Passage plans: what is best practice?

[jdc]

The debate on whether there is a legal requirement to make a passage plan is, imho, less relevant than "what constitutes an appropriate passage plan?"

So this thread is an attempt to establish what is generally accepted practice for written plans. This is potentially important since demonstration of adherence to "generally accepted practice" is a valid legal defence against a charge of negligence.

I've always done a written one for passages which will be long enough for me to have to sleep - a bit arbitrary a threshold but better than none at all I guess. I also have a personal risk assessment scoring system - but since not all share my predilection for being quantitive I've left out how it works.

To get the debate more concrete, critique this please (a random selection, this one from 2010) - I have no idea if modern teaching, (or a judge) would consider it sufficient, o.t.t. or grossly negligent.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

All times GMT

Thursday 17th June 2010

PASSAGE FROM Mylor to Plockton: ~550 miles

Aim not to stop until in Scottish waters. If weather is perfect we could go due north past the smalls and on to close N Ireland near Strangford. But it would be more fun during daylight to pass up E side of Ireland inside the banks until Dublin. Alternatively we could go via the Isle of Man.

First stop is planned to be Lagavulin on Islay, then via the Corryvreken west of Mull to Iona, through the sound of Iona, stop at Staffa for a visit and thence to the sound of Sleat.


TIDES (from WXTide32, so accurate to 20mins and 20cm):

Dover
Thursday 17th
HW 02:12 6.4
LW 09:34 1.1
HW 14:34 6.4
LW 22:01 1.0

Friday 18th
HW 03:06 6.3
LW 10:24 1.3
HW 15:30 6.3
LW 22:54 1.1

Saturday 19th
HW 04:05 6.1
LW 11:18 1.4
HW 16:29 6.2


Falmouth
Thursday 17th
LW 02:45 0.9
HW 08:55 5.1
LW 15:02 1.2
HW 21:12 5.3


PLAN

Crew: Me, ----, --------- and ---. [names redacted]

Wednesday 16th June

Since there are no flights to Newquay anymore we'll drive from Cambridge that evening, but not sure how --- will get down in that case (maybe he'll take the train during the day). Arrive about 21:30 at Mylor and eat at Castaway's.

Thursday 17th June

Current turns westerly at Lizard at about HW+3 Falmouth, ie 1pm BST. Try to be here at this time, so set off at 10:00 BST. This is good: it means we can get fresh stores for the voyage either from Mylor or from Falmouth en-route. I must have left the boat full of fuel and water and non-perishable stores a fortnight before.

18 miles to Lizard, then 24 miles to Longships - despite being with tide allow 6kts, so 5pm BST. Tide N going past Longships HW Falmouth +4 for the next 7 hours, so 2pm - 9pm, hence we should carry a fair tide all the way from the Lizard. This takes an hour or two pressure off the leaving time.

Then turn N towards the Smalls or the SE Irish coast (depends on the wind).

100 miles due N to Smalls lt, 100 miles on 017 to Milford and 133 miles on 355 to Carnsore point. If adverse winds we will probably carry on and just tack unless horridly strong (in which case we'll probably skulk in the Scilles).

In emergency, bolt holes are to go W to Kinsale, turn round back into Mounts bay or to the Scillies. Could go to Lundy, which is 76 miles on 040, but it's only good in a westerly and it's northerlies we fear. But if the wind turns unexpectedly strong we could go there to wait a while (quite fun but then a NW wind would be dead ahead for the next part of the voyage).

Some approximate idea of timing allowing 6kts average:
Falmouth 09:00
Lizard 18mi 12:00
Longships 24mi 16:00
Carnsore 133mi 14:00 Friday 18th
Wicklow 48mi 22:00 (now dark, so not good for the navigator's sleep to stay inshore) Maybe best pass outside Codling bank.
South Rock 90mi 13:00 Saturday 19th
Kintyre 57mi 22:00 Pass about 1.5 miles west, staying in the ITZ
Lagavulin 36mi 04:00 Sunday 20th

After this it's so uncertain and there are so many options I'll re-plan once there.

Bolt-holes once near Ireland are Arklow (which is safe inside albeit grotty but faces NE and would be dangerous to enter or leave in strong NE winds) or Dun Laoghaire or Howth near Dublin, or further north, for instance Carlingford Loch.


