A Word or Two of Introduction
It is said that the two happiest days of a boat-owner’s life are: 1. The day he/she buys a boat and 2. The day he/she sells that boat. Boats are described as a hole in the water into which one pours massive sums of money. Yep, that pretty well sums it up about boats.
But boats are important. In Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows, Water Rat tells Mole, “Believe me, my young friend, there is Nothing– absolutely nothing- half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.”
For fly anglers in Brunswick County, NC, boats are pretty close to an absolute necessity. While there are places one can fly fish in saltwater without one, the list is far longer if you have a boat, or, better yet, know someone who does. Which brings to mind an economic truth: it is cheaper to hire a guide several times a month than it is to buy and maintain a boat. The only problem is then you don’t have a boat to mess about in.
The ideas and suggestions that follow are for those who have a boat(s) or routinely go out with a friend who has one or are looking to buying one. To be transparent, they are written by one whose family has had boats since the early 1950s (if not before) and who currently owns four boats, a number smaller than the number owned by each of his younger brothers. I like boats.
The Perfect Boat
There are a lot of nice boats and more than a few very nice boats. But there is no perfect boat. Every boat is a compromise. A deep vee hull is great for running offshore but will roll in a choppy sea at rest or slow speed. Trying to bottom fish in a deep vee is torture, though getting to the fishing hole on a windy day without being in a deep vee is an adventure. A small jon boat is great for small creeks and an aluminum boat doesn’t have to worry about getting gelcoat cut up by oyster rocks. But on a windy day the ride will be wet and bumpy. A T-top or Bimini top give protection from the sun and potential rain, but can hinder casting, especially fly casting.
The obvious solution is to have several boats: a jon boat, flats skiff, bay boat, larger center console and even a sports fisherman boat with cabin and fighting chair. While we’re dreaming, sail boats can be a lot of fun, too.
Another solution is to join a group such as The Freedom Boat Club. This club has a fleet of various boats available for members to use,
Or make good friends with people who have the type of boats that seem to cover the waterfront of your needs.
And when you buy a boat, consider getting one that will serve several purposes well.
Local knowledge
Whatever boat(s) you have, you will need some local knowledge about local waters before you get too far down the road and run aground (into an oyster bed is terrible, even if you are in a metal jon boat since it will be dangerous to get out of the boat to try to push it off the oyster bed. I could tell a tale or two about this. Fortunately, I was rescuing people on an oyster bed instead of being the one rescued.)
If you have a new boat or have just moved to this area, find someone with extensive local knowledge and let them show you around- places to go and places to avoid. I am more than happy to help in this regard as are several other boat owners with local knowledge.
Three tips on exploring strange waters
Whenever you are out and heading into new waters, three tips come to mind:
First, always venture forth on a rising tide. Though you will want to visit new areas at low tide, wait until you have some idea of what a particular area holds before you head in on a falling tide. Making your first exploration on a rising tide so that if you do get stuck, the tide will rise and will help you float off a very shallow area.
Second, leave your engine tilted down as you explore. Many people fear skinny water and tilt their engines up. But since you motor shaft is almost always the part of the boat needing the most water, if you tilt it up, you will be able to get into even skinnier water before you hit the bottom but by then you may be in too far to back out and must wait until the tide gives you an added lift. If you leave the motor down, there may still be enough water to tilt your motor and back out without any additional problems. A falling tide makes for exciting boating. Only tilt your motor if you know the water ahead of you and know there is enough water to float your boat with the motor tilted up some.
In this regard, it helps to know the actual tidal timing for your location in relation to the tidal charts for a nearby location. For instance, the tide at my dock normally runs about 1 hour behind what is on tidal charts for the Lockwood Folly Inlet. The rule of thumb is that for every 8 miles distance from the measuring location there is a one hour difference in tides.
