Boat Forum / Cruising / April 2005

Nonsense! (But, like much nonsense, good advice.)

Even with all the gadgets, your basic piloting skills should be good
enough to get around without them up here.  If you can't get around in
the fog, you are going to spend a lot of time, sometimes a couple
weeks at a stretch, in port.  Running in the fog is sure a lot more
interesting and satisfying than stewing at anchor.

The dangers in Maine tend to have deepwater around them so you can
usually detect them with plenty of water under your keel.  Know
exactly how fast your boat goes at various RPM's and have your compass
exactly adjusted.  Keep a constant update on your speed and course and
know how to adjust for current.  There are convenient current speed
and direction indicators scattered all over this part of the world.
Some people call them lobster pots but they don't look anything like
any pot I ever saw.

If you plan your courses to whistles, bells, and the frequent bold
headlands, you can get around just fine with just a clock and a
compass.  Have back up plans for where you will go if time runs out
and you haven't found a mark.  You may well be safer with your eyes
ahead and paying close attention to what is around you than with hour
head down trying to remember which button to push on the GPS.

Above all, if you don't have a lot of piloting experience, start right
now doing it constantly in good weather when you can relate what you
are doing to what you can see around you.  It will then be a lot
easier when all you see is gray.

Don't let lack of radar stop you.  Unless you really train in how to
interpret it, it may actually distract you dangerously.  GPS is so
cheap now that you should have it primarily so that you don't look
silly afterwards if you do get in trouble but people got around fine
without it for centuries.  Treat it as a back up and just one more bit
of information.

It's a lot more rewarding to use basic chart skills and keep your eyes
and ears on what's around you than just follow the little arrow around
on the screen.  When the beep tells you that the batteries just died,
you can carry on as if nothing had happend.

If this is your first time, you need to do some reading.
As a starter I recommend an old favorite "Cruising Guide to the New England
Coast".
The original copy of this book was compiled from sailors and their real
experiences.
I do not know what type of boat you have and how much fuel you need per
hour.
As a sailboat owner I had to learn to navigate with the tides and currents.
On the US side one has to navigate around the lobsters pods.  Sometimes
lobsters pods are attached in pair with a toggle cable having a lead core.
In good visibility you can see these.  In peas soup fog you have to slow
down and have a vigil in front of your boat. After you get to Cutler you
will enter the Grand Manan Channel. Your should enter the Grand Manan
Channel as per your calculation and timing for the Saint John reversing
falls.  If you enter the channel with the tide you will benefit from a 2-3
knots current if not you will have to buck it and use more fuel and time.
You should draw your course to stay away from the Lepreau rip tides
Once in Canadian water it is a good practice to inform Fundy Coast Guard
Radio of you position.  They in return will validate your position on their
radar.  Then you have to make arrangement with the Canadian Custom.  Your
next step is to go through the reversing falls.  Your calculations to go
through the falls should be all done and proven.
As for the rest of the information needed for you trip you will have to do
the pertinent reading and get the right information from charts and sailing
directions.
In peas soup fog Radar alone is not enough.  You will need a GPS and dept
sounder.
Some old timer are know to carry spare parts for their power boat.