stick your GSM in it !!!!

My eTrex sits quite happily with 12v + data cable in a tiny holder bought in a petrol station for less than 10 quid. It can be screwed to the bulkhead, suction cupped, glued ......


<hr width=100% size=1>Nigel ...
Bilge Keelers get up further ! I only came - cos they said there was FREE Guinness !

 

[Hurleyburly]

Same site I found - have you bought from them ?

Their prices seem fairly competitive.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[oldharry]

Just back from doing Chi to Weymouth and back single handed, in a 19 footer (for the umpteenth time in the last 15 years or so in a variety of small boats). Nav is pretty straightforward using the various suggestions already made for a perspex type chart holder which will protect the chart from wet and spray, stop it blowing away (a real possibility - I once had the chart sucked out of the cabin and OB by a gust of wind, in a 17 footer!). The biggest difference this trip was that I had one of those portable chart plotting GPS units aboard, clipped to a holder in the cockpit where it was easily visible from the helm. This transformed the whole thing as I had instant visible updates on position, course, speed, any likely obstructions etc, without moving from the helm. Single handing this made a huge difference. You still need to keep up the chart plot of your position up to date, in case the GPS throws a wobbly - and isn't it a temptation not to bother anymore, as GPS set is doing it all for you....!

The main difficulty in a small boat is finding space to spread out a chart if you are doing a longer passage. Using a small scale chart to save space below simply increases the likelihood of position fix errors.

The other thing in smaller boats is to do all you homework before you start. You dont want to be tossing around off Peveril Ledge trying to find the tide tables to work out when you will get a fair tide round St Albans, for example. Allow for all the various possibilities in your planning, so that any information you need is quickly available once you are out there, particularly if the weather forces a change of plan. Too rough off St Albans? if you turn back when/ where can you get to for shelter? Whats the tide doing in the Poole channel for example - it can be worse on the ebb in the Poole fairway than in the St Albans ebb race in a SE wind, for example.

Go for it, and have fun! You can get just as much satisfaction from acheiving a trip like that as the bigger boats do going further afield. In fact navigationally there's probably more to it than a trip to Normandy, as you work the tides and hazards through the Solent and around Purbeck.



<hr width=100% size=1>