Risk assessment / J score:

Passage difficulty: -3 (off shore, shipping lanes, 4 nights at sea)
Weather likelihood: +3 (mid June, long days)


Total: boat +4
crew +4 +2 * 2 / 3 + 2 * 1/3 = 6
passage -3
weather +3

Total = +10, nicely positive

 

[awol]

0400 entry to Lagavulin? Good luck! 6 Hours from MoK with adverse tide is going some.

 

[Tranona]

The chances of you ever having to justify your planning in a court are just about zero.

There is plenty of guidance on what constitutes good planning in the MCA and RYA guidance on complying with SOLAS V. It is covered in the syllabus for the appropriate RYA certificates and at a basic level in the ICC requirements.

Your example shows how you implement it, but the guidance is not prescriptive so others might do it differently. There is a case in a commercial operation such as a Sailing School, to have some SOPs to set a standard of what is expected of staff when operating the school boats, but it is difficult to see how you could impose a prescriptive method on private people.

 

[Old Troll]

Passage Plan

Best to make up a printed out pro forma containing all relevant information headings that require to be included in your passage plan. Quick ,easy and that you do not forget anything important. Also crew members names and "home contact numbers". Also I have printed out operational procedures for VHF and DSC , call signs and MMSI no etc. A short and concise safety brief at start of trip. Perhaps being a pendantic Old Troll but it also gets your crew interested if they assist in sourcing and elvaluating the information.

 

[westernman]

Not much reference to the weather.

Depending on the weather we might do 70 miles in 8 hours of confortable sailing, on just 12 miles of bloody unconfortable bashing into a full gale.

We will plan to avoid the latter, and to exploit the former.
On average we plan to do about 30 miles in a confortable day sail between anchorages, but have been known to plan on 70 miles plus, when the weather has been right.

 

[claymore]

Passage plans should be like mimiskirts - long enough that they cover the subject and short enough to keep them interesting.

 

[Searush]

It's a nice day, let's pop over to Aber Menai for lunch?

Yeah, OK.

It's about 2 miles of sheltered water, nowt written down, no info left with shore contact, no contact with CG. The big issue is what wine is in the Fun Box & what food will go with it. State of weather & tide is confirmd by looking out of the window before leaving.

Horses for courses innit?

 

[dt4134]

I'd not put the same emphasis on timings as you. I'd do a rough estimate of the expected length of the voyage, but the idea of getting anywhere at a specific time doesn't really hold up well for anything more than a few hours in the future.

I'd note the tidal gates, so as I go along I can work out whether I'm likely to hit it or not.

I'd also note the hazards and lights along the way, so I could be prepared to expect the flash sequence of the next one that's supposed to come over the horizon.

I'd knock up pilotage plans for the 'difficult' bits, the destination and for any ports of refuge I didn't know well. And the times when I could and couldn't get into the ones that aren't available 24 hours.

For example, you've mentioned Carlingford Lough as a bolt hole, so you'd need a pilotage plan, considering whether your boat could get in against a strong ebb, the channel, including stretches where identifying the next buoy isn't easy, areas where you'd have to duck out of the channel if there's a ferry coming the other way (and which way you would go as it's not necessarily safe to duck out of the channel blindly).

I'd also do the same for the northern section of the voyage. After all, there's nothing to stop any necessary pilotage plans and tidal calculations been done at home. You can plug those together with your real timings and weather when you're at Lagavulin (or wherever else you go if it's unsuitable for you to stop there).

On the otherhand, for many shorter weekend trips, I'd just jot down the basics of the tide and listen to a weather forecast, so I'd know what weather not to expect.

 

[Woodlouse]

If the passage involves a particularly nasty tidal gate then i'll check the tide times for it and leave with the intention of arriving an hour or so before it turns in my favour. Otherwise though I do no planning other than choosing my destination. As far as I'm aware there is no legislation requiring a written plan and anyone who has left the dock has clearly got some kind of plan in mind even if it is to go where the wind blows them.

 

[johnalison]

I have been told that putting a course or route on a chart-plotter should suffice. Not enough for best practice of course but enough to show that you have given the passage some thought.

