Boating Skills and Seamanship, 14th Edition - Softcover

U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Assoc., Inc.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0071829326 ISBN 13: 9780071829328

Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press, 2013

Synopsis

Learn the essentials of seamanship from one of the world's premier boating organizations

Developed and refined through 40 years of Coast Guard Auxiliary training courses, Boating Skills and Seamanship is your perfect introduction to recreational boating's fundamentals. Great for beginning and intermediate powerboaters alike, it offers you the basics of choosing, equipping, and handling a small to midsize powerboat.

This updated edition of the Coast Guard Auxiliary'sclassic boating skills manual will answer all yourquestions on:

• Selecting the right boat--whether a 10-foot skiff or a 35-foot cruiser
• Essential equipment, both required and recommended
• The latest electronic navigation
• Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) and private communication services, e.g., SPOT devices and others
• Stability and safe loading
• Boat handling and seamanship on coastal and inland waters
• Trailering a boat
• Navigation and the rules of the nautical road
• And much more!

Approved by the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA), with chapter review questions and answers, Boating Skills and Seamanship is theideal study and reference guide for anyone taking a state boating license exam or seeking better boating skills and knowledge.

About this title

About the Author

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is known as "America’s Volunteer Lifesavers." Throughout its 65 years, the Auxiliary has worked side by side with the U.S. Coast Guard, providing assistance with search and rescue operations, maritime and environmental safety and security, and vessel safety checks. It is also the nation's largest boating educator, offering boating and seamanship courses to 100,000–150,000 members of the boating public each year.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Boating Skills and Seamanship

By McGraw-Hill

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2013 United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Association, Inc.
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-07-182932-8

Contents

Letter from U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Commodore
Introduction
Part One: Basic Skills and Seamanship
CHAPTER 1 WHICH BOAT IS FOR YOU?
CHAPTER 2 EQUIPMENT FOR YOUR BOAT
CHAPTER 3 TRAILERING YOUR BOAT
CHAPTER 4 HANDLING YOUR BOAT
CHAPTER 5 YOUR "HIGHWAY" SIGNS
CHAPTER 6 THE RULES OF THE NAUTICAL ROAD
CHAPTER 7 INLAND BOATING
CHAPTER 8 BOATING SAFETY
Part Two: More Boating Skills
CHAPTER 9 INTRODUCTION TO NAVIGATION
CHAPTER 10 POWERING YOUR BOAT
CHAPTER 11 LINES AND KNOTS FOR YOUR BOAT
CHAPTER 12 WEATHER AND BOATING
CHAPTER 13 YOUR BOAT'S RADIO
APPENDICES
Appendix A: Your Responsibilities as a Boat Operator
Appendix B: Float Plan Form and Boating Emergency Guide
Appendix C: Boating Accident Report Form
Appendix D: Digital Selective Calling (DSC) Radio Fact Sheet and MMSI 
Registration Form
Appendix E: Metric Conversion Tables
Appendix F: Vessel Safety Check
Appendix G: Join the Coast Guard Auxiliary
Appendix H: Become an Associate Member
Appendix I: Preventive Boat Maintenance Checklist
ANSWER KEY
GLOSSARY
INDEX

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

Which Boat Is for You?

(COURTESY RANGER BOATS)

The objectives of this chapter are to describe:

[check] The importance of boating safety.

[check] The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.

[check] Parts of a boat in proper language.

[check] Types of hulls and means of propulsion.

[check] The variety of boats available to match your needs.

[check] How to get information on possible defects in a vessel.

[check] Considerations in a contract to purchase a boat.

[check] The importance of boat insurance.

A boat is anything used for transportation on the water. Huck Finn's raft was aboat. A seaplane is a boat when it is on the water. Canoes, kayaks, rowboats,and other small craft are boats. Boats range in size from personal watercraft(PWC) to large ships, and they might have deep or shallow hulls; flat, round, orV-shaped bottom sections; and tall or short cabin sides and superstructures.They can be slender or stout, and they might have one, two, or even three hulls.They vary, too, in the materials from which they're built. As defined by theFederal Boat Safety Act of 1971, all boats are vessels, but a vessel is not aboat (and therefore exempt from certain commercial safety regulations) unless itwas manufactured or is engaged primarily for noncommercial use or is engaged incarrying six or fewer passengers for hire.