Third, back before we had depth sounders, we navigated unknown depths by having someone in the front of the boat use a long paddle or stick to lower into the water to demonstrate the water depth as we putt-putted along. A weight on a marked line could do the same thing, This is how Samuel Clemens got his pen name, Mark Twain. Mark Twain was one of the calls made to indicate the depth of the water (mark two fathoms = 12’). A benefit of this procedure is that you are measuring the depth of the water at the front of the boat whereas most depth sounders have the transducer near the stern of the boat. This can be problematic when dealing with waters where there is a sharp drop-off between the shore and the channel.
Aids to Navigation
We are fortunate to have several of the major waterways in our area marked with red and green markers or buoys, The old formula RED RIGHT RETURNING is the key to understanding them. Sometimes it is very obvious. If you are coming in an inlet, you are returning, If you are going up a river such as the Cape Fear or the Lockwood Folly you are returning, But how about the ICW? It helps to know that for the ICW Florida is considered the place to which we are returning. So, if you are heading more or less south toward Florida, red is on your right.
The problem comes at inlets meet the ICW or the ICW follows the Cape Fear from Southport to Snow’s Cut. The dominant body is the Cape Fear River so as you head up river from Southport toward Wilmington red will be on your right, though buoys for the ICW would be opposite. The main confusion comes where the inlet and the ICW meet such as at Browns Landing between Holden Beach and Oak Island and near the Yacht Basin at Southport. Is a red marker for the inlet or the ICW? If you don’t know, you can get into a heap of trouble real fast. Common sense can help a lot but the only way to know for sure is to examine the buoy in question. If the buoy has a small gold/yellow castle painted on it, it is for the ICW and not the inlet or river. Next time you are down at the base of Howe Street in Southport overlooking the bay, notice the red buoy close to land and the green marker on a piling across from it. They are for the ICW. Imagine the problem if someone thought that the red buoy was for the Cape Fear River. They would try to go left of it and would run into some nasty rocks about the time they realized their mistake.
Many waterways are not marked or are marked poorly. For instance, there are only two markers past Varnamtown on the Lockwood Folly River. Though there is deep water all the way up the River to the NC 211 bridge near Supply, a general rule of thumb is helpful to remember: in a curve, the deepest water is on the outside portion of a curve. This is because the water on the outside edge of a curve has to move faster than the water on the inside of the curve. Watch a marching band go around a corner at the next parade. To keep their straight lines, the band members on the outside of the turn have to almost run while those on the inside of the turn get to take little baby steps.
Commercial crabbers provide so help, too. They want their crabpots to be fully submerged at low tide for the benefit of the crabs in the trap. But they can’t put their crabpots in the channel and obstruct traffic. So these folks place their crabpots right on the edge of the channel. You can use their “channel markers” as additional aids for navigation. This comes in handy several places locally such as several of the long straight stretches in the ICW between Oak Island and the mainland. Official markers may be several miles apart but you need to stay in the channel marked by those two markers miles apart. In several places, there is a very distinct drop off between the shore and the channel. Even in a small boat, you want to avoid getting outside the channel because it does get very shallow very quickly in several places. Fortunately, some of the crabbers set their pots along these areas. They are usually quite accurate in defining where deep water and shallow water meet.
Throwable Device Must Be Accessible
Sooner or later, all of us will get boarded by the Coast Guard in a “Courtesy Safety Inspection.” They are usually very gracious and friendly, unless they have seen us do something dangerous, stupid or otherwise unacceptable/illegal. The one time I was boarded, one man came aboard my boat while the USCG boat pulled back. I was instructed to keep us in the channel. The young man examined my papers, fire extinguishers, number of personal flotation devices, horn, and so forth. As he was finishing, he asked where I kept my throwable device. I pointed to a big bag underneath my T-top. As I pulled out the seat cushion (aka throwable device), he noted that to be in compliance it needed to be readily available. Though it took me less than 10 seconds to get it out of the bag, it needed to be even more accessible. Hanging it onto one of the rod holders on my leaning post, I responded, “Like this?” “Absolutely,” he responded. So, I passed the inspection, the USCG boat pulled back up beside mine and the inspector got back in so they could go do another inspection. They wished me a wonderful afternoon and took off. I make sure that seat cushion is visible and close at hand!
