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Sailing Hints & Tips
By Yannis Moraitis, Thu Dec 8th
I spend almost all my summers around the Greek islands.With this small article I would like to share some hintswith you that will help you enjoy the most out of your sailingholidays. • When moored or anchored, use your sun tent and stay under itmost of the time. Our friend, the Sun, sometimes can bedangerous, especially during summertime. • Be cautious on board and if possible, always wear a pair ofsoft boat shoes. This way you will protect your feet and thedeck surface. When sailing, avoid walking on deck withoutparticular reason and in rough weather, remember to use yourlife belt.
• If you have children on board, let them sit outside but alwaysin the cockpit wearing a life vest. • Before operating the electric anchor winch, start the motorand run it at aprox 1.200 to 1.500 rpm in neutral. This isnecessary in order not to exhaust the service battery, as theconsumption of the winch is extremely high. Our recommendationis to low your anchor manually and collect it using the remotecontrol. Whenever using the anchor winch (dropping or collectingyour anchor) be very careful with your fingers. An electricanchor winch is a great facility but also extremely danger withcareless use. • Remember to use the electric refrigerator only with the motorrunning. • Many yachts are equipped with a switch with which you mayconnect the two batteries, to have more power to start yourmotor. You can keep them connected, as long as your motor isrunning. When you stop the motor, remember to disconnect them.This will protect you, to be without electric power in case thatyou will forget, for example, the electric refrigerator running. • When you moor in a port, always have a fender between youryacht and the quay, so even if your anchor for any reason isunable to keep you in position, the yacht will not touch thequay. Take care of
the swell that big ferries cause and avoidmooring the yacht close to the place these boats anchor. • Before you put your engine in gear, have a look around theyacht for floating ropes that may block or damage your propelleror gearbox. When you want to go from forward to backward, do itafter you let the engine speed drop to idling. • Avoid towing your dinghy especially in rough weather, as youmay lose it. It's better to keep it secured in front of themast. Remember that lost items are always charged to thecharterer. In case you need tug help and before you accept it,agree on the price and ask for a receipt that clearly statesthat no further payment will be asked. • Avoid dropping papers or napkins in the toilet bowl. It'sbetter to use plastic bags for the waste papers. Toilet pumpsare not able to dissolve such things. • Remember to close the main switch at the top of gas bottlewhen you don't use the gas stove or when nobody is on board. • While refilling either water or fuel tanks, make sure not tomix fuel with water or water with fuel. In both cases thesituation becomes unpleasant and difficult to be repaired. • Keep always an eye on the hour counter of your motor and makesure that you have sufficient amount of fuel in your tank. Thefuel gauge is not always reliable, so check the hours that youhave used the motor. • Do not throw plastic bottles, cans or any other waste in thesea. Keep them on board and remove immediately at the firstharbour. • It is also requested not to raise any flag, other than theGreek, at the aft side of the yacht, as it is against Greek andInternational marine regulations. CAUTION : If the yacht is equipped with DSC VHF, DO NOT PRESSDISTRESS SIGNAL BUTTON UNLESS IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY (FIRE -COLLISION - GROUNDING - SINKING).There is a penalty for theunnecessary use. - For more information please check http://www.seascope-sailing.com About the author:None
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