Sailing Secrets – Mark Your Nautical Chart With Magical Art!
Did you realize that you can make your chart easier to see, with less clutter? And what can you do with simple office tools to avoid eyestrain, make sailing safer, and charting easier? Follow these simple steps for safer sailing anywhere in the world.
Use “bright and bold” highlights to highlight vital symbols on the chart.
Know the exact locations of the perfect anchor points before you get there.
Identify reliable depths versus unreliable depths on your chart or plotter.
Tools you will need:
* Pencil
* Direction measuring instrument (parallel rulers, Weems plotter).
* Yellow, orange and blue highlighters.
* Blue, green, magenta colored pencils.
* Fine marker.
* Scottish magic tape (permanent or removable.
Scan, mark and protect your expensive graphics
Skilled boaters always use a step-by-step process to chart their shipping lanes, scan along the shipping lane for danger, and mark key locations such as sandbanks, shipwrecks, emergency anchorages to “start the boat.” road “and important aids. to navigation that affect your navigation safety.
Follow these seven easy steps in the order shown each time you set a course for daytime cruising, cruising, or remote cruising. It will keep you safe and have the confidence that you can see “at a glance” what to expect.
1. Use parallel rulers or Weems tracer. Plot each heading along your navigation route with light pressure with your pencil. Use clear lines in this step. That way, if you need to erase, you can effortlessly do it or mess up the graph.
2. Scan along each navigation course line to ensure that the course does not cross over dangerous shoals or shallow depths. If so, delete that leg and change it to a safer course or split it into two courses to avoid danger.
3. Use brightly colored markers or colored pencils to make dangerous shipwrecks or important navigational aids (buoys, lights, or landmarks) near the field.
4. Look for deep pockets of water off the course line where you can anchor for rest or in an emergency. Make the depth contours of the shoals stand out by tracing them with a dark blue pencil (or similar marker).
5. Stay in the water at least twice your draft depth. Coastal charts often show water depth contour lines in six-foot increments starting at 30 feet. That means the next depth contour would be 24 feet, then 18 feet, 12 feet, and 6 feet. Mark the outermost depth contour that is equal to at least 2 times your maximum draft.
Example:
If your draft is 5 feet, you should mark the contour curve of 12 feet (or more). Set your depth sounder, GPS, or chartplotter alarm to go off at that depth. This gives you time to turn the boat into deeper water.
6. Check each field again for hazards. Recheck each plotted heading to make sure the marked heading matches the direction indicated by your plotting tool. When you are satisfied, go to the final step.
7. Pass a piece of masking tape over the top of each of the course lines drawn in light pencil. Run your fingers over it several times to make sure it adheres to the surface of the chart. Place a straight edge on the tape and darken on each course line with the felt tip marker. This makes your fields stand out in any light or weather condition.
Use your pencil to write the course in degrees with magnet at the top and the length of the course span at the bottom of the line. When you label, write on the tape. This protects the paper board and the tape surface can be written on and erased as needed.
- Sailing Tip from Captain John:
How do you remove the tape when you are done with the cruise? Use one of these two quick methods. Scotch makes a brand of ‘removable magic tape’. It is not that sticky but it works well on a dry surface. Or heat the edge of a dull kitchen knife with a lighter. Run the knife along the tape and peel it as you go. Keep the razor’s edge warm for best results.
Beware of irregular probes!
Chart plotters fall far short of nautical charts when it comes to detailed soundings. Its small screen space forces manufacturers to sacrifice detail to keep the screen uncluttered. This reason alone should be sufficient to convince any prudent patron to carry charts.
Scan your letter for inconsistent or scattered sounding signs. Large gaps between soundings warn that this area has not been surveyed well enough for safe navigation. Stay away from uneven and inconsistent sounding areas to avoid landing or hitting an unexplored underwater obstruction.
Rubble areas (also called fish shelter or rubble bank) are where debris such as trash, old cars and trucks, and construction site material are dumped. These depths change all the time, so they will never show up. Stay away to stay safe!
Now you know the quick and easy way to set up your chart for safe sailing and save you time and effort once you’re out.