Chapter

Handling Your Boat

4
Boating Skills And Seamanship

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 Lesson Objectives
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• 1/3 rule & fueling

• Gas in bilge
• Propeller operation & selection
• Boat maneuvering & trimming
• Boat loading/safe conduct

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 Lesson Objectives (2)
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Man overboard/pre-trip checks

• Departing & returning to a dock
• Anchoring
• Towing a skier
• Adverse weather

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 Fueling Your Boat
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• What should you do prior to fueling?

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 Fueling Your Boat
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Turn of engines
• Close doors/hatches
• Turn off electrical equip.
• Extinguish open flames; no smoking
• Turn off galley heaters and stoves
• Instruct crew on safe practices
• Ground fuel nozzle to boat prior to pumping
and keep it grounded while pumping

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 Fueling Your Boat
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• What are some steps

to take after fueling?

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 Fueling Your Boat
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Open doors/hatches.
• Run blower 4 minutes.
• Clean up fuel spills.
• Sniff for fumes.
• Have a fire extinguisher at hand.

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 Fueling Your Boat
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Gas in bilge
• Portable gas tanks
• Fill on dock after grounding
• Remove from pick-up bed and ground before
filling

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 Fuel Usage
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• 1/3 rule for round trips

• 1/3 tank for trip out
• 1/3 tank returning home
• 1/3 tank in reserve
• Refueling along the way
• Calculate fuel consumption and allow for reserve
• 20% reserve
• 10% reserve

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 Your Boat’s Propeller
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Diameter
• Pitch
• Size

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 Propeller
Characteristics
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Who can describe how a twin screw

propeller works?

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 Propeller
Characteristics
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• What is the function of the shear pin?

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 Shear Pin or Slip Hub
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Weak point in connection of propeller

to shaft
• Breaks before drive shaft and gears
are damaged.
• Propeller often destroyed first
• Carry spares

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 Propeller
Characteristics
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Cavitation
• bubbles of partial vacuum that appear around
blades due to a small prop
or too much pitch.
• Ventilation
• air sucked down into the blades.

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 Propeller Selection
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• How do you select a propeller?

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 Steering
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• How does driving a boat differ from

driving a car?

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 Steering
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Car
• Front wheels steer in direction you want to go
• Boat
• Stern steers in opposite direction
• Use spring line to control movement

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 Steering
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Pivot point
• Stopping a boat

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 Steering
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Single inboard engines

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 Single Propeller vs.
Twin Propellers
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Advantages?
• Disadvantages?

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 Twin Propellers
Steering techniques
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Steer with rudder when at speed

• Use differential prop thrust at dock
• Use both rudder and thrust to walk
sideways
• Forward on port, reverse on starboard to swing
bow to starboard
• Since forward prop has more thrust, rudder to
port with above also moves stern to starboard

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 Tilt Adjustment
Boating Skills And Seamanship

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 Jet Drives
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Propulsion
• Steering

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 Loading Your Boat
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• What are some considerations?

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 Loading Your Boat
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Balance
• Trim
• Don’t overload; what sea condition
• Secure load so does not shift
• Safety
• No riding on gunwale, seat backs, transom or
bow
• Don’t stand

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 Before You Go
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Brief guests
• Get weather report
• Check emergency equipment
• Check gas and oil

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 Engine Start Up
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• What are things to check when

starting the engine?

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 Undocking Situations
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Leaving dock /
wind and current
off dock
• Demonstrate

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 Undocking Situations
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Leaving dock
wind and
current on
bow
• Demonstrate

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 Undocking Situations
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Leaving dock
wind and current
on bow
• What if wind and
current on
stern?

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 Turning in Narrow
Channel
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Wind on stern

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 Watch Your Wake
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• May cause damage

• Obey No Wake Zones
• Liability

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 Man Overboard
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• What actions do you

take?

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 Man Overboard
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Sound alarm indicating which side the

person fell over. (Helm turns toward that
side, moving stern away)
• Deploy throw cushion or life ring.
• Maintain a spotter
• Turn boat around.
• Approach PIW slowly with bow in wind
• Engines in neutral
• Prepare ladder
• Retrieve PIW

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 Docking
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• No wind

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 Docking
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Wind off dock

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 Docking
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Wind on dock

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 Mooring to Permanent
Anchor
Boating Skills And Seamanship

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 Anchoring
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Rode
• Shackle
• Thimble

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 Anchoring
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Why are anchors different?

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 Types of Anchors
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Bruce
• Fisherman
• Plow
• Danforth
• Spade

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 Anchoring
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Carry two anchors

• Check bottom
• Use correct scope
• Check your position

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 Anchoring
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• What is proper scope in calm water?

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 Anchoring
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• What are the steps

to deploy anchor?

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 Anchoring
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Boat’s Motion
• Lowering Anchor
• Setting Anchor
• Anchor Dragging
• Deck Fastenings
• Checking Position

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 Towing a Skier
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Have an observer
• Good towline
• Signaling
• Obey the rules

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 Towing a Skier
Boating Skills And Seamanship

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 Heavy Weather
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Running into a sea

• Running in a beam sea
• Broaching
• Running in a following sea
• Pitchpoling
• Yawing
• Using a drogue

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 Impaired Visibility
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Fog
• Rain

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 Narrow Inlets
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Hidden shoals
• Hidden cross currents

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 Small Boat Safety
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Avoid moving
• Keep low to move
• Wear life jacket
• Check weather
• Load boat carefully

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 Running Aground
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Check for leaks

• Raise outboard
• Move passengers to stern
• Try rocking boat
• Place anchor astern and pull off
• Call for assistance

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 Environmental
Concerns
Boating Skills And Seamanship

• Follow markers
• Don’t stir up bottom
• Use proper anchoring technique
• Properly dispose of waste
• Beware of oil and fuel spills

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