 

[Rowana]

I have a "Word" pro-forma on my confuser here at home which I print off and use.

Most of my "passages" have been done before, so I just change the date, tide times and weather forecast details on the form I used last time, and for several times before that.

On the odd occasion that I'm going somewhere new, I've got a few blank forms on board and start from scratch.

 

[Victoria Sponge]

We usually have a chat about where to go, check the tides and the weather and off we go.

 

[Tanqueray]

Keep England on the left, France on the right, Tack when you see the seagull's knees.

 

[dunedin]

We often don't know where we are heading to until after setting off - and can change again. Write down tidal gates if material

 

[bitbaltic]

I have a "Word" pro-forma on my confuser here at home which I print off and use.

Most of my "passages" have been done before, so I just change the date, tide times and weather forecast details on the form I used last time, and for several times before that.

On the odd occasion that I'm going somewhere new, I've got a few blank forms on board and start from scratch.

+1 but mine's in excel (not automated)

there are about 50 blank copies on the boat and it covers 12 hours of tide, which is fine for a day sail in and out of the home port or to a local destination.

It focusses my mind in ensuring that all the things that should be checked (tides, weather, clearances, entries and exits, leading transits) are checked. Often for the umpteenth time. But you have to go through the almanac for tides and the atlas for streams and the weather forcasts anyway. Total time taken, about 10 mins, five of which is burrowing through the books; and it provides a reference point for tidal heights and streams throughout the day if plans change. Think I'm losing a little time to gain a lot when sailing. Not worried about the legal implications but happy that it would cover them.

 

[onesea]

We usually have a chat about where to go, check the tides and the weather and off we go.

We often don't know where we are heading to until after setting off - and can change again. Write down tidal gates if material

You guys do better than us:

SWMBO: where are we going?
Me: Tides going East , Where do yo want to go?
SWMBO: Dunno East?

Then when the tide Turns..
Me: where do you want to spend the night?
SWMBO: Dunno enjoying the sail,
ME: Tides turning West.
SWMBO: Well lets go west then.

Toward the end of the day we fine tune the passage plan a little more...
Where do you want to spend the night? Where is there? If we go that way we can still choose between...

Planning or a process of elimination?

 

[Victoria Sponge]

You guys do better than us:

SWMBO: where are we going?
Me: Tides going East , Where do yo want to go?
SWMBO: Dunno East?

Then when the tide Turns..
Me: where do you want to spend the night?
SWMBO: Dunno enjoying the sail,
ME: Tides turning West.
SWMBO: Well lets go west then.

Toward the end of the day we fine tune the passage plan a little more...
Where do you want to spend the night? Where is there? If we go that way we can still choose between...

Planning or a process of elimination?

Sounds good to me.

 

[LadyInBed]

"what constitutes an appropriate passage plan?"

Minimal info to get you from A to B.
I write down tide times and the times that the current changes direction and waypoints if necessary. Weather is something to take heed of but doesn't need to be written down.

Yours, IMO is well OTT in that it is far to wordy, unless you are a commercial skipper training a group of novices or children.

This is a proforma I made up many years ago before GPS and Chart Plotters, but I don't use the bottom right bit of the first page very much these days!
The second page is the Nav log which isn't relevant, but was part of the image I had stored.

 

[rotrax]

Minimal info to get you from A to B.
I write down tide times and the times that the current changes direction and waypoints if necessary. Weather is something to take heed of but doesn't need to be written down.

Yours, IMO is well OTT in that it is far to wordy, unless you are a commercial skipper training a group of novices or children.

This is a proforma I made up many years ago before GPS and Chart Plotters, but I don't use the bottom right bit of the first page very much these days!
The second page is the Nav log which isn't relevant, but was part of the image I had stored.

First Mate has done something quite similar-works pretty well for us. We dont do anything if we are just cruising around the Solent in waters we know well. Like Searush we just wing it.

 

[claymore]

Looks like it could be used for keeping cricket scores, which would be really handy if TMS is on the wireless.

I always write what time Dorus Mor Opens and Shuts because you tend to be a bit stuffed if you get that wrong and it sort of sets the scene for what time you have to be underway and what time of day to work back fro at the other end of the trip. But then this thread is about Passage planning, not day or weekend sailing.