Speaking of Safety Gear
Several required items of safety gear are prone to failure. It’s nice to have a back-up.
-Fire extinguishers. Since all of my boats have a floor over the hull, I am required to have a fire extinguisher. But if one is good, two are better. I always carry two so that if a mud dauber has built a nest in the nozzle of one of them that I haven’t noticed, I have at least one workable fire extinguisher. Besides, if there is a fire onboard, I would rather have two instead of just one any day of the week. Also, when I clean out the mud daubers, I make sure I clean the nozzle completely, erasing all signs of their nest.
-Noise maker. My boat has a horn. But if the wires have come off and it doesn’t work, I’m up the creek. So, I have several of those orange whistles that I attach to the kill-switch line and/or hang with a reasonable length cord around my compass. The whistle is louder than my horn to boot.
-Bailing bucket. Bilge pumps are great. Unless they don’t work at the very time they need to work. So, I carry a medium size bucket as a back-up.
-Kill-switch. It is now required that the driver of a boat have the kill switch cord attached to their person except when fishing, docking, anchored or driving at idle speed. I use a long cord to attach to the red cord with the kill switch. I attach it to my wrist or a belt loop. The theory is that if I fall out of the boat, the kill switch will be activated and kill the engine so the boat doesn’t go into a “death spiral” and run over me with its propeller churning between 600-5,500 rpm which would not be a happy situation. Since I have hydraulic steering and not simply cable steering for my center consoles, the boat would not turn into a “death spiral” caused by the torque of the single engine propeller but would continue on in straight line until it hit something. The point is the same. If I’m not driving but fall out, something bad is going to happen. So, I wear the kill switch attached to my person. It’s a nuisance but it’s the law and it could save some major damage some day.
-Life jackets. One life jacket of the appropriate size per person is the rule. The vest type with an automatic inflator is great. But it must be worn to count. Children must have life-jackets on at all times.
-Running lights and anchor light. That any of these lights work after being in the salt air is a miracle in and of itself. The white stern light is a running light and an anchor light. I must be burning when underway in darkness and it must be on when anchored up to fish or swim or engage in other activities on board.
-In this regard, it’s not a bad idea to have a set of battery-operated lights that can be deployed should a bulb burn out, a switch get corroded or a wire break. You want other boats to know where you are on the water in the dark.
-Though not required, why would we not keep a roll of electrical tape on board in case of an important hose or tube splits and starts leaking? Or why wouldn’t you have several hundred feet of extra rope in case you need t to anchor properly? Why would you not have extra flares to shoot off in case of an emergency? In my ocean boat, I carry two boxes of current flares. Separately, I carry several boxes of flares that just went out of date, too. They have expired but I bet most of them still work. I’d rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them! A small mirror can be helpful during daylight hours when you are dead in the water and need to attract another boat or a search plane. It’s not a big thing, but it could save your hide.
What is “No Wake” Speed?
Our local waters have several “No Wake” zones. The official definition of “No Wake” is idle speed. That becomes problematic with the tides we tend to have, particularly around New Moon and Full Moon conditions. In front of my house there are times you could be going at idle speed against the current and be going backwards. So,a certain discretion is in order. It does NOT mean simply slowing down. Many times the wake from a slow-moving boat kicks up is far more devastating than the wake at full speed. So, check your wake.
Slow Down for Kayaks
Currently, 19 members of our Cub have kayaks. For their well-being and safety, it is wise (and required in certain circumstances) that we slow down upon meeting them. It helps to know that whereas some kayakers are old salts in terms of boating experience and knowing the ropes, kayaks are an entry-level craft for many, meaning that the owners have little experience on the water. I, for one, do not want to be the one to cause them to have to learn a lesson the hard way. This is even more true for paddle boards and jet ski drivers. Many of them act like maniacs simply because they can. Defensive driving with concern for their well-being is very important. Such craft are even more delicate in shallow water where waves do the most damage. Good kayakers know to head for deeper water when waves are coming but that is counter-intuitive so many don’t. Again, let’s not be the reason one or more of them learns an important lesson the hard way. Pretend that’s your child or aging mother in the kayak.