Boats come in such a large assortment because they serve many purposes. In thislesson you will learn about these purposes and how vessels are designed forthem. You will also learn the basics of boat construction, materials, and uses.

Boaters' Language

Newcomers to any subject usually must learn a new vocabulary. Boating is noexception. The language of mariners has been developing for many centuries. Ithas the virtues of utility, economy, and an exactitude you need when talkingabout boats and boating.

As we introduce terms, we will usually define them for you. You can also findsome of them in the Glossary at the back of the book. If you do not find a wordlisted in the Glossary, look for it in the Index. The first time we use atechnical term, we will print it in red.

Origins of Boaters' Language

Boaters have been around a long time, so the vocabulary has come from manyplaces: ancient Greece, the Roman Empire, Scandinavia, England, and elsewhere.

Some nautical terms have found their way into our everyday vocabulary. The term"blue Monday" came to us from England. The British Navy disciplined sailors onMondays for infractions over the preceding week. The punishment consisted oflashes with a cat-o'-nine tails, or whip. No wonder Monday was blue. When not inuse, the cat stayed in a sack. Of course, the cat was "out of the bag" whenused.

Other terms came from Norway. Most vessels are steered by rudders. On an ancientsailing boat, the rudder was to the right of center at the rear, or stern, ofthe vessel. There it was protected from damage when the ship was in port. Thetiller, which turned the rudder, was kept under the helmsman's right arm.

In Norway, the rudder was a "stjorn" board or steering board. Stjorn, whenpronounced, sounds like "starn." So the right side of a vessel when lookingforward became known as the stjorn board or starboard side (Figure 1-1).

When a vessel came into port, it was with its left side next to the wharf. Thiswas the side most visible to the helmsman. It was also the side for the "loadboard." No wonder the left side of the vessel became known as the larboard side."Larboard" and "starboard" are more exact terms than "left" and "right" sincethey do not change if you are facing forward or aft.

Because larboard and starboard sound somewhat alike, they are easily confused.Thus, larboard was changed to port. This was a logical choice, as this was theside of a vessel next to the wharf when the vessel was in port. Larger vesselsload through ports, or openings, in their sides.

Remnants of ancient boats made of large, hollowed-out tree trunks or keels stillexist. These unstable vessels took on water easily. Although they didn't sink,they were of little value when slightly submerged in rough or icy water.

Planks were added later, and the trunk became but one part of the vessel. Thename keel remained, however. The body of the vessel, formed by the keel and theplanks together, became known as the hull.

The aft terminus of many boats is a flat, vertical surface extending from oneside of the vessel to the other. This part of a boat became known as a transom,from the Latin root "trans," meaning across (Figure 1-3).

The bow is the forwardmost portion of a vessel. This term came from theNorwegian word "bov," meaning shoulder, and pronounced "bow." You can almost seethe shoulder of a boat pushing its way through the water.

Types of Boats

Boats come in a wide range of sizes and a great variety of types and models,each optimized to serve a specific need. It would be a wonderful boat that coulddo all things equally well, but in the real world this is not possible. Boatdesign and construction involve compromise, and a boat developed for one purposemay serve poorly for another. Likewise, a boat that is safe in one set ofconditions may not be safe in conditions for which it is not intended. When youselect a boat, be sure it will suit your needs. Also, be certain to operate itin appropriate sea and weather conditions.

Bass boats, for example, help their owners get to good fishing holes quickly(Figure 1-2). They are propelled by one or two high-horsepower outboard motors,and many of them have a small electric motor mounted off the bow to maneuver theboat at slow speeds around fishing holes in a manner that does not spook fish.These boats have sharply pointed bows and minimal V-shaped hulls at the bows.Their design permits them to operate safely at high speeds in sheltered water.

A bass boat can be dangerous, though, when used in a tidal inlet, rough water,or the large swells of an open sea. One feature that makes it dangerous is itslow freeboard, which is the vertical distance from the gunwales, or tops of theboat's sides, to the surface of the water. In many boats the freeboard is lowestat the transom, higher amidships, and even higher toward the bow, but a bassboat has low freeboard everywhere so that an angler can play a fish with equalease anywhere on the boat, moving around as necessary. Bass boat owners place ahigh emphasis on this "360° fishability."

