Little Boat Syndrome

On the water, there are set rules of navigation called COLREGS which exist to make sure that everyone is safe on the water. This system takes into account that some boats are more maneuverable than others in different situations and therefore, the rules are adjusted for each type of encounter. 

For example, a sailboat is less maneuverable than a powerboat, so a sailboat has right of way over a powerboat. Now, a giant cargo ship is a powerboat, but it also draws a lot more water and can't maneuver as easily; therefore, when in a channel where the powerboat is technically trapped, it has right of way over a sailboat. 

In general, when in a channel, a commercial boat will always have right of way over a pleasure boat because they are doing something that forces them into the channel. So, if you encounter any commercial vessel in a channel, stay out of their way (and maybe radio them to let them know that you see them and are staying out of their way). 

In the open ocean, however, there is plenty of water and no channel to restrict movement, so the giant and mighty commercial ship will now yield to the slower moving sailing vessel. This might seem backwards at first, since both boats can go anywhere, but the sailboat is limited in movement based on the wind.  

On the open ocean, we have found that radioing a commercial vessel that is on a collision course with you is best when you are still more than 5 miles apart. At this distance, an alteration in their course of less than 2 degrees will open up your passing and take you from a collision course to a generous clearance.  

We have found that giant car carriers, oil tankers, and container ships all have extremely courteous captains who will gladly alter course slightly to give a wide passing between ships, day or night. 

We have also found that tug boat captains are the least courteous. We feel that it is "Little Boat Syndrome" where they are a commercial ship, but the smallest of the commercial ships. Therefore, they need to bark the loudest to be heard and respected. All they are doing is being rude though as they totally ignore the rules of the road and try to bully everyone around them. 

Our first encounter with an angry tug happened with Arabian Sea off the coast of Virginia. We were in open water and he was heading for our port side. We radioed him when we were still 7 miles apart and he quickly became very irate and angry with us over CH16. After a few minutes of his badgering, we offered to change course to avoid the collision since he was not willing to. This is when he told us "No, don't change course, I turned a few minutes ago." If you already turned, why did you keep yelling at us? 

More recently, we had a run in with Chistine M. McCallister off the coast Florida. We were sailing around 10 miles off the coast of Florida, far from any channel or major city, when Christine M. McCallister began approaching us from our stern. We were sailing under storm sails, as it was blowing around 20 knots at 2am, when our AIS CPA alarm began to sound. Christine M. McCallister was fast approaching us on our stern and was 10 miles away. 

Maddie radioed him over the VHF radio alerting him to our presence and letting him know that we were on a collision course. His response was simple, he told us that we needed to know where he was and get our of his way. We informed him that he was overtaking us and we were under sail, but he didn't seem to care and continued on his collision course. 

When he was only 5 miles away and not altering course, we radioed him again and illuminated our sails to help him see our position. He responded by putting a search light on us and radioing us to move out of his way.  

Maddie calmly called him on the radio again and informed him that we had right of way and asked him to alter course just a little bit to avoid a collision. His response was "Jesus F***ing Christ!" The reason we didn't want to alter course is because we were on a run, and if we turned to windward any, we would run into a shoal up ahead. If we turned downwind any, we would have to jibe. By staying on course, our windvane and sails were all perfectly set and would carry us on that course for the entire night and into the next morning. The alternative was for him to simply turn by a few degrees and avoid the collision at sea. 

If we were in a channel, absolutely we would move out of his way. In this case, we were in the open ocean and we had a few points to our favor in terms of right of way:
First, we were under sail.
Second, we were being overtaken.
Third, we were on starboard tack.
Fourth, we were the downwind vessel. 

After a lot of verbal abuse from Christine M. McCallister, he finally turned just slightly and avoided the entire predicament. Why do tug boat captains always yell the loudest? Why can't they be nice like everyone else on the water? We all yield to the vessel that needs to maintain its course, allowing everyone to proceed as they were in the happiest of ways. Why yell and curse over the radio only to find that you are at fault and end up turning just a bit anyways? 

We are leery of tug boats that we see on the water as we never know what they are going to do, but we are ready for how they will respond over the radio. 

