| For any short cruise it's really a matter of working out | | | | 4. Be self-sufficient In the more remote areas of the |
| how much time you have and therefore how far you | | | | world you'll have to be self-sufficient and it will become |
| can go. When you're cruising a coastline and need to | | | | important that you know you can easily get to a |
| return to your home port, you should pay close | | | | modern port. If you've planned this in advance you |
| attention to weather forecasts as they will help you | | | | won't have a last minute scramble in case of an |
| decide which way you will go. Here are seven steps | | | | urgent need. It doesn't take long on land to do a bit of |
| to get your passage planning started. | | | | research, and then to keep the results with the ship's |
| 1. Daily range How do you determine how far your | | | | papers in case you need it. |
| boat can sail in a day? If you have a polar | | | | 5. What is a Port of Entry? If you're planning a cruise |
| performance curve on the boat in your laptop you can | | | | to a foreign country you will have to enter through a |
| get an average of all the voyages you've ever made | | | | port of entry. Here you will need to seek clearance |
| and all the weather conditions. The more information | | | | through Customs and Immigration. Luckily most |
| you extract, the more accurate your planning will be. If | | | | well-equipped ports are ports of entry, partly because |
| you don't have a polar performance curve, but you | | | | of the facilities and partly because they are on main |
| have kept (as you should have) the logs of all your | | | | shipping routes. |
| voyages, you could reconstruct it manually. Not a small | | | | 6. Compiling your passage plan Working back from the |
| task but just as effective. From this you can work out | | | | amount of time you have available and how long you |
| your daily range. | | | | want to spend in various ports, you'll know how much |
| 2. How does the duration of a voyage affect the daily | | | | sailing time you have. That may also determine the |
| range? You may have a boat which you know | | | | number and kind of crew you'll want. Then you will |
| averages five knots, taking in being becalmed or | | | | know how much fuel, water and food you'll have to |
| running hard in heavy winds or just sailing along | | | | carry. |
| beautifully. The longer the voyage is going to be, the | | | | 7. Be flexible If the weather changes and you are |
| more accurately that judgement will apply. But over a | | | | unable to complete your cruise safely, be prepared to |
| short voyage you may be becalmed for 24 hours and | | | | leave your boat for a few weeks if necessary, until |
| therefore have a big disparity between your estimated | | | | you can arrange to sail it to its final destination. Pushing |
| time of arrival and your actual arrival time, so allow for | | | | on in reaction to personal time constraints is putting |
| the possibility by leaving a healthy balance of time up | | | | you, your crew and boat in danger. It is, therefore, |
| your sleeve. | | | | essential that you not only have charts for |
| 3. Seek advice if you need repairs Even the best | | | | everywhere you want to go but also for anywhere |
| prepared boat will experience wear and tear on a | | | | you might end up. The research you do before you |
| cruise and you may need to seek help in a port. Finding | | | | leave will decide whether you'll have a comfortable |
| refit bases is relatively easy if you're cruising the | | | | and successful cruise. Very rarely do you find a |
| well-sailed grounds. There'll be enough information | | | | cruising boat not going to a specific destination and |
| passed between cruising skippers for you to be able | | | | which doesn't have a time limit. Even people cruising |
| to find the most reliable, the cheapest, or the quickest | | | | around the world for three or five years have to have |
| marine specialist. | | | | some sort of itinerary, however loose. |