Avoid Ethanol Gas
Ethanol attracts water. It also tends to liquify sludge and other gunk. None of these are good for modern marine motors. Give it good ethanol-free gas, sold by several stations in our area, Now, if you are running your boat every day and turning over the gas in your boat every month, you should be OK . But how many of us do that? Save having to pay for expensive repairs to your injectors by going ethanol-free. It costs more but saves even more. A high quality additive is essential, unless you are running your boast almost every day which is why the ethanol gas in your vehicle doesn’t give you a problem- you burn it up too quickly.
Weekends are Made for Michelob
This tag line for Michelob beer is decades old but the reality isn’t. I keep my boats on their lifts most weekends simply because there are enough crazy people out on the water to be in their midst. But, if this is the only time you can go boating, go for it. If you have friends from out of town, go for it. If you’ve got a big boats and heading to the Gulf Stream- go for it. If you’re staying inshore or near shore, think again.
Take Care of your Trailer
See the separate “essay” on this webpage for what to do to take care of their trailer. It leads a hard life, particularly when it’s just standing around doing.
Alcohol and Boating
I like both, but not at the same time, especially afor the one driving the boat. That gets dangerous very quickly. If game wardens and Marine Patrol folks se you chugging a canned beverage, you will be checked. That’s why I like Orange Gatorade- the color and the container do not resemble any know intoxicating liquid. They will leave you alone while checking everyone else.
Docking and Getting Back on the Trailer
If ever you need a good laugh or two, head to a boat ramp and watch people trying to launch or retrieve their boats. First, you have folks who haven’t learned how to back a trailer. I feel for them. But they need to practice in the back of a huge parking lot. Practice backing up, backing up making a turn in the process (not all launching ramps have enough space for you to back down straight. Sometimes you have to back the trailer into the ramp with a 90º turn before straightening up to back into the water. Also, watch folks try to dock in the wind with a tricky tide and boats in front of and behind the space they can use.
As a general rule, always dock heading into the current. It gets a bit more challenging when the wind is going the opposite direction. Figure out which force has the greatest influence on your boat and dock into that force.
Never approach the dock and have someone jump off the boat with land in hand. Their jumping will push the boat further away from the dock, possibly causing them to hit the side of the dock instead of landing on top of it. This is very dangerous. So, either attach the line to a cleat before getting out of the boat or throw the line to a person on the dock willing to help you. Once the bow is tied down, the current or stronger win will tend to straighten out your craft against the dock, making tying down the stern easier. Never tie down the stern first or the current/wind will blow your bow away from the dock and you have a problem. Approach the dock carefully and slowly- using the throttle to inch into the correct position to attach the bow line.
Never have a bow line longer than your boat. If it gets in the water while underway, you don’t want it to be able to get caught up in your propeller. No good will come from that.
Many trailers these days are “float on” trailers, meaning that they are designed to be backed into the water, usually so about half of the trailer tire is in the water (experience will help you determine how far your trailer needs to be in the water- and the slope of the ramp will be very important in figuring this out). Make sure you have rollers and poles that will help center your boat as it goes on the trailer. Practice loading and unloading your boat when there are few other boats at the ramp. Otherwise, you will be the object of great ridicule and no small anger as others wait for you to get it right, keeping them sitting there waiting to use the ramp. Practice so you can do the whole procedure quickly and properly.
