Formal Training

[Russ]

No documents required here.

Yea, surprises me that Cali doesn't being that they tend to regulate lots of things. Just a matter of time. I see a trend and eventually all states will require some education or proof of boating knowledge.

My dad worked hard in NJ to get legislation passed for safer boating. I often argued with him stating that a law forcing fisherman to wear life jackets in the winter was unenforceable because the marine police do not go out then. His heart was with saving lives.

Teaching the Power Squadron boating course gave me a respect for the need for education. We taught a local yacht club the course. Here are salty sailors that race every weekend. I was astonished at how little these guys knew. Yea, they could get their boats out and sail like crazy, but know nothing of coast guard required safety equipment they needed onboard. Charts? Is that what those buoy things are for? Crazy.

[Wind Chime]

For me,

Good Seamanship is about three things:
1) Knowledge
2) Experience
3) Situational Awareness

There are many ways to gain Knowledge. Experience is just a matter of being out there and putting in the time and practically applying the knowledge. … but Situational Awareness - is a state of mind on the water that encompasses all knowledge & disciplines and senses.

It’s being aware of everything and nothing at the same time. Feeling the wind backing to bad, and recognising changing conditions without alarming the crew. Slowing your SOG during the passage so you are not too early for a dangerous tide gate and have to stand off a lee shore, etc.

You cannot go wrong with Book Smarts as a base of Knowledge. There are centuries of sailing knowledge being taught in books and courses, so no sense to float around and try to discover what is already known. But the best formal training, are the courses that have both a book knowledge exam, as well as a practical on the water exam in order to pass.

My formal training is through the Canadian Yachting Association (CYA) programs certified as;
- Advanced Coastal Skipper
- Advanced Coastal Navigator
- Celestial Navigator.

This Advance Skipper certifies me to:
- act as skipper of a sailing cruiser up to 15 meters (50 feet)
- any modern rig
- inboard engine and systems
- operating within 100 miles of shore
- day or night
- in any weather condition & any visabiity
* The Celestial Navigation certification removes the 100 mile from shore limit.

The exam for the advanced certification is two part:
1) Five days at sea to prove practical competency (underway for at least 48 hours straight),
2) after the five days are complete, a written exam onboard.
http://www.sailing.ca/files/Advanced_Cr ... 2014_E.pdf

The Advanced Navigation Certification covers both old school charts and nav practice, along with new world technology like Radar, GPS, Chartplotters, as well as Passage Planning, COL-REGS, night and zero visibility sailing, etc. This certification ajudication is also done during an overnight passage practical exam with a written exam afterword.

Prerequisits for all advanced courses are both Intermediate and beginner certifications.

I also hold my:
- Canadian Pleasure Craft Operators Card (mandatory licence in Canada to operate a boat)
- ROC(M) w/DSC (VHF-Radio Restricted Operators Certificate with the Digital Select Calling endorsement)
- ARC+ (Ham Radio: Amateur Radio Operator Certificate + all bands and SSB)
- I also teach Marine Weather Classes for the Canadian Power & Sail Squadron

Lots of time and money to complete any formal training, both in the class room and on the water, but for me ... it's worth it - and always learning.

Darry Major
Commodore, http://www.MYCBC.ca

[Norca]

Good Seamanship is about three things:
1) Knowledge
2) Experience
3) Situational Awareness

There are many ways to gain Knowledge. Experience is just a matter of being out there and putting in the time and practically applying the knowledge. … but Situational Awareness - is a state of mind on the water that encompasses all knowledge & disciplines and senses.

This sums it up pretty good Darry.

I started boating 45 years ago, at 5 year old. back then my father taught me seamanship, and I took a boating course at the age of 15,
Then different courses mixed with sea-time on deck, and in the engine room on everything from container-ships and ferry's to a fishing trawler.
I still make a living at sea, and although much of my studies does not apply to sailing, I think if I were to venture offshore on a sailboat as a captain, I would have to study more in depth navigation, meteorology and radio classes as I do not do any of that stuff as an engineer.
The safety and survival at sea, I have done several times in my career, including helicopter evacuation training, ( but I missed out on the helicopter ride )

[BOAT]

So, I guess pushing the little red button on my radio isn't going to do it, huh? Oh well.

