Sailing Solo

[elton]

That sounds like excellent advice, which I was keen to take this year, but I am not encouraged by my experience so far.

I acquired an ICOM radio which has never been programmed with a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number. I requested instruction on setting it up from Ofcom, who finally replied more than three months later, not with an answer on anything I had asked, just saying there was a problem with my account password. I renewed the password and, to save several more months, I supplied details of the vessel it would be located on, and asked that in reply, they explain the steps for getting an MMSI number. That was in October; no reply yet.

I believe that while DSC radio is a great concept, there is minimal advice and administration to facilitate its use, and the new sailor may be more confused than reassured by its functions. Without exception, every single yachtsman I have spoken to was in the dark on how to proceed, and doubted that it matters...the universal advice was to get out there and use the radio, and not to worry about MMSI identity or GPS-linked cleverness which distracts from the basic functions that older sets (and older sailors) happily relied upon.

I took the one-day short-range course in June. I was mostly baffled; I even decided by lunchtime that I would never be able to take a boat with a radio to sea, because I would never pass the course. Frankly, the fact that I did pass, didn't reflect my total incompetence and absence of confidence. I will read the guide that came with the certificate, and hope to make more sense of it by the time I need it, but using DSC wouldn't be my first recommended priority for the OP.

I understand your sentiment. But rest assured, the course content will all sink in, in a short while. I was somewhat baffled regarding the DSC functionality after the course, but the only thing you really need to remember is that you can make a distress call, simply by pressing the button. All the rest of it is just an added benefit, if you choose to use it.

 

[Greenheart]

Thanks, I felt that was the instructor's and examiner's expectation, too.

Just the same, Ofcom's sessile response to reasonable requests, is no help at all to the beginner who is keen to do everything to keep to the recommended (or required) course.

 

[Thistle]

I acquired an ICOM radio which has never been programmed with a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number.

Why ask Ofcom? I'd start by contacting ICOM with details of the set's serial number. They should be able to match that to the MMSI number originally allocated to that set.

 

[Aeolus]

Why ask Ofcom? I'd start by contacting ICOM with details of the set's serial number. They should be able to match that to the MMSI number originally allocated to that set.

If the radio has not been programmed with a MMSI number then see here:
Ships' radio and ship portable radio

If you don't know how to program the radio, then you should read the manual (if you have one) or contact ICOM

Regarding single-handed sailing in general, I agree with much of what has already been said:
- don't rush things,
- always be thinking 'what if'
- get an auto-pilot and have it ready for use at all times
- keep the boat very tidy so you know where everything is and can find it quickly

 

[dolabriform]

The most important thing I've learnt is to slow down and take your time. Always try to assess everything and think before doing anything. Wether it's leaving a mooring, raising / dropping sails, or something bad is happening, breathe, look around, assess and think.

I've sailed mostly solo from the outset and learnt a lot about wind awareness and sail trim from dinghy sailing. My boat isn't local to me but the dinghy club is, so it allows me to sail and refine these skills at least once a week, and they are transferrable to the big boat.
With the help and advice from others ( thanks John ), I have learnt a lot of techniques, but the underlying thing is not to panic. This is very hard on occasions, but time and experience will help you to get into the habit of taking a breath and assessing before you act.

The books mentioned by others are all worth a read, in addition to having a lot of good advice, they reinforce this mindset and help to make it a subconscious act.

As soon as you are tied up after each sail, make a cuppa and sit down with your log book and be honest about the experience. Write down what worked and what you screwed up that you could have done better. Think about why it was that you screwed up, and write that down as well. Then when you read it back later you will be able to reflect and realise how much better you have got with each sail.

None of us are born to be great sailors, we all have to learn. Don't be afraid at being bad at something you've never done before, accept that you will probably get it wrong and learn from that.

Above all, as said above, it's supposed to be fun so get out there and enjoy it

 

[Skylark]

That sounds like excellent advice, which I was keen to take this year, but I am not encouraged by my experience so far.

I acquired an ICOM radio which has never been programmed with a Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number. I requested instruction on setting it up from Ofcom, who finally replied more than three months later, not with an answer on anything I had asked, just saying there was a problem with my account password. I renewed the password and, to save several more months, I supplied details of the vessel it would be located on, and asked that in reply, they explain the steps for getting an MMSI number. That was in October; no reply yet.

I believe that while DSC radio is a great concept, there is minimal advice and administration to facilitate its use, and the new sailor may be more confused than reassured by its functions. Without exception, every single yachtsman I have spoken to was in the dark on how to proceed, and doubted that it matters...the universal advice was to get out there and use the radio, and not to worry about MMSI identity or GPS-linked cleverness which distracts from the basic functions that older sets (and older sailors) happily relied upon.