Another feature that may make some bass boats dangerous in inlets and otherrough water is a foredeck that slants downward toward the bow. Such a bow shapecan bury or "stuff" itself in a wave, shipping water over the bow and swampingthe boat. This is not to say that a bass boat is unsafe, which would not betrue. What it does say is, "Operate your boat only under the conditions forwhich it was designed."

We will explore other boat types later in the chapter. For the moment, let'slook at one other type. Suppose you are in a runabout, a small, mostly open boatpowered by one or two outboard motors. These are the boats that populate lakes,reservoirs, rivers, and sheltered coastal waters on pleasant summer days,engaged in fishing, waterskiing, or simply day cruising. A runabout is at itsbest in those conditions, but it is not designed for a strong wind and a choppysea.

Suppose you get caught in rough conditions and your runabout is dead in thewater, or adrift. This means that it is not under power and not moored,anchored, or aground. As with other boats that are higher in the bow than thestern (as most boats are), its bow will be blown away from the wind. This meansthat the stern, with little freeboard, turns into the waves. Let's furthersuppose that there is a cutout in the transom where the outboard motor ismounted (see Figure 1-3), and let's assume that there is no self-draining wellbetween the transom and the boat's open cockpit to intercept a boarding wave. Itis all too easy for a wave to roll over the transom and swamp the boat. (And bythe way, this example is anything but hypothetical; this sort of accidenthappens frequently, and the victims are usually unaware of the danger until thewave comes aboard.)

Select your boat to suit your needs, and use it only under the conditions forwhich it was designed. It always pays to check the weather before you go out andwhile you are on the water. You can get continuous weather information on yourVHFFM radio. (See Chapter 12 for more on predicting the weather.)

Types of Propulsion

Most recreational powerboats less than 25 to 30 feet long have outboard motors(Figures 1-2, 1-4, and 1-5) or stern-drive engines (see Figure 1-6 opposite).Stern drives are also called inboard/outboards, or I/Os. Most boats longer than35 feet have inboard engines, and those from 30 to 35 feet long might have anyof the three.

An outboard motor bolts or clamps to the transom. In the past most outboardswere two-cycle (also known as two-stroke) engines, meaning that the crankshaftrequires two revolutions to complete a power stroke. Many small engines, such aslawnmower engines, are two-cycle. These engines operate at high revolutions perminute (rpm) and produce a large amount of power per pound of engine weight, butthis higher engine stress usually results in a shorter engine life and highermaintenance costs. Also, in part because their lubricating oil mixes with thefuel rather than recirculating through separate passageways, two-cycle outboardsare characterized by incomplete combustion and resultant pollution, althoughthese problems have been greatly decreased by electronic fuel injection andignition technologies.

For all these reasons, four-cycle outboards are increasingly popular. Theseoperate like automobile engines (or like stern-drive and inboard marine engines,for that matter) in that the crankshaft requires four revolutions to complete apower stroke. These engines are heavier and produce less power per pound ofengine weight, but they are also more fuel efficient, more reliable, andgenerally quieter.

A stern-drive engine is mounted inside the hull (like the inboard engine of abigger boat), but the engine is connected to a drive unit through a system ofgears. This drive unit, also called the lower unit or outdrive, protrudesthrough the boat's transom and functions much like the lower portion of anoutboard motor. Outboard and stern-drive boats are steered by turning the lowerunit in one direction or the other, thereby directing the stream of waterdischarged by the propeller (Figure 1-6).

Comparing outboard motors with stern-drive engines, outboards are easier toremove for servicing and easier to replace, take up less space inside the boat,and are lighter than stern drives of the same horsepower. Stern drives, however,are quieter and burn less fuel than two-cycle outboards.

Stern-drive engines have longer service lives than two-cycle outboards, and,like inboard engines, they are quiet, efficient, and out of sight. Yet likeoutboards, they derive significant speed, steering, and trim advantages overinboard engines from their adjustable, steerable lower units. They areespecially popular on fresh water, where the inability to raise the lower unitout of the water when not in use, as you can by tilting an outboard, is of lessconsequence. In the water, and especially in rough weather, it is easier to workon a stern-drive engine than an outboard, because the stern-drive engine is inthe boat and not behind the transom.

The transom on a boat with an outboard motor usually has a large section cutaway (refer back to Figure 1-3). This is done to get the lower unit andpropeller deep enough for best performance, but a cutaway transom lowers aboat's freeboard and invites swamping.