Depending up the grade or slope of the ramp, your boat’s stern may still be floating fairly high above the rear of the tailer when you bow is as far up the trailer as it can go. You might find it necessary to back off a few inches on the winch strap/wire before pulling the boat and trailer out of the water. As you pull out, the stern will go down to settle on the trailer and the bow will rise up an equal amount If the hook eye on the bow is beneath a roller or a “V” cushion into which the bow fits, you don’t want the hook eye to rise up and rip the roller or “V” cushion. Once you get the boat and trailer on level ground, it should not be too hard to make the last turn on the winch handle to snug the bow down since you are not having to pull the boat “up a hill” but sliding it along the slick bunks or rollers.
Always use a safety chain on the bow idea in case the trailer strap breaks while driving down the road, By the same token, use a strap or straps that will hold the stern down in contact with the trailer when going over bumps. This will prevent damage to your boat and your trailer.
Speaking of chains, always cross the safety chains from the trailer to the tow vehicle. Twice in my boating career, I have had a trailer bounce off the ball on the hitch. Fortunately, I had crossed my chains so the tongue of the trailer rested in that sling and did not start dragging on the pavement and dig into the ground, causing excessive damage to the trailer and/or tow vehicle. When putting on your chains from the trailer to the tow vehicle, remember to have them long enough to be able to make sharp turns but tight enough to keep the tongue off the pavement should the tongue pop off the ball. Periodically, check the device that clamps on the ball to keep the trailer on the ball. You may have to tighten the screw that moves the collar that encircles the trailer ball when you push down the lever on top of the trailer tongue. Check that connection routinely.
Going back to your practice, since more and more vehicles have mirrors on both sides of the vehicle and since your boat may block your rear vision straight behind you, practice backing up using you outside mirrors only. Place your hands on the bottom of your steering wheel. Move them in the direction you want the rear of your trailer to go. If you want the rear of the trailer to go left, move your hands to the left. Move them to the right to get the rear of the trailer to move right. Do not make any extravagant moves. When backing up while making a turn, just know it takes a lot of practice to know when to start straightening the steering wheel so your trailer will quit turning and start moving in a straight line. Always remember, there is no shame in having to pull forward to straighten out and get a fresh start. All of us who have backed trailers know what that’s like and have been there and done that.
Also know that the longer the trailer the easier it is to back. Short utility trailers and jet ski trailers are almost impossible to back because of their short distance between the rear of the vehicle and the trailer wheels. Trailers for large boats are far easier and tractor trailer trucks are a breeze- I would like to try backing one some day.
N.B. Please see Essay #37 “Keep On Rollin’” for information about trailer maintenance. This is vital information if you trailer a boat.
A Word or Two About Maintenance
It is vital that you maintain your boat so it will keep running for many years. My “newest” boat is 16 years old, my oldest is 36 years old. One of my brothers still runs a Sea Ray outboard ski boat purchased in 1963- 57 years ago. A family jon boat was purchased in 1969- 51 years ago. My brothers have working outboards that go back to the 1950s.
It has been said that two stroke engines have a life expectancy of 1,000 hours. If the average outboard is run 50 hours per year, that is 20 years. But they can last far longer. By the same token, folks have no idea how long four stroke engines will last. There are Toyota cars with more than 1 million miles on the odometer. So who knows. Routine maintenance can be expensive but check out the price of new engines and you may decide its cheaper in the long run to keep one running.
In my four strokes, I have the oil changed every year. Fuel filters, including an external fuel/water separator is replaced annually. I usually replace gas lines every three years. If I have used the engine a lot, I replace the water pump every two years. If I have not used it a lot, I replace the water pump every year. In this day and age, bad fuel is a major concern. I use non-ethanol gas in all my engines and dose it up with stabilizers. Every year, I have the remaining gas pumped out of my tank and discarded. I tend to replace batters every 3-5 years just because I don’t want to be 10 miles off shore and find out my battery is shot. During the winter, I run my boats every month to keep the batteries charged and all the fluids stirred up and used. Starting the engines also puts new gas in the engine. After every time I run the engine in saltwater, I use a hose to flush the engine for 10-15 minutes.
Let us know if there are other things you do to keep yout boat in top shape.