[Russ]

So, I guess pushing the little red button on my radio isn't going to do it, huh? Oh well.

That little red button is quite cool. Best of you register your MMSI number.

Here ya go
http://www.boatus.com/mmsi/

[BOAT]

I did - I got my MMSI a week after I brought the boat home. You want the number?

[Russ]

I did - I got my MMSI a week after I brought the boat home. You want the number?

I doubt I'll be in SOCAL anytime soon so knowing your MMSI won't do much good.
Good for you. Then the MMSI will tel the Coast Guard who you are when you press (and hold) that red button.

[BOAT]

That's what i figured, but I am too chicken to ever press it. I always just figured I was on my own out there.

[Russ]

That's what i figured, but I am too chicken to ever press it. I always just figured I was on my own out there.

Don't press it.

The distress function on a DSC radio works in conjunction with the Coast Guard’s Rescue 21 system. When the distress button is pushed, a DSC message containing your vessel’s MMSI (Maritime Mobile Service Identity) number and position is sent. The Coast Guard receives this information and can quickly correlate your MMSI number with additional information about your boat contained in the MMSI registry. Moreover, nearby boats equipped with DSC radios will receive an alarm for a nearby vessel in trouble. If the VHF radio is interfaced to a chartplotter the distress signal will appear as a marker on their chartplotter, making it easy for them to render assistance. In our frigid waters, time is critical, and the DSC system can bring help faster from nearby boats and the Coast Guard.

By pressing the one emergency button on your DSC VHF, you start the radio making automatic distress calls that provide your MMSI identity and location (if GPS is connected). This call is continually repeated until the Coast Guard answers or it is manually stopped, allowing you to attend to the emergency.

To Test Your DSC System
To run a test call the nationwide Coast Guard MMSI number, 003669999. Enter this number into your radio’s calling memory and select the “Test Call” option from the radio’s list of individual DSC calls, you can then press the “call” or “enter” key. Your radio will silently hail the Coast Guard with a digital signal on channel 70. If everything is working properly, your radio will almost immediately receive the Coast Guard’s acknowledgement of your call, providing assurance that both your radio and the Rescue 21 system are operating properly. You must be boating in an area served by Rescue 21 to use this test. Alternatively you may also use the DSC function to privately hail another boater’s MMSI number so that they can verify what MMSI came up on their ID. The DSC functions do not work at all until an MMSI number is entered into your VHF radio. If connected to a GPS, the signal will also provide your exact coordinates. TowBoatUS Captains with DSC radios will do a radio check with you if requested.
Register with FCC or BoatUS?

[BOAT]

Here is another one that fry's my ass: This guy gets rescued after 12 days at sea (lost since Thanksgiving) because of a dismasting.

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/outposts ... -days-sea/

Now here is my beef, and I have the same beef with that really stupid "All Is Lost" movie:

Why the hull would ANYONE keep the antenna for their radio on top of the mast? Isn't the mast the first thing that gets busted in a storm?? Isn't dismasting the most common damage causing need for rescue at sea on a sailboat?
So right at the time you really need your radio the most, when dismasted, where is your antenna?? Deep Six with your mast!!!

BRILLIANT!

(I use a Shakespeare whip off the stern, just like Roger does on his 70 footer and most of the other guys I see here in Oceanside Harbor).

[Russ]

Why the hull would ANYONE keep the antenna for their radio on top of the mast?

For range.

In high seas, getting your signal over those waves is important.
And since most people use their VHF for other things besides distress calls, range is why. Powerboaters are envious of our tall antennas that get better range.
Also, since sailboats tend to heel, high gain antennas don't make sense on sailboats. Think of a flashlight. Focus the beam to a spot and sure, it's more powerful, but if you tilt the light up, you are pointing that beam to the sky. Sailboats are best served with a wide angle (low gain) antenna. 25 watts is a lot of power and gain isn't always your friend at the cost of a narrow beam signal pointed to space.


