| Coastal cruising experience is a must for any serious | | | | if you are right! A GPS is so desirable for coastal |
| blue-water sailor, yet it is an often neglected facet of | | | | travel. My husband and I just made our first trip up the |
| many sailors' experience. Before plunging into the deep | | | | Oregon/Washington Coasts with our new GPS. It was |
| blue headed across the big puddle, take some time for | | | | fabulous. Even when we had fog so thick we could |
| coast cruising to really learn your boat's limits...and | | | | not see the bow of the boat, there was no question |
| some of your own. | | | | as to where we were! No more Radio Direction Finder! |
| Learn your buoys and rules of the road. Be | | | | No more hand held compass! But you know what? |
| forewarned that in many areas, sailors no longer have | | | | You should learn to navigate with these anyway. |
| the right of way! So don't expect that the tug and | | | | Things have a way of unexpectedly not working on |
| barge or the large ship bearing down on you are going | | | | boats, don't they? |
| to yield and change their course. Learning to read | | | | A Coast Pilot is a necessity for coastal cruising. The |
| ships' lights is paramount to safe passages, and the | | | | books are not expensive, and unlike the tide tables, |
| coast has an abundance of shipping traffic, especially | | | | they can be used for several years. They give |
| as one approaches places like the Straits of Juan de | | | | complete, detailed description of land and headlands. |
| Fuca, the Columbia River, and other large ports. You | | | | They will describe port entries, hazards, etc. |
| don't want to be in the middle of the North Pacific | | | | Coastal cruising allows you the opportunity to test all of |
| wondering about the exact direction of the freighter | | | | your equipment. For example, your autopilot may work |
| you see looming in the distance. | | | | fine when you are motoring...or sailing. But will it work if |
| Coastal cruising demands that you know how to read | | | | you are motorsailing? Sometimes there is too much |
| tide tables and currents. Many of the entrances to | | | | torque for the contraptions to maintain a steady |
| ports along the West Coast require one to cross river | | | | course, especially if the seas are big. |
| bars. These entries can be perilous with the | | | | There is a wealth of experience and information for |
| confluence of river and ocean currents, and are | | | | the taking if you take some time and do some coastal |
| especially treacherous on an ebb tide. Do you know | | | | travel. Staying in the waters of Southern California will |
| how to handle these? When to proceed? When to | | | | be nice, but it is not going to give you the experience |
| stay at sea? | | | | you should probably have. Traveling Puget Sound and |
| Is your VHF adequate to pick up coast guard and | | | | the Inside Passage will offer you many excellent |
| buoy reports? | | | | opportunities to sharpen your skills, but best yet, the trip |
| Coastal cruising allows you to sharpen navigational | | | | from San Diego to Seattle will give you all the |
| skills. You won't have to wait a thousand miles to see | | | | education you may need! |