If you’re in doubt about the identity of a land or seamark, the easiest way to make sure of it is to plot a GPS fix on the chart and see what the bearing of the object ought to be from there. Next, …
Give them the end
When rafting up alongside another yacht, you often have to pass a line to someone on board her. There is a tendency to give the other crew a long length of rope, then ask them to feed it around a …
Read the water
Working into a narrow river or harbour entrance in a strong tide, you can generally discern by eye where the deep water is, especially if it’s breezy. Tide running against or across the wind cuts up …
Keep it on the winch
Before self-tailing winches, a sheet was always cleated off after winding it in. Many of today’s yachts don’t have sheet cleats, leaving no choice but to rely on the self-tailing jaws. This is all …
Never stop Communicating
Any skipper can become so involved with the challenges of command that he or she forgets to keep the crew in the picture. It’s as important for a briefing to include the basics of the coming passage …
Doubling up on anchor power
Anyone who usually anchors in tidal rivers could be forgiven for abandoning any ideas of setting an extra hook. It’s all very well reading about swivels, rolling hitches on the bight of a cable below …
