krogragg

Category: Seamanship

  • Three Tips to Maximize Binnacle Shift-and Throttle Safety

    Three Tips to Maximize Binnacle Shift-and Throttle Safety Skippers must exercise vigilance in managing the binnacle control box for safety. Courtesy Yamaha Outboards You might have seen the viral video in which a Florida fishing-charter captain loses his temper and lashes out at a family who paid to go fishing with him. What triggered the…

  • The Importance of Old-School Seamanship Skills

    The Importance of Old-School Seamanship Skills Knowing how to navigate without relying on technology can make you a safer boater. Andrei Armiagov/Adobe Stock During a recent on-water technology test, I pressed a button, sat back and let the boat dock itself. The boat in question not only had automatic-docking technology with joystick controls, it had…

  • Tips for Handling Stormy Weather When Boating

    Tips for Handling Stormy Weather When Boating Always check the weather before heading out for a day of boating. A.I.-generated by Adobe Firefly As experienced boaters know and newbies will soon learn, boating isn’t always blue skies, sunshine, and calm seas. That might be the ideal, but the reality is that sometimes those skies turn…

  • A VHF Relay Saves the Day

    A VHF Relay Saves the Day Shore-station antennas sometimes need a little help from VHF relays. Ryan Swanson/Boating The US Coast Guard crackled over VHF Channel 16 requesting the commercial passenger fishing vessel Victory to help with a radio relay between Coast Guard Base Los Angeles and a disabled pleasure boat, the 25-foot Fin Fun (the…

  • How to Handle Five Boating Emergencies

    How to Handle Five Boating Emergencies If flames threaten a portable gas tank or propane cylinder, toss it over or abandon ship Courtesy US Coast Guard The types of emergencies that can occur aboard boats are as numerous as the types of boats and types of boaters. Naturally, our boats should be properly equipped with…

  • Remember the Navigation “Rule of 60”

    Remember the Navigation “Rule of 60” It’s a good idea to keep paper charts on board and remember techniques like the “Rule of 60.” Generated With Gemini The other day, I was having a conversation about navigation techniques with a veteran pilot, and he mentioned the term, “Rule of 60.” I hadn’t heard that in…

  • Tips for Loading a Boat on a Trailer in a Crosscurrent

    Tips for Loading a Boat on a Trailer in a Crosscurrent The first thing to do when loading a boat on a trailer in a crosscurrent is to make your approach from downstream. You have much more control when the bow is facing into the flow. Elisabeth Kelly/Firecrown Many, if not most, boat-launch ramps are…

  • The Ins and Outs of Boating Nav Lights

    The Ins and Outs of Boating Nav Lights Knowing the light colors and where they’re located lets you assess which part of a boat you’re looking at, as well as the direction it’s headed. Ryan Swanson When the shrimp would run on the full moon in wintertime down in South Florida, we’d head to the…

  • The First Thing to Do if Involved in a Boating Accident

    The First Thing to Do if Involved in a Boating Accident What is the first thing you should do following a collision with another boat? The author offers strategies to consider, so you can be better prepared if it ever happens to you. Courtesy US Coast Guard, District 7 The types of emergencies that can…

  • Coast Guard May Remove Buoys

    Coast Guard May Remove Buoys Hundreds of Aids to Navigation are being considered for removal, the US Coast Guard announced, as shown on this screen shot of an interactive map produced by private company Great Harbor Digital. Courtesy Great Harbor Digital I can remember one of my earliest boating trips as a youth. The fog…

  • The Importance of Having a Co-Captain

    The Importance of Having a Co-Captain A co-captain can manage and monitor critical navigational electronics. Courtesy SiriusXM Military fighter pilots can suffer from a condition called information overload, which can be brought about by overwhelming amounts of technology in the cockpit that distract from the primary mission of flying the aircraft.  This phenomenon has led…

  • The Importance of a Spring Launch Checklist

    The Importance of a Spring Launch Checklist The author keeps a logbook to help maintain his boat, adding this very checklist to that log. Sviatoslav Kovtun / Adobe stock, Kevin Falvey (checklist) The definition of seamanship is apparently a matter of contention among some boaters, including other marine journalists not working for this publication. I…

  • Safely Navigating Unfamiliar Waters

    Safely Navigating Unfamiliar Waters Boating in unfamiliar waters can be fun with the right preparation. Parilov / Adobe Stock Early on in my boat-testing career, I learned the hard way about what can happen when boating in unfamiliar waters. The boat company set up our test out of a beautiful Southwest Florida resort adjacent to…

  • Navigating Safely Around a Boat Being Towed

    Navigating Safely Around a Boat Being Towed Give vessels under tow a wide berth—for your sake and theirs. Jim Hendricks A floating traffic jam quickly developed as we joined a line of other boats, not unlike a solemn funeral procession, through a narrow channel behind a half-submerged vessel under tow and en route to a nearby…

  • Basic Rules of Tow Sports Etiquette

    Basic Rules of Tow Sports Etiquette Tow sports require proper etiquette on the water. Roman Babakin/Adobe Stock Imagine a fisherman or waterfront homeowner with a boat tied to a dock as a wakeboat passes, throwing a massive wake while blasting music at nightclub-volume levels. It’s easy to see why they would be unhappy, possibly even…