The Skipper's Pocketbook E-Book

Sara Hopkinson

• Herausgeber: Fernhurst Books Limited
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Serie: Nautical Pocketbooks
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 99

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

A pocket database containing everything a busy skipper or their crew needs to know but might find hard to remember. It is easy to take for granted how much a skipper needs to know: Navigation, how to pilot the boat into a new harbour, using the radio, checking the engine, keeping an eye out for things that need repair, monitoring the weather, feeding the crew and much, much more! This pocketbook is designed as an aide-memoire with checklists to make life easier for busy skippers and a must-have reference for first-time skippers. It should also prove an invaluable reference book for the RYA Yachtmaster and other RYA course syllabi. The book has been helping skippers for over 25 years and has been edited and thoroughly updated by Yachtmaster Instructor and Examiner, Sara Hopkinson. It has been streamlined to focus on the key things a skipper needs to know, making it quicker to find what you need and all for less than £10.

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

Introduction

PART 1: PREPARING FOR SEA

PART 2: SAFETY EQUIPMENT & PROCEDURES

Safety equipment

Man overboard (MOB)

VHF radio

Distress signals

Fire fighting

First aid

Helicopter rescue

The liferaft

Towing

PART 3: NAVIGATION & PILOTAGE

Navigation instruments

Charts

Compass & bearings

The tide

Basic chartwork

Planning a passage

Lights & buoys

Pilotage

Keeping a log

PART 4: COLLISION REGULATIONS

General

The basic rules for vessels in sight of one another

Vessels in restricted visability

Lights & shapes

Sound signals

PART 5: METEOROLOGY

The weather

Weather maps

Clouds

Weather systems

Local winds

UK sea areas

PART 6: FLAGS

International code flags, morse code

Numeral pennants & substitutes

PART 7: SEAMANSHIP

Anchoring

Entering a marina or lock

Mooring on a buoy

Knots

PART 8: MAINTENANCE & TROUBLESHOOTING

Looking after the hull

Engine

PART 9: SKIPPERING

General organisation

Watches & night passages

Standing orders

Documents & regulations

Also available, a companion volume

INTRODUCTION

It is easy to take for granted how much a skipper needs to know.

Navigation, how to pilot the boat into a new harbour, using the radio, checking the engine, keeping an eye out for things that need repair, monitoring the weather, feeding the crew and much, much more!

This pocketbook is designed as a pocket database, with checklists to make life easier for busy skippers.

Fernhurst Books also recommend it as an invaluable reference book for the RYA® Yachtmaster® syllabus.

I have been delighted to be able to thoroughly update this fourth edition of this great book which has been in publication since 1999.

With this book in your pocket, I hope you will have many happy hours afloat.

Sara Hopkinson

Sara Hopkinson is an experienced sailor, a Yachtmaster ® Instructor and Examiner and lives at Pin Mill in Suffolk where she runs an RYA ® Training Centre which specialises in navigation, radio, radar and first aid courses. She was a Coastguard Rescue Officer for many years and Station Officer of HM Coastguard Holbrook. Sara has written books for the RYA ® and Fernhurst Books’ Navigation: A Newcomer’s Guide, VHF Afloat and VHF Companion.

Basil Mosenthal sailed extensively in all the oceans of the world. After leaving the Royal Navy he was partner in one of the first yacht delivery firms. He has written many books about sailing, including Fernhurst Books’ best-selling Cockpit Companion and New Crew’s Companion.

This book also incorporates material by Tim Davison, David Houghton & Pat Manley.

For Additional Resources, visit www.fernhurstbooks.com

* RYA and YACHTMASTER are trademarks of the Royal Yachting Association.

PART 1.PREPARING FOR SEA

CHECKLIST: PREPARING FOR SEA

Weather forecast

Engine checks

Fuel level

Safety equipment in place

VHF radio & instruments on

Passage planned, including route, waypoints, tidal heights, location of hazards & a contingency plan

Chart plotter, GNSS & charts

Crew briefed on safety equipment & passage

Compass & navigation lights tested

All gear stowed

Food prepared & galley tidy

All hatches shut

Bilges dry

Mainsail reefing set up

Sail cover off & sails ready to go

Radar reflector in position

Information about passage left ashore

RYA SafeTrx App updated for passage

Water full

Rubbish ashore

Gas

Crew ready, waterproofs, boots, lifejackets

Anchor ready, with no gear stored on top in case it is needed in a hurry

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Download from www.fernhurstbooks.com.