I took the one-day short-range course in June. I was mostly baffled; I even decided by lunchtime that I would never be able to take a boat with a radio to sea, because I would never pass the course. Frankly, the fact that I did pass, didn't reflect my total incompetence and absence of confidence. I will read the guide that came with the certificate, and hope to make more sense of it by the time I need it, but using DSC wouldn't be my first recommended priority for the OP.

It sounds like you’ve had a dreadful experience of something that in practice should have been very straightforward.

The MMSI number will be issued within your ships radio license. Programming the number, when issued, into your radio is a simple matter of following the manufacturers instructions, found in the manual. It takes a little care and diligence because you can only do it once! A radio with an MMSI already programmed can only be reset by the manufacturer.

Your circle of sailing friends holding the unanimous view that MMSI number and GPS link detract from basic function and offering the advice to "not worry about its cleverness" are, respectfully, misguided.

 

[LadyInBed]

Do everything slowly, think through how you are going to do it before doing it, when moving around the boat know where your next hand hold and foot placement will be, start doing things sooner than you would with crew, always rig both sides for berthing, use a centre cleat for berthing, double back your lines in prep for leaving berth . . . .
Autohelm is your helmsman that doesn't answer back or need feeding.

 

[Canoeboy]

Well done! Good for you!

I could write a book, but better people than I have already done so.

‘Single handed cruising and sailing’ by Frank Millville is one.

FB Cooke’s books were republished in an omnibus édition by Dick Wynne’s Lodestar Books in 2011

Then there is ‘Sailing just for fun’ by Charles Stock.

There are many well known books which touch on single handing - one of the best as well as one of the first is RT McMullen’s ‘Down Channel’.

Single handing can be safer because you don’t get distracted.

Be sure that you can pick up your own mooring, that you can anchor and recover your anchor, and always have a plan in your head for how to get out of a tight spot before venturing into one.

Thank you for taking the time to reply, I am reading up on it and there is much out there... I will be booking a local course in the spring so hopefully put it all together,,, l have done some dinghy sailing as a teenager so the basic's are there but its been some years now, earliar this year l done some sailing trips on a coulpe of classic ships which has got me wanting to do more before l get to old to do it..

 

[Kukri]

Like others of my generation and older (pre-RYA Scheme) I taught myself by single handing a boat almost, but not quite, with a book in one hand and the tiller in the other. I kept a log (I’ve still got it) and learned from my mistakes. My boat was a wooden three quarter decked 18 footer. So I bought my younger son a Squib, which is today’s equivalent more or less, and he has been learning the same way.

Being a teenager he was too old for children’s sailing lessons and he didn’t like dinghies.

Single handed dinghies demand constant attention, but a keelboat gives you more time to think and plan, and you can go much further.

One standard bit of advice is, ‘Don’t get too big a boat to start with’.

Something between 18 and 24 ft, and not too high performance.

Hunter Europa (Squib with a cabin)
Corribee
Pandora
Trident 24
Hunter Sonata

 

[Greenheart]

The MMSI number will be issued within your ships radio license. Programming the number, when issued, into your radio is a simple matter of following the manufacturers instructions, found in the manual.

Thank you David, and earlier posters. I remember that you only get one chance to put the number in - the manual was clear about that.

And I can see that the complexity of using the DSC set, once it is set up (compared with the old VHFs - I still have the cassette that came free with a PBO in about 1996, and that course of instruction was extremely straightforward) will be easy enough, practiced in a relaxed atmosphere outside the classroom...

...the bigger problem seems to be Ofcom's extraordinary sloth in issuing the number, or even responding to enquiries about it. That led me to feel that if they can't be bothered, I won't worry. Clearly it matters to be able to summon help, but the government office responsible for administration of ships' radios seems wholly unconcerned about owners of recreational craft establishing vessel identity with the MMSI system. If it's a legal requirement, it is conspicuously unenforced - and coming from a no-tech dinghy-sailing background, that's fine with me.

 

[Lightwave395]

Do everything slowly, think through how you are going to do it before doing it, when moving around the boat know where your next hand hold and foot placement will be, start doing things sooner than you would with crew, always rig both sides for berthing, use a centre cleat for berthing, double back your lines in prep for leaving berth . . . .
Autohelm is your helmsman that doesn't answer back or need feeding.

+ many to the above
Get the best autopilot you can afford - a proper gyro pilot if your boat is big enough to justify it, I raced my 39 footer solo for several years and various 33+ footers before that. Have a plan 'C' as well as a 'B' too, I always visualise what I'm going to do a couple of times before I do it, particularly when gybing kites and other more risky manoeuvres.
If you haven't got furling headsail(s) get hanks - trying to do a headsail change in 20+ knots of wind with Tuff Luff can be difficult to say the least

I confess to doing (or nearly doing ) a hurried gybe in the Alderney race during a solo race from Guernsey to the Solent some years back, I didn't do the prep and it didn't end well...
I sailed all the way back with a 3m diameter circle of kite at the masthead and the rest of it wrapped tightly around the forestay below, if the wind had got above the 15 knots it was or shifted from SSW I'd have been in trouble. As it was I got the boat back to Hamble and it took 3 hours up the mast to retrieve it without damage...
All part of the learning curve, great fun though and cheap just having to feed yourself !