To your point, any boater that spends time offshore should have more than one antenna and more than one VHF for the reason you stated. Look up at sail boats in your marina. Why do they all have antennas up there? Look at the serious cruisers who spend time offshore, they will likely also have an antenna someplace on their stern pulpit or arch as well as backup VHF, backup floating handheld VHF. Since VHF has a range of about 30 miles at best, you will also see a SSB radio, sat phone, EPIRB and other offshore communication devices.

Oh, and an emergency VHF antenna isn't a bad investment.
http://www.westmarine.com/buy/shakespea ... oCPnTw_wcB

[Russ]

When I lived back east and was around the NY metro area, so many knuckleheads would get on the VHF and not use it properly. "Breaker 16, hey Donnie, ya got ya ears on?" *cringe*

Or Hollywood's use of "Over and out". Arggg
Or "All is Lost" .. "This is the Virginia Jean making an SOS call."

There is a logical protocol for using VHF. Calling and distress channel is for that only. Some regions now have Seatow automated radio check systems on the old telephone channels 24, 26, 27, 28. https://www.seatow.com/boating-safety/a ... dio-checks
Very cool and no need to use ch 16 and chatter up the channel with stupid radio checks.

When I was a kid, my dad bought a VHF with crystals in it. It had a max of 12 possible channels. Back in 1977, it cost $400 which is $1500 to today's dollars. Now you can get a decent VHF with ALL the channels and MMSI for $100. This causes problems because idiots with a hundred bucks can buy one. They think ALL the channels are for use and don't know how to call someone. "Breaker 16" .

In my opinion, a VHF radio is the cheapest and best piece of safety equipment you can buy. Know how to use it.

</RANT>

[BOAT]

To your point, any boater that spends time offshore should have more than one antenna and more than one VHF for the reason you stated. Look up at sail boats in your marina. Why do they all have antennas up there? Look at the serious cruisers who spend time offshore, they will likely also have an antenna someplace on their stern pulpit or arch as well as backup VHF, backup floating handheld VHF. [/img]

In MY marina? Hey, if you like to sit and watch sailboats disappear over the horizon then this is THE place for you. EVERYONE here is going WAY WAY out to far away places . . . except for me

That's why I have the Shakespeare on the back - - I'm no radio genius so I just try to do what I see all the other guys in my marina do. Where I live the marina is tiny tiny and it's just a place to park and there is ZERO Mac M boats here - everyone moored here is bigger and they go out very very far into the big ocean because there is no where else for them to go. I asked around and looked at all of THEIR boats and they all had a whip on their back, so that's what I got. Mostly on top of the masts here I see wind stuff and radars and I see a lot of antennas too but almost everyone has a whip on their backs, the sail boats AND the power boats. I see a LOT of these propeller things on the back of the sailboats too, BIG propeller things for electric. Most of the people here go out for weeks at a time and will do a thousand miles like it's nothing - I wish I could join them. I think that's a little too far for my little boat.

[Tomfoolery]

I too have a 3dB antenna on my mast. I also have a spare VHF radio (same model as the one that's wired below decks). And the same emergency backup antenna in the pic above. And a hand held VHF. And a cel phone.

For my type of sailing, I think I'm reasonably covered.

The PO's had an antenna on the stern somewhere, as witnessed by the coax that's clipped flush with the thru fitting on the near the rudder cleat and existing termination behind the radio, but I don't know why they had it. Possibly for canal use, with no mast. But my hand held does fine for that (locks and bridges), so I never worried about replacing it.

[BOAT]

Well, thanks Tom, I think based on what Russ is saying I too would like a second radio going up to the top of the mast. The one I have connected to the Shakespeare on the back is located right here:



But I don't have AIS on that radio, and I was going to replace it with an AIS radio, but Russ says to really hear the ships far away (the big ones that are ready to crush you in the middle of the night IMO) you need to get the antenna up real high, so I think what I will do is put a NEW SECOND radio with AIS in it right HERE:



So that radio will be warm and dry deep inside looking for big MAC crushing ships in the night. I guess i could use an antenna on the mast after all!