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Boating tips
Taking Care of Rope
To ascertain the line you are using on your boat serves you well, you must take good care of it.
Keep Rope Clean
Dirt, sand, oil and acids will destroy line on your boat, whether it is natural or synthetic rope. To wash your rope, put it in a mesh bag or pillow case (to keep the rope from knotting and fouling up the washing machine), use a mild cleansing product and toss it in the washer.
Don't Let it Kink
When you first take rope off the spool it must come off with a direct unwind pull. Taking the rope off the spool over the end will give you endless kinks and will be a nightmare to remove. Three strand rope needs to be coiled with the lay.
Keep Ends Clean
The end of a line should be neat. If there are any frays, they will continue to grow and ruin more and more of the rope. Ends should be whipped (using whipping line), back spliced, dipped (there are dipping products on the market wherein you simply dip the end and it seals the rope), or burned (an excellent way to seal off modern line -- heat the end of the rope until it melts and seals itself).
Don't Let Rope Chafe or Abrade
You never want the same area of a rope rubbing somewhere over and over. It will fail sooner. Chafe guards are good for moored or docked boats. You can use leather chafe guards, or if the line is small enough you can split and use an old garden hose.
Towing
While towing sounds pretty simple, it usually is only simple in perfect conditions – calm winds and seas. When things are easy like that you need only get in front of the other boat and toss them a line. (Note on tossing a line: coil the throwing line so there are no kinks. Separate the coil in two with the bitter end of the coil in your throwing hand, the rest of the coil on the other hand. Then toss the line over and past the receiver. The hand not throwing should be laid open and pointing toward the receiver so the rest of the coil will easily exit the hand.)
Nylon is the best line for towing because it is very strong and yet stretchy. When waves or wake make the distressed boat jerk, the nylon line will absorb the jolt.
Most folks just tie the line to the stern of the towing boat. But, that is the worst place you can secure it. Remember, when you turn a boat the point on which it turns is usually near the bow and the stern swings out. If the tow line is on the stern, this restricts the stern from swinging out and thereby makes steering the towing boat almost impossible. So, the tow line should be as far forward as possible.
Keep the boats in the similar wave patterns by adjusting the length of the tow line so that both boats are either going up a wave or down a wave at the same time.
Always tow at moderate speeds. Think safely.
Trailering Your Boat
Almost anyone that owns a boat of any kind has to trailer their boat at one time or another. Many of us trailer our boats all the time. Here are some tips that might help you out:
- Preparing the Boat.
- Be sure the boat is loaded so there is adequate tongue weight. If the tongue weight is too light the trailer may tend to fishtail. Too much tongue weight will be unduly hard on the towing vehicle.
- Tie the boat down securely…you don't want to drop your precious boat on the highway. We recommend the ratchet-type tie downs that can be purchased at most stores.
- Be sure there is nothing that can drag. Sailboats have halyards, sheets and stays that can somehow untie themselves and drag on the highway. After such an event, they will have to be replaced at great expense.
- Tops, covers and sails should be lowered and tied securely. If not, the wind will destroy them.
- Tires and Wheels
- Tire pressure is a biggie in trailing boats. Most trailer tires are small and require higher pressure than most tires. Tires should be inflated to the maximum psi recommended on the tire. The more inflated the tire, the cooler it will run. Tires that are under-inflated bulge at the sides and this area will be constantly flexing…thus, heating up the tire. That will shorten the life of the tire and cause a possible sidewall blowout.
- Wheel lugs should be check periodically to ascertain they are tight.
- Axles should be lubed regularly. Buddy Bearings are handy as they give you a visual look at how well greased the axle is.
- Be sure you always have a fully inflated spare tire…along with tools and jack.
And most of all… drive safely!
When the Anchor Drags
Here is the scenario: You have set the anchor at minimum of 7:1 scope (Let out 7 times more anchor rode than the depth of the water) and gone to bed. But, during the night you feel the boat rolling. This means the anchor is dragging and the bow is no longer into the wind.
With a quick check of a transit you see that the boat is definitely not sitting in one place (Earlier issues had defined a transit – line up two objects and if they do not stay the same you are moving)
Options:
- Let out more anchor rode. Warning: don't just throw more line overboard and tie it off. Ease the extra line out. Take a wrap around a cleat and slowly ease the new line out. Yank once in a while to help get the flukes to set.
- Use an additional anchor, if you have it.
- Use a sentinel or kellet. This is nothing more than a weight sent more than halfway down the anchor rode. That will put greater sag in the line (It will take more to straighten out the line and put more load on the anchor) and get the line lower so the pull on the anchor is lower. To do so, shackle on a weight to the anchor rode with a retrieving line attached and lower the sentinel to more than halfway.
- Use a buoy. Similar placement to the sentinel, the theory is the floating buoy will allow more exertion before the line straightens and puts more load on the anchor. Additionally, it will keep the bow up and over the waves. The sentinel will tend to pull the bow down into the wave and put more exertion on the anchor.
What is Left and Right?
Left and right – port and starboard – banks are named relative to a boats direction heading downstream. The left or port bank is the one on your left as you are heading in the direction that the river flows.
There are some exceptions to this rule. For example, on the New York State Barge Canal System the starboard side is the northern side, or the right side if you are heading from Waterford to Buffalo, New York.
On the IntraCoastal Waterway, the green marks would be toward the sea, thus the saying, "Green to Sea.."
Your best bet is to always check the charts. It would be a major mistake to go on the wrong side of a buoy and get in trouble.
Personal Flotation Devices
Every member of your crew should have a U.S. Coast Guard Approved Personal Flotation Device (PFD). PFDs, they float you don't! Of the 519 recreational boating drowning deaths in 2000, the US Coast Guard approximates that 445 lives could have been saved if the victim had been wearing a life jacket. The following are guidelines for the care and use of PFDs:
- Buy your own life jacket, and wear it. One size does not fit all.
- Look at the label for size and weight limitations.
- Try it on and check the fit. With straps and buckles secured, the life jacket should not slip over your head or cover your eyes.
- Make sure the life jacket is Coast Guard approved.
- Replace your life jacket if you find air leakage, mildew or rot.
- Never alter a life jacket. It could lose its effectiveness.
- Check your life jackets yearly for flotation and fit.
- Wear a life jacket to set an example for younger children while increasing your chances of survival.
- Make the Memorial Day holiday a gift-giving event - buy your boating children and (or) grandchildren a PFD fitted to their size at the beginning of each boating season. Children need special care because of changing size and distribution of body weight.
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