 

[skipper681]

Sailing scares the hell out of me. I'm 30+ years at sea and apparently it's normal for sailing boats to list like they do, like the pdf on post #6 from pandos . I'm not dissing sailing boats because I have a long keel Colvic in the yard. Its never been in the water since I've owned it. I would love to learn to sail but I think I'm just not into it.

I'll exchange the 24 Colvic for a motorboat by the way if anyones interested.

 

[Poignard]

Sailing scares the hell out of me. I'm 30+ years at sea and apparently it's normal for sailing boats to list like they do, like the pdf on post #6 from pandos . I'm not dissing sailing boats because I have a long keel Colvic in the yard. Its never been in the water since I've owned it. I would love to learn to sail but I think I'm just not into it..

That's a shame because you are missing out on one of life's greatest pleasures., ie handling a boat under sail.

Perhaps you got off to a bad start by going out in bad weather, or with a useless skipper?

Have you thought of signing up to a Day Skipper Practical course?

 

[Daverw]

Quote, the bigger problem seems to be Ofcom's extraordinary sloth in issuing the number, or even responding to enquiries about it. That led me to feel that if they can't be bothered, I won't worry. Clearly it matters to be able to summon help, but the government office responsible for administration of ships' radios seems wholly unconcerned about owners of recreational craft establishing vessel identity with the MMSI system. If it's a legal requirement, it is conspicuously unenforced - and coming from a no-tech dinghy-sailing background, that's fine with me.
Read more at Sailing Solo

ive always found Ofcom very good but don’t forget the licence application is fully on line and takes about 5 minutes to complete with the licence complete with MMSI automatically listed if you tick the DSC box. Once you’ve done it it’s also very easy to update for AIS, epirb etc.
DSC is not a legal requirement but dies make getting help very easy if you need it.

 

[[70521]]

Sailing scares the hell out of me. I'm 30+ years at sea and apparently it's normal for sailing boats to list like they do, like the pdf on post #6 from pandos . I'm not dissing sailing boats because I have a long keel Colvic in the yard. Its never been in the water since I've owned it. I would love to learn to sail but I think I'm just not into it.

I'll exchange the 24 Colvic for a motorboat by the way if anyones interested.

As Poignard says that is a real shame.

Good luck with your search for something more suitable.

 

[V1701]

When I sail solo I always have a PLB (personal locator beacon) attached to my lifejacket, gives me a bit of peace of mind. It would be much harder without a tillerpilot. Try sailing just with the genoa/foresail, maybe leave the mainsail alone at least the first few times as it's more of a faff, I often sail just with genoa. Hand held vhf is useful, do things like make up a flask of coffee & have snacks handy. Think and talk yourself (as if you were explaining it to someone) through your moves before doing them...

 

[Greenheart]

...don’t forget the licence application is fully on line and takes about 5 minutes to complete with the licence complete with MMSI automatically listed if you tick the DSC box.

Pretty sure I ticked all the boxes that I needed to, but thanks, I will certainly look again.

Sailing scares the hell out of me...apparently it's normal for sailing boats to list like they do...

It's more than normal, it's elementary physics. It's rather astonishing how many sailing men's wives are terrified of this basic action, largely because they don't understand that it is intrinsically limited - wind in the sails heels the boat, while the opposing pressure of ballast in the keel limits the heeling and eventually returns the boat to upright.

It's perfectly reasonable to be very wary of sudden heeling in an unballasted sailing boat like a dinghy, which will spontaneously lie on her side and pitch the crew into the water if there's a stiffish unforeseen gust. But (with very few wretchedly-designed or ill-used exceptions) yachts only heel so far, and the further over they go, the harder their pendulous keels work to bring them upright again. No need to crouch sweating, expecting the worst.

 

[Daydream believer]

yachts only heel so far, and the further over they go, the harder their pendulous keels work to bring them upright again. No need to crouch sweating, expecting the worst.

You have clearly never been too close to the Cap de la Hague with F7 wind over tide

 

[Greenheart]

Indeed, I have not, but I rather doubt anything so extreme is the kind of sailing that alarmed Skipper681.

 

[steveeasy]

Always have an achor at the ready, and a pair of oars. If you loose power in close quarters you can always drop the anchor and if your outboard fails, its handy to have the paddles to hand.

Steveeasy