CHECKLIST: SAFETY ITEMS

Gas

Store cylinders upright in a locker that drains overboard

Have system professionally inspected

Fit an audible alarm with sensor below cooker or in bilge

Turn off gas at cylinder when not in use

Galley

Lock gimbals when not at sea

Fit crash bar to prevent the cook falling onto the stove

Cook must wear protection on legs & feet in rough weather

Provide galley strap

Outboards

Store on deck, on the pushpit

Spare fuel carried on deck, or in a locker that vents overboard

The dinghy

Don’t overload with too many people & kit, & load evenly

Wear lifejackets

Consider carrying oars, spare fuel, torch, small anchor, portable VHF or mobile phone & pump

Climb in & out with care, & do not use when drunk

Clothing

Warm, waterproof clothing

Non-slip shoes & boots

Polarised sunglasses & hat

Deck

Control mainsheet when gybing

Fit non-slip treads to hatches

Provide jackstays

Use a preventer when running

Download from www.fernhurstbooks.com

CHECKLIST: SAFETY BRIEFING

Brief the crew on:

Use of lifejackets, safety lines & jackstays when clipping on

MOB procedure, including use of equipment

How to start the engine

Use of the cooker, including gas safety

Location & use of fire blanket & extinguishers

How to fire extinguisher into engine space, if there is not an automatic system

How to use the radio & send a Distress Alert & Mayday

Location & operating procedure for flares & EPIRB

How to launch the liferaft

Location of first aid kit

Safe areas to sit, away from the mainsheet & boom, in the case of an accidental gybe

Download from www.fernhurstbooks.com

It is useful to have a few lockers labelled or a plan of the boat or a list showing the storage of the safety equipment, and to have a few notes or photographs to remind crew of the safety brief information.

Download a template for listing your safety equipment

PART 2.SAFETY EQUIPMENT & PROCEDURES

SAFETY EQUIPMENT

All equipment must be:

• in-date

• professionally serviced

• in position

• understood by all on board

Lifejackets

Wearing a lifejacket is the normal thing to do, unless the skipper has decided that it is safe not to.

They should be a minimum of 150 Newtons, be fitted with a crotch strap or thigh straps and be adjusted to fit snugly. Additionally, at extra cost, they can:

• be automatic

• have a safety line attachment point

• be fitted with a light, a MOB beacon / personal AIS transponder, or PLB

• include a sprayhood

Jackets should be checked regularly to ensure:

• the bottle is not corroded and is screwed in tightly

• the firing head on an automatic lifejacket has not expired

• the light is in date

Lifejacket

Inflated lifejacket with hood

Children need their own lifejackets with a crotch strap, which fit correctly. Too large is dangerous as the child will not be supported high enough in the water. Auto-inflate lifejackets are also available for children from about 6 or 8.

Safety harnesses & safety lines

Safety harnesses are generally integral with lifejackets and attachment points must be available near the main companionway. Ideally, there should be jackstays down each sidedeck to clip onto when moving about the boat.

Clipping on is recommended at night and in heavy weather.

Personal location devices

Small units designed to be worn inside a lifejacket. Personal location devices have licensing and regulation requirements.

PLB, Person Location Beacon: Once activated sends a signal to the Coastguard via satellite, in a similar way to an EPIRB.

MOB beacon / Personal AIS transponder: These activate when the lifejacket inflates, sending a local AIS signal alerting the boat and placing a new waypoint on the chart plotter, which updates for drift via built-in GNSS.

New technology develops rapidly so getting the latest expert advice is important.

Radar reflector

A good quality radar reflector is essential for a GRP or wooden boat, permanently mounted at a height of at least 4 metres.

