Enjoying the last boating days of summer

Ahoy.

Most of you will

be reading this column on your extra day off from work while

enjoying the Labor Day weekend that signals the end of the summer

season. This summer has been great for boating with mild

temperatures, only a few hurricane swells reaching our waters and a

moderate wind blowing in the afternoons for the rag boaters, I mean

sailboat sailors.

Notice the reference sailboat sailors? Keep in mind that using the

reference sailors does not automatically signify someone on a

sailboat being powered only by the wind upon the sails. According to

Webster’s Dictionary a sailor is defined as a person who makes his

living by sailing, member of a ship’s crew, a traveler, a seaman, a

traveler by water, or a stiff straw hat with a low flat crown and a

straight circular brim. The last reference is very curious.

Try not to confuse sailor with sailer -- the “er” changes the

reference to vessels having specified sailing qualities, a very loose

definition. To complicate the matter further, sailing is a term to be

used more generally than I usually hear in the harbors I visit on the

Pacific Coast. Sailing is the technical skill of managing a ship, the

method of determining the course to be followed, riding in a

sailboat, or a departure from a port. So, the next time you head out

to sea begin by telling your shipmates that you are all sailors

sailing on a sailer.

Let me sail back from this nomenclature tangent that steered me

off course and note that this weekend is one of the busiest boating

weekends, along with the Fourth of July. I am very interested in

hearing how you spent your weekend boating this year, and I am asking

you to send me a note with the details of where you went, any special

activities and any mishaps you may have encountered.

We are fortunate to live in a global location that allows boating

to continue basically year-round with only a few winter time

sou-westers causing the need to seek shelter. I have ridden out a few

storms in my past and I have been ripped off mooring cans by

unexpected storm systems that have changed course. Times like that

your anchor watch schedule, even while on a mooring can, pays off and

saves the ship. Normally anchor watch is a boring job where you are

fighting to stay awake while you watch the clock to wake up the next

watch keeper on the schedule. I usually try to enjoy the wee hours of

the morning watch by scheduling myselfwith the best hours or telling

the newbie to take an extra hour on watch since he’s already awake.

I schedule a lot more for the vessel deliveries than I do for the

recreational voyages. When you have a delivery the estimation of time

for the trip legs are important. I am planning for next week’s yacht

delivery to Alameda in the San Francisco Bay. It may take 27 hours of

actual running time from Newport to Alameda with this yacht, but you

also have to calculate in any fuel stops, because if you hit late in

a harbor the fuel dock might be closed forcing you to wait until the

next morning. For a recreational cruise that sounds great -- time to

hit the town, but with a professional delivery, that means extra pay

for the crewmembers and lost hours you could be back home. Lately

more and more cruisers and professional skippers are acquiring my

services to help plan their routes, and who knows what this can lead

into the future when boats are remote controlled by the Internet and

I can be skippering your yacht from the computer in my living room.

Tip of the week is check your vessel to see if you any have any

SOSpenders brand lifejackets onboard that have been recalled by SOS

Corporation. About 7,200 automatic lifejackets that use the Hammar

model MA1 manual/automatic inflators may have been loaded incorrectly

preventing the inflation necessary for floatation.

The Coast Guard mentions that only 5% or less of owners have

registered their vests, however, almost 60% of SOS’s recalled vests

have already been returned. The lifejackets were sold by West Marine

from March 5 through Aug. 13, and the vests are identified by the

yellow Hammar MA1 Manual/Automatic Inflator Cap.

Boaters are advised to stop using the vest immediately. For

additional information, contact SOSpenders customer service

department at (800) 858-5876 or see their website at

www.sospenders.com/recall.html. Safe Voyages.

* MIKE WHITEHEAD is the Pilot’s boating and harbor columnist.

Send him your harbor and marine-related thoughts and story

suggestions via e-mail to Mike@BoathouseTV.com or BoathouseTV.com.