Boat Explodes

Gasoline inboard engines present a bit of an issue on boats. Gasoline vapors are explosive, and the liquid vaporizes easily. On an outboard motor, the fumes simply vent away and all is well, but on an inboard motor, the fumes collect. 

In Fort Pierce, one such gasoline powered inboard boat went up in flames! There were people on board the boat at the time of the fire but all of them managed to escape without serious harm. The local fire department and Coast Guard responded instantly and the boat fire was extinguished in a matter of minutes! 

Gasoline doesn't need to be ostracized from boating, but when using the fuel, very careful steps need to be taken to prevent a disaster such as this. 

First: if possible, keep all the gasoline outside so that fumes can vent away.
If the tanks or motor are inside, then this is not possible.
Second: maintain good ventilation into the area so that any fumes that form are evacuated quickly.
Third: only use marine grade components in a gasoline powered vessel. Yes, your boat starter might look identical to the starter you can buy at a local auto parts store for half the price, but there are differences; most notably, marine parts will not cause any sparks so if there are fumes in the area they will not ignite. 

Gasoline is an explosive fuel source and should be treated carefully as such. With proper care and maintenance, your gasoline powered vessel will be a safe place for you to enjoy your time on the water. 

Dinghy Hoist without Davits

Davits are a convenient attachment that will allow you to raise your dinghy out of the water behind your boat. They hang out over the stern like crane arms and allow you to pull the dinghy straight up. When you are ready to launch the dinghy, all you have to do is release the davit lines and lower the dinghy back in.

Davits are convenient but they suffer two major flaws. Their first flaw is that the dinghy now is hanging behind your boat right side up. If you are in a following sea, you risk a boarding wave filling the dinghy with water that will rapidly add a significant amount of weight to the back of your boat. This usually results in the davits being bent or ripped off the back of your boat as your dinghy plummets into the sea behind you. Now, you are dragging a drogue of your mangled davits and dinghy.

The second flaw with davits is they are expensive. Cheap davits are a few hundred dollars and are not worth the money. I purchased some very inexpensive Davits to raise my dinghy out of the water. The arms were too short so the dinghy kept hitting the transom on its way up; and the purchase system was so puny that I couldn't raise a simple 80 pound dinghy. More expensive davits solve these issues by having much longer arms that hold the dinghy further from the boat to solve the transom clearance issues. They also have better purchase systems and sometimes, even a winch system to crank the dinghy right up. These better systems will not cost you hundreds, but instead, thousands of dollars!

So, you decided that you don't want to carry your dinghy like a bucket waiting to be filled with water behind your boat, and you also don't want to fork over thousands of dollars. What else can you do?

The answer is easy! All you need to do is store the dinghy on your deck. If you are coastal, you can keep the dinghy right side up. If you are offshore, simply flip the dinghy over to keep it from being filled with water by a boarding wave. Now, how do you get the dinghy onto your deck?

Your mast and boom are capable of serving more purposes than just holding your sails. They can also be used as your own oversized davit system. All you will need to do is add a length of rope to act as an outhaul. That's it!

In the dinghy, you just need three small lines that run to the two stern corners and one to the bow ring. These are standard on all dinghies and referred to as the lifting rings. The three lines are led to the halyards shackle, allowing you to pick the dinghy up from a single point. It is important to custom tie the lines so that the weight of the dinghy is balanced and the dinghy hangs level. Remember, most of the weight in a boat is located by the stern, so the bow line will be a bit long and the stern lines a bit short.

Now, the second thing you need to do is setup an outhaul system. An outhaul is merely a line that pulls something away from the center. The outhaul on your mainsail pulls the clew aft, and the outhaul on your hoist will pull the halyard aft. Having the outhaul attach to the end of the boom allows you to control the position of the dinghy with the boom.

Now, as you crank on the halyard, the dinghy will raise up. Then you can pull on the outhaul to scoot the dinghy aft. I have found it best to also raise your boom really high up by cranking on the topping lift before you start, as this gets the boom and sails out of the way of the dinghy as you raise it up.

As the dinghy climbs upwards, you can push the dinghy down the boom and pull in on the outhaul. This will cause the outhaul to pull the halyard aft and scoot the dinghy along the boom.