The most effective are the large white reflectors.

The boat may also have AIS or an Active Radar Target Enchancer, but both are dependent on the vesssel’s power supply, so a passive reflector is still required.

Other equipment

•Bilge pumps: Ideally have 2, one operated in the cockpit and one below, at least one should be manual. Each should have a strum box or strainer fitted. Carry buckets as well.

•Softwood bungs: Attach to each through-hull fitting.

•Rope cutter: A rope or net around the propeller shaft will stop the engine, and may damage the stern gland or gearbox. Fit a rope cutter on the shaft.

•Emergency tiller on a wheel-steered boat. Try it out to ensure that it fits and learn how it works.

•Searchlight and torches.

MAN OVERBOARD (MOB)

MOB equipment

Lifebelt, with drogue and light, marked with vessel’s name.

MOB procedures

If someone falls overboard:

• Shout “man overboard”

• Press the MOB button on the chart plotter, it will show the position as a new waypoint & suspend the current route

• Appoint a look-out

• Throw MOB equipment

• Send a Distress Alert and Mayday

Methods for returning to the casualty

Lifesling

VHF RADIO

Modern VHF/DSC radios make both routine calling and distress communications easier and more effective. For routine DSC calls it is convenient to save frequently used MMSI numbers into the contacts list, as on a mobile phone.

It is important that the correct channel is used, and the minimum power setting, to avoid interference. For routine calling, such as to marinas and other boats, use 1 watt.

Radio channels

International distress channel (essential calling only)

Channel 16

DSC channel (not to be used for voice)

Channel 70

Inter-ship channels

Channel 06, 08,72,77

Bridge to bridge on matters of navigational safety

Channel 13

Channel used by HM Coastguard to communicate with small craft

Channel 67

Coastguard MSI broadcasts

Channel 62, 63, 64

Port operations Check in almanac UK marinas

Channel 80

NCI channel

Channel 65

Race control / safety boats

Channel M (37) / M2

DISTRESS SIGNALS

Internationally recognised distress signals

• Any sighting of a visual distress signal MUST be reported to the Coastguard.

• Using a distress signal when not in distress is ILLEGAL, as well as irresponsible (e.g. setting off flares and rockets on Bonfire Night).

• Time-expired flares should be disposed of legally and safely.

Monitoring bodies

HM Coastguard co-ordinate all civilian search and rescue at sea and along the coast of the UK. They call upon one or more of the 350 Coastguard Rescue Teams round the coast, Coastguard helicopters and other resources such as the RNLI and independent lifeboats. Coastguard Rescue Teams are trained in search, first aid, water, mud and rope rescue and are on call 24 hours.

In an emergency send a DSC Distress Alert, followed by a Mayday, and for routine matters use an individual DSC call using the MMSI of the nearest full-time station to contact the Coastguard. The MMSI number will be found in the almanac.

The Coastguard also make regular Maritime Safety Information broadcasts with navigation warnings and weather forecasts. Times and details are in the almanac.

The NCI (National Coastwatch Instituition) keep a visual and listening watch at various locations around the coast, and can be contacted by VHF on Channel 65 for radio checks, weather forecasts and other local information. Details of locations and times of watch keeping are on their website.

To find out more visit www.nci.org.uk/stations

Other counties have similar organisations (e.g. US Coast Guard – www.uscg.mil)

RYA SafeTrx

This free App allows HM Coastguard to access information about the vessel in an emergency and has many other useful features.

Radio distress procedure

Mayday

Should only be used in the case of grave and imminent danger to a person, vessel, vehicle or aircraft.

Have a Mayday procedure card available by the radio, with the vessel name, call sign and MMSI written in. Before the spoken Mayday it is important to send a DSC Distress Alert. The Alert will include the vessel ID and position, and will be received by all DSC sets within range.

To send a DSC DISTRESS ALERT

Lift the red cover, then press and hold the distress button until the alert is sent.

To send a MAYDAY

Transmit voice Mayday on Channel 16 on high power.

MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY

This is – boat name spoken three times

Call sign and MMSI

MAYDAY – boat name once