To keep boats with transom-mounted outboards from swamping, many have a wellforward of the transom into which their motors tilt when raised. The well drainsoverboard, and its forward wall is made high enough to keep most waves fromentering the boat. A well takes up deck space, but the lack of a well can bedangerous when waves approach from astern, as described earlier.

The need for a cutaway transom can be eliminated by attaching an outboard motorto a mount, or bracket, that extends aft of the transom. A bracket-mounted motoris entirely outside the boat, permitting a full transom and unimpeded interiorvolume. When mounted this way, an outboard will make less noise in the boat, andthe full transom will be safer for small children. A bracket-mounted outboarddoes increase the effective length of the boat slightly, which could be adisadvantage when maneuvering in close quarters (or when renting a marina slipby the foot), and the engine is harder to reach from inside the boat, but theseconsiderations are outweighed by the advantages of such an arrangement (Figure1-7).

There are three significant disadvantages of a stern drive. The first is theloss of deck space, since the engine is mounted inside the hull near the sternand enclosed under a large hood. Second, the articulated mechanism connectingthe engine to the lower unit may be a source of problems. And third, any enginemounted within a boat's hull presents dangers from fire and explosion; these canbe controlled with proper ventilation, however, as described in Chapter 2.

Outboard motors and stern-drive engines are rarely found on boats longer than 35feet, because their smaller props don't develop enough thrust to move heavyboats effectively. That is why big boats usually use inboard engines, which aregenerally mounted below the deck amidships or slightly aft of amidships. (Stern-driveengines, by contrast, are mounted aft, against the transom, where there israrely enough belowdeck room to accommodate them. They therefore require a fullor partial abovedeck enclosure.) Inboard engines usually drive straightpropeller shafts (Figure 1-8). Inboards are simpler in design and generally morereliable than I/Os, but the propeller is fixed below the hull and inaccessibleif it becomes fouled.

Outboards and I/Os can be raised to allow easy removal of debris from thepropeller or to escape from a shoal, and an outboard or I/O drive on most boatscan be adjusted to trim the boat's bow up or down to the optimum running angle.

Jet Drives

Personal watercraft (PWC), as well as some other boats, have a jet drive, whichis simply an engine-driven pump with an impeller mounted in a tube that jetswater out the back end of the tube to serve as a propellant. The advantages ofjet drives include fast acceleration, an enhanced ability to operate in shallowwater, and enhanced safety for people in the water. The propellers onconventional-drive boats often continue to turn slowly even when their gears arein neutral, and an exposed propeller can cause serious injury. The enclosedimpeller of a PWC jet drive does not present the safety hazard to a swimmer thata propeller does (Figure 1-9).

Jet drives are often favored in shallow, rock-strewn waters where propellers areeasily damaged. For example, sightseeing boats in the Hell's Canyon area of theSnake River use jet drives. An operator should use caution around rocks evenwith a jet engine, however. Rocks can puncture a boat's hull.

Although PWCs can operate in shallow, muddy, or sandy water, other jet-propelledboats should not. The difference is in the size of their engines. The engines ofrunabouts and cruisers equipped with jet drives pump large quantities of water.The mud or sand that is pumped with the water quickly damages parts in theirpumps and propelling mechanisms.

Tunnel Drives

In a tunnel drive configuration, the propeller and part of the driveshaft arepartially recessed in a trough in the bottom of the boat. The trough, or tunnel,acts as a shroud to protect the propeller and increase its efficiency. It alsoprovides a more favorable thrust angle for the propeller and a better angle ofattachment of the driveshaft to the engine. These drives are advantageous inshallow water.

Hull Design

One way to classify boats is by how they ride in the water. Displacement boatsmove through the water and push it aside or displace it. Planing boats movefaster and, after gaining speed, ride more nearly on top of the water.

There is no single, all-purpose, perfect hull design. Each design is acompromise, and you must make a choice based on your boat's projected use.

Displacement Hulls

All boats at rest or moving slowly are displacement boats. Each displaces avolume of water equal in weight to its own weight. If the weight of the boatexceeds the weight of the water displaced, it sinks deeper into the water untilthe two weights are equal. This is true of a planing hull, a semidisplacementhull, and a displacement hull, but only the latter is designed specifically toachieve greatest efficiency at slow speeds.

(Continues...)

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Edition details

• Publisher: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
• Publication date: 2013
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0071829326
• ISBN 13: 9780071829328
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 416