- You are here:
-
Home
-
DIY & How To
- Seamanship
In this second of three parts, we will explore preparing for a longer cruise from the people side. Later, in the third instalment we will look at final preparation of the boat...
While docking a sailboat has remained largely unchanged over the centuries, power boat designs have changed dramatically, even over just the last four decades...
Read more: No More Captain Crash! Embarrassment-Free Docking
Comfort and convenience are important factors both to keep boaters enjoying boating as well as to attract new people into boat ownership. Perhaps the most significant regular challenges for all boaters are docking and close quarters manoeuvering. Getting in and out of your slip or into the fuel dock on a busy day can be tricky, especially if the wind is up or currents are running. In 2005, Volvo Penta introduced their revolutionary IPS drive systems that included an industry first - joystick docking.
Read more: Docking and Close-quarters Manoeuvering Made Easy
We've all heard this before but it's especially true when it comes to boating– knowledge is power. It is the power to confidently take your boat out with a load of passengers, go on longer trips, into unfamiliar waters, or even to navigate on your own to distant ports – that is the power of knowledge. The Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons, (CPS-ECP) offers a wide range of courses from introductory level to advanced and everything in between. Always focused on boating safety, the Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons, (CPS-ECP) have been empowering recreational boaters with knowledge for more than 75 years in Canada. Most of their courses are offered through the off-season when Power Squadron members themselves are unable to be out on their own boats.
Will traditional paper charts soon be a thing of the past? And what will that mean for recreational boaters?Last fall, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the source for official US government nautical charts, abruptly announced it would no longer distribute lithographic nautical charts as of April 2014. The printer of NOAA charts, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), made the decision to stop printing charts after the US budget shutdown last September. Is this the beginning of the end of paper charts as we know them? Will printed charts from the Canadian Hydrographic Service (CHS) be next?
Navigation light repairs and replacements you can do yourself.In researching this article, we spoke to a number of marine industry professionals and started by asking, “Have you ever noticed boats on the water at night with incorrect or missing lights?
“Or none at all!” was the frequent response we got as people laughed out loud about how common it is for navigation lights to be faulty.
What’s the dumbest thing you’ve ever done while boating?That’s the question I asked fellow-boaters over the past year. About half reported some real doozies, while the rest reported minor mishaps such as running out of gas in their dinghy or losing their winch handle overboard. Accidents happen to the best of us. The key to happy boating is to learn from our mistakes and the mistakes of others so we don’t repeat them.
Effective communication is the key to smooth, stress-free docking. I am an extraordinarily lucky guy. My wife Corinne is the skipper of our American Tug 41, Ocean Mistress, and she loves and excels at her job! I am completely delighted when we bring the boat into a difficult docking situation and make the perfect no-fuss, no-stress landing. I’m even more tickled when folks on the dock see Corinne come out of the pilothouse and are surprised to learn that she just docked that big boat. She has received everything from whispered compliments to standing ovations.
Whether you’re a novice or an experienced boater, nothing helps build competence and confidence like boating courses and instruction. There’s nothing like being out on the water, spending time with family and friends, letting the wind fill our sails and whisk us away to new adventures. Or if power is your preference, casting off and throttling up catch a few waves or discover a new destination.
Summer may be fleeting but the rewards of autumn cruising include a slower pace, quieter destinations, surprisingly good weather, and maybe even a few thrills. The full moon rose big and bright, its track shimmering across the water into our anchorage near the head of Salt Spring Island’s Long Harbour. Golden lights winked on one by one in the cottages around the bay, reminding me that I wasn’t completely alone. After a precious sunny, almost-warm late-autumn day, it was one of the most beautiful evenings I’ve ever spent on the hook. It was also one of the coldest, for we had yet to install a heater in our 27’ sailboat Squid.
Boat Reviews
CY Virtual Video Boat Tours
We all love boats and nothing can break us up! So, what better way to spend our time than looking at interesting boats and going aboard in a virtual ride or tour. We have asked our friends at various dealers and manufacturers to help us assemble a one-stop online resource to experience some of the most interesting boats on the market today. Where the CY Team has done a review, we connect you to that expert viewpoint. If you can’t go boating, you can almost experience the thrill via your screen. Not quite the same, but we hope you enjoy our fine tour collection.
Read more about the CY Virtual Boat Tours....................
AXOPAR 37 XC
Whole new ball game…
Set aside your assumptions and expectations for a few minutes while we try to describe the new Axopar 37 XC that made its American debut at the 2020 Miami International Boat Show. This boat represents a whole new ball game in terms of design, performance, seakeeping and functionality. In fact, I’d say it takes a ‘clean sheet of paper’ approach to boating – it’s that different.
Read More about the Axopar 37 XC..................
Destinations
Canadian Cruising - There's No Place Like Home!
By the Canadian Yachting Editors
Canadians are blessed in many ways and especially when it comes to boating. We enjoy some the world’s most beautiful cruising waters and many places are as sheltered as they are scenic.
British Columbia and the Pacific North West plainly have the most breath-taking scenery with the combination of the majestic ocean views and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. It’s like no place on earth when you have a Killer Whale breach beside your little fishing boat.
Read more about Canadian Cruising...........
Lifestyle
Our boat: A beauty – the 1967 Trojan 42 Motor Yacht
By David and Barb Gamblin
Unknown to us at the time, the quest for VIA-MARA started in 1973 when I saved the back cover of a boating magazine with the advertisement for the Trojan 42 Motor Yacht.
Four boats, and eight years later we went shopping for a Trojan 42 built prior to 1972 (that year the house and binnacle became fiberglass and the bridge window framing changed to (ugh) black anodized aluminum.)
Marine Products
POWER PLAY
By Craig Ritchie
We all know the story. You’ve been on the water since early morning, you’ve managed a tricky navigation through unfamiliar waters, but you’ve finally arrived! Drop the hook in a spectacular, quiet bay, enjoy a lovely dinner and a bottle of wine, then close your eyes and enjoy a peaceful night gunkholed under the stars, to fall asleep to the gentle serenade of the crickets and the haunting cry of the loon.
Except you can’t hear the crickets, you can’t hear the loons and you can barely hear your own thoughts over the incessant hum of that bloody generator.
Read more about Marine Products..............