Once the dinghy is up and out towards the end of the boom, you can push the boom over to swing the dinghy out over the water and clear of the boats deck. You might think that a forward guy would be needed to pull the boom outward, but the truth is, as the boom swings outward, the weight of the dinghy will cause the boat to heel in that direction. This then unbalances the system and causes the boom to swing out even further! Basically, it will swing out for you and stay there.

Once the dinghy is swung outward, you can then safely lower the dinghy into the water.

Recovering the dinghy is the exact opposite, and just as easy. This lets you easily and safely raise and lower your dinghy onto your deck without risking anyone's back or spending a lot of money. The only real cost to you will be an outhaul line, which ideally should be twice the length of your boom. This will allow you to lead the line from the dinghy, out to the end of the boom and back to the mast. You also need a shackle that will allow the halyard to fit through. You don't need to have a shackle, but it will reduce the resistance and chafe that the lines will endure.

Pollen

You might think that pollen and your allergies are only at risk on shore. The truth is, pollen will fly in the breeze for miles, in which ever direction the wind is blowing.

When we left Charleston, SC, the boat was completely covered in pollen and we couldn't wait to get away. We don't suffer from allergies, but there was so much pollen that we couldn't help be be a little sneezy.

We received a nasty surprise when we were about 6 miles out to sea.

We crossed over a river of pollen that was floating along the surface. This road of pollen was thick, and extended from horizon to horizon! I thought we had escaped the clutches of the pollen when we left the city and land behind, but even far out to sea, we still see the effects of this plant dust as it floats out over the ocean!

Snagging Other Anchors

Every time you drop your expensive anchor, you run the risk that you will never see it again! Deep below your keel lurks many unknown hazards that can grab onto and never let go of your anchor. You never know if you will hook onto something that will snag your anchor and never let it go.

Popular anchorages are a double edge sword. This location is obviously a popular spot since amongst boaters, but at the same time, there is more risk of debris being on the bottom to snag your anchor!

In Charleston, SC, the most popular anchorage in the harbor is right across from the City Marina. This anchorage is also famous for eating anchors, and according to the reviews on Active Captain, it will "eat your Rocna." The anchorage is deep, but also full of wrecks, some boats are tossed up on the shore while other masts are poking out of the water.

Since this place was the best location to anchor and reach the dinghy dock and the historical part of town, we decided to anchor on the outer edge of the anchorage and try our luck!

Our holding was great and we had no issues with dragging as the tides changed. Then the day came to leave and we encountered a problem.

​The chain was rather difficult to raise, and I was forced to pull it up with the windlass on low gear. This meant that each stroke that I gave the windlass handle caused 1 link of chain to be raised. Slowly but surely, we raised the chain up into the boat and stowed it in the anchor locker. When we got to about the 140 foot mark, we got a big surprise!

It appeared that an old helical mooring screw has been snagging anchors over the years. These anchors had all gotten stuck and the owners had given up on retrieving them, cut the chain and said goodbye. As the years pressed on, more and more anchors had been snagged, and their chains wrapped around the mass. The ball of dead anchors had grown in size, making it easier for other unsuspecting anchors to get fouled as well.

Our anchor was spared, but it appears that our chain had wrapped itself around the mass with each tidal change. The simple choice was to cut our chain and say goodbye to our anchor.

The not so simple choice is to untangle our chain and retrieve our $700 anchor and 150 feet of chain! To do this, I attached a halyard to what looked like an old rope pendent that seemed secured to the mass and wouldn't come free as I raised the mass. With the halyard secured, I slowly winched the abomination upwards and onto the deck.

Our chain was still leading out of it and off to the anchor, so the mass of dead anchors wouldn't swing in towards the mast. I then secured a line from the mass to the bow cleat so that it wouldn't swing back as the chain came free. I also tied a short snubber line to the chain leading to the anchor so that the chain in the mass would be freed of tension.

With the tension released, I began unraveling the chain from the mass. The chain was wrapped and coiled around the helical screw, as well as tied tightly around the flukes that projected from the death ball.

Luckily, the original ball was full of mud that got washed away by the tidal current, making the chain a bit looser and allowing me to get the tangle undone.

After a few hours, the chain was clear of the snag and we were finally able to get back on our way, leaving Charleston, SC, and heading offshore to Florida!