Do your best & stay alive

by EmilyBristol 24, Sailing on a budgetPosted on 3 Comments

Sailor girl

Right before I left my dad started asking me all kinda of questions about bringing my boat back to salt water. A journey I intended to make towards the end of the season, but am leaning towards doing sooner after some weeks of shakedown cruising around the lake. In theory, I guess, the lake is a safer place to sail than a big mean river.

“Do you feel comfortable in your abilities to traverse that body of water? Could something really big go wrong?”

“Comfortable is a loose term,” I tried to explain. “I’m capable, but not overconfident. Yes, a number of things could go wrong, but as long as I’m patient and cautious with the weather, tides and currents I should be fine. But yes, a number of things could still go wrong.”

“But what about the currents, and tides on a body of water you’ve never sailed on? The commercial traffic?” He asked, rather irked.

“Well, that’s why you have a current atlas and tide charts. Plus every new port is a chance to gather some more local knowledge. I have a radio to communicate with ships and I’ll be aware to stay out of their way.” I tried to explain.

“You just have an answer for everything!” He quipped.

But it’s true. I do have an answer. Not because I’m some kind of know-it-all, but because I’m a sailor and sailors can only use the tools available to them to get on with a voyage safely. In no way do I think that just because I’ve read the guidebooks and studied the charts that I’m some kind of expert. I’m going to be treading very lightly and with extreme caution.

I get it though. My parents are worried about me. Hell, I’m worried about me! But i’d be more worried if I wasn’t worried at all. I won’t even think about beginning the journey back to saltwater until I know the ins and outs of my boat, and have strengthened every known weakness she possesses.

It’s really hard to explain to people who aren’t sailors that yes, what I’m doing is risky, but it’s not this death defying act. I’m not a daredevil. It’s not my intention to have my folks white knuckled in anticipation. I’m just seeking a simple life of freedom, adventure, community, and self sufficiency.

My mom managed to not really chime on the conversation much. All she said was, “Do your best, and stay alive.”

Which is basically my mantra.

Navigation for small sailboats

by EmilyOutfitting, Tools & TricksPosted on 3 Comments

Navigation aboard small sailboatsIf it ain’t broke don’t fix it, but what if a system can be improved? Part of the satisfaction that comes from messing about in boats is maintaining and fixing things onboard yourself. Personally I can’t wait to be arm deep in some epoxy, scraping old bits of bottom paint off, careening the aisles of hardware stores looking for the perfect screw. I’m also really excited to make improvements, which is where I think a great chunk of this supposed gratification will come from.

I can’t move aboard my boat until May, when she’s finally defrosted, and I’m currently dwelling, working, and saving money for her outfit hundreds of miles away from where she lay. While I eagerly wait for the season to be conducive I’m gathering tools, materials, and ideas for when I begin. I’ve put navigation at the top of the list (anchoring is second, but more on that later).

When I lived aboard and sailed on a 22-foot-sailboat in the Pacific Northwest for over a year, I got the lesson of a lifetime in keeping things simple, and I’ve held on to that with a fierce grip. For navigation in inland waters we used good old classic paper charts, and as our secondary system (okay, maybe it was the primary sometimes) we used a handheld GPS. It was beyond adequate.Handheld GPS for sailing navigationCharts were used for route planning and as a point of reference when sailing from point to point. The GPS was used to double check we weren’t heading straight for any rocks, were entering harbors the right way, to check speed, and sometimes to help when we were, for lack of a better word, lost, and had trouble determining which island was which.

I’ve reached out to a few sailing mates and all have had really excellent advice on what kind of equipment to use, and both recommended using a device like an Ipad and a software like Navionics, which you apparently don’t have to be connected to data in order to use.

I’m not so convinced though. In the future I want to outfit my boat with solar, but for now she runs on a 12V system that can only be charged by the alternator on the outboard engine. I like that the handheld GPS runs on disposable batteries. I like that it has a tiny screen that I can barely see, which forces me to reference my charts more often.

I’d like to update to a more modern navigation system in the future, but when I move aboard my boat everything will be new and this simple system of navigation will be familiar. I like that, too.