Some sort of clear communication is paramount...whilst launching,retrieving and anchoring......saw someone using headset walkietalkie's
Having to dive in the water to catch a rope/Mac someone should have been holding has been averted narrowly just last season....but did with a previous boat.The weight of a 25 odd foot boat is enough to rip the rope out off a unsuspecting novice's hand easily as its launched....a bit of length helps and loop in the end.
Ropes in general are more dangerous than you first think...run a rope thru your hand and see what happens
New owners
-
Oskar 26M
- First Officer
- Posts: 411
- Joined: Sun Mar 23, 2008 10:04 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Perth Australia, 2007 26M, 60hp E-tec
Re: New owners
Fresh Breeze:
Security for my car and trailer whilst at sea, especially for overnight or longer trips was the main reason I joined a boat club. However, I soon found that there are many other advantages:
* I joined a boating club, not a yacht club. The members of the club I joined come from all walks of life but are all very down to earth and friendly. They do not see the club membership as a status symbol but are there because they love boating and fishing.
* the club holds occasional educational events to do with seamanship, quite a few family oriented events and some low key social events for those who like that sort of thing.
* at weekends there is a bar. Volunteering for bar duty helps you to get to know people, which in turn can lead to all sorts of helpful advice.
* the club has excellent launching (well surfaced concrete ramps with floating finger docks) and members ensure they are well maintained. It also has good wash-down facilities - not always available at public ramps.
* the club has a code of conduct that helps to ensure members treat each other with courtesy and consideration. "Ramp rage", which can be a problem at some public ramps, would not be tolerated at the club.
* our club also has a live-in Bosun who assists with launching and retrieval. This helps to speed things up on busy days, but can also be handy if you are new to sailing or if you plan on single handed sailing.
* the club provides on-shore camping/caravan sites and dockside slips (all with power and water), plus a camp kitchen and BBQs. Members can use these free of charge at any time and they are great for country members or for those times when you want to make an early start.
* permanent boat storage is available in the club storage yard at significantly lower cost than commercial yards. I store my
mast-up in the yard, so there is no need to rig or de-rig the boat for local sailing. The yard is well fenced, lit and equipped with security cameras. It still not 100% secure, but the one break-in on record did target my boat, and did not result in serious loss or damage to any others.
Before I joined the club I used the nearby public ramp. The parking area is frequently patrolled by the local Council security officers. Although I didn't experience any security problems there, others did (smashed windows etc), and I would certainly NOT have left my car or trailer there overnight. I did occasionally experience ramp rage, but fortunately only verbal abuse - it does help to train you to be quick, but that kind of pressure can also lead to mistakes and accidents.
At that time I stored the mast-up at a nearby commercial storage facility. Security included barbed wire topped steel mesh fences, swipe card daytime access gates, floodlights, a mass of security cameras, live-in owner/watchman and ferocious guard dogs that roamed the grounds at night. The main disadvantage was that it was locked up behind a massive steel gate each evening and special arrangements had to be made if you came back late or wanted to take in a twilight sail. All that did not make it immune to an occasional break-in, although luckily my didn't attract attention among the somewhat-more-upmarket power boats stored there.
Moorings are not safe either. My previous yacht was a small keel boat and was moored in the Swan River. The mooring was a long way from shore and the yacht was locked up pretty tight but it was still broken into several times. I lost quite a bit of stuff the first time, and quickly learned not to leave anything of the slightest value on board. The main problem with subsequent break-ins was repairing the damage/vandalism the thieves caused: hatches and windows were smashed and the interior was trashed on several occasions.
When travelling, I generally use caravan parks as a base, usually paying a normal caravan fee for the time the boat is in the water. Apart from the security advantage you can go ashore for showers etc (provided you are confident that your boat is securely anchored!) Some caravan parks offer secure storage for your car and/or trailers for a fee that roughly equates to that of an un-powered camp site, but then charge extra for showers. Membership of yacht clubs can also enable 'guest' privileges at some other clubs, but I haven't tried using this option yet.
My advice is to join a club, but make that YOU interview THEM to make sure that the club culture is compatible with your own
Security for my car and trailer whilst at sea, especially for overnight or longer trips was the main reason I joined a boat club. However, I soon found that there are many other advantages:
* I joined a boating club, not a yacht club. The members of the club I joined come from all walks of life but are all very down to earth and friendly. They do not see the club membership as a status symbol but are there because they love boating and fishing.
* the club holds occasional educational events to do with seamanship, quite a few family oriented events and some low key social events for those who like that sort of thing.
* at weekends there is a bar. Volunteering for bar duty helps you to get to know people, which in turn can lead to all sorts of helpful advice.
* the club has excellent launching (well surfaced concrete ramps with floating finger docks) and members ensure they are well maintained. It also has good wash-down facilities - not always available at public ramps.
* the club has a code of conduct that helps to ensure members treat each other with courtesy and consideration. "Ramp rage", which can be a problem at some public ramps, would not be tolerated at the club.
* our club also has a live-in Bosun who assists with launching and retrieval. This helps to speed things up on busy days, but can also be handy if you are new to sailing or if you plan on single handed sailing.
* the club provides on-shore camping/caravan sites and dockside slips (all with power and water), plus a camp kitchen and BBQs. Members can use these free of charge at any time and they are great for country members or for those times when you want to make an early start.
* permanent boat storage is available in the club storage yard at significantly lower cost than commercial yards. I store my
mast-up in the yard, so there is no need to rig or de-rig the boat for local sailing. The yard is well fenced, lit and equipped with security cameras. It still not 100% secure, but the one break-in on record did target my boat, and did not result in serious loss or damage to any others.Before I joined the club I used the nearby public ramp. The parking area is frequently patrolled by the local Council security officers. Although I didn't experience any security problems there, others did (smashed windows etc), and I would certainly NOT have left my car or trailer there overnight. I did occasionally experience ramp rage, but fortunately only verbal abuse - it does help to train you to be quick, but that kind of pressure can also lead to mistakes and accidents.
At that time I stored the
mast-up at a nearby commercial storage facility. Security included barbed wire topped steel mesh fences, swipe card daytime access gates, floodlights, a mass of security cameras, live-in owner/watchman and ferocious guard dogs that roamed the grounds at night. The main disadvantage was that it was locked up behind a massive steel gate each evening and special arrangements had to be made if you came back late or wanted to take in a twilight sail. All that did not make it immune to an occasional break-in, although luckily my didn't attract attention among the somewhat-more-upmarket power boats stored there. Moorings are not safe either. My previous yacht was a small keel boat and was moored in the Swan River. The mooring was a long way from shore and the yacht was locked up pretty tight but it was still broken into several times. I lost quite a bit of stuff the first time, and quickly learned not to leave anything of the slightest value on board. The main problem with subsequent break-ins was repairing the damage/vandalism the thieves caused: hatches and windows were smashed and the interior was trashed on several occasions.
When travelling, I generally use caravan parks as a base, usually paying a normal caravan fee for the time the boat is in the water. Apart from the security advantage you can go ashore for showers etc (provided you are confident that your boat is securely anchored!) Some caravan parks offer secure storage for your car and/or trailers for a fee that roughly equates to that of an un-powered camp site, but then charge extra for showers. Membership of yacht clubs can also enable 'guest' privileges at some other clubs, but I haven't tried using this option yet.
My advice is to join a club, but make that YOU interview THEM to make sure that the club culture is compatible with your own