By Capt. Katherine Redmond
How can you tell if you are on a collision course with another vessel?
Let’s suppose you’re taking a little cruise on your local waters, and you see a boat off your starboard side, about 1,000 feet away. It’s angled slightly in your direction, but you cannot tell if there’s any eventual danger of collision.Read More
By Gino Mottino, M.D.
With the average age of Americans advancing and the cost of boats increasing, most new engine-powered boats are bought by older boaters. Regardless of age, a skipper must be responsible for the safety of the boat and everyone onboard.As an operator, you must be aware of your abilities, limitations, and health, including sight, hearing, mobility, stamina and mental acuity. You must also keep in mind the abilities and limitations of your crew: As we get older, so do all our family and friends.
What to do when your marine sanitation device craps out
By Steve Hodges
My wife, Susan, and I had sailed to Santa Cruz Island and stayed in Prisoners Harbor. Lovely weather, a lovely anchorage—what could be nicer than being on a sailboat in paradise? But the fun stops when the head does, and that signaled the beginning of the end for that trip.
By John Simons
Our Great Loop adventure took one year and covered 6,500 miles. We departed from Waukegan Harbor in mid-September 2015 and, after making a series of left turns, returned to Waukegan Harbor in September 2016. Our crew consisted of John and Priscilla Simons and Dale and Andy Arnold.
Richard Miner
Dick graduated from Bloomfield Hills High School and went to the University of Colorado in 1948, where he met Nancy. They were married during his sophomore year. After graduation, Dick and his family returned to Michigan, where he managed the family grocery store. In 1955, he sold the store and opened Miner’s, a business specializing in fine foods, liquor and gifts. Nancy operated a clothing bazaar nearby.
Dick bought his first boat, a 26-foot Owens, in 1960 and headed to Lake Huron. On that trip, he encountered fog and high wind and hit the rocks at Kettle Point. He kept the bent propeller as a reminder. Back home, he took a United States Power Squadrons boating course and joined Mount Clemens Power Squadron.
A founding member of Birmingham Power Squadron, Dick wrote an article for the first edition of Bilge Chatter, the squadron newsletter, and never wavered in his dedication to the squadron and our national organization. He continued his education and earned the grade of Senior Navigator in 1981.
Dick served on the squadron bridge, becoming commander in 1966. Then he moved up the District 9 bridge and became commander in 1973. After serving on the national bridge, Dick became our 40th Chief Commander in 1986.
His service continued for the rest of his life. During the 61 years he belonged to United States Power Squadrons, he earned 55 merit marks, becoming an Emeritus Member, the true pinnacle of achievement in our organization.
Throughout his life, he was a friend and a mentor to those of us privileged to have known and worked with him. We wish him fair winds and following seas.
We will miss him. –Thomas H. Geggie
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One boater recounts her family’s terrifying ordeal on Lake Champlain
By Diane Ptak
One summer about 50 years ago, my family voyaged to Montreal for our annual cruise. We began our excursion at Waterford, New York, passed through the 11 locks of the 60-mile Champlain Canal, and entered Lake Champlain.Dad, Mom and we five children—ages 3, 5, 10, 11 and 13—relaxed aboard Princess IV, our 24-foot twin-engine wooden-hull Trojan Sedan cabin cruiser (circa 1960). While leading a small convoy of boating enthusiasts north on the 120-mile-long lake, we encountered a horrific storm. Our boat took a beating. Luckily, we were riding with the current. The wind, waves and rain were another matter.
Having perfected his United States Power Squadrons Seamanship skills, Dad repeatedly examined our vessel instrument panel gauges—tachometer, engine hour meter, ammeter, engine temperature, oil pressure and the fuel gauge to the 50-gallon tank. Then he ran the bilge pump and Raytheon depth sounder. Despite knowing the lake well, he double-checked the compass and nautical charts to avoid crashing into rocks. He knew that when you hit rocks, the rocks win. He was also alert to unusual boat sounds.
By Susan Gilbert
The Sultana Downrigging Weekend Tall Ship and Wooden Boat Festival in Chestertown, Maryland, has become a favorite fall mini-getaway for my husband and me. In 2018, we took our third trip to this charming town to view interesting ships, Chesapeake Bay work boats, beautifully preserved Chris-Craft powerboats and antique cars.Sponsored by the Sultana Education Foundation, the festival takes place on the banks of the Chester River. Proceeds from the three-day event support the schooner Sultana. Each year Sultana takes more than 4,500 students from many Maryland ports onto the Chesapeake Bay for hands-on programs in environmental science and history.
By Stu Zwang
We try to go to Door County for about four days every year. We go far up into the peninsula, and I trailer our 23-foot open-bow Larson. We launch at Sister Bay, where we can go north to Washington Island, south to Egg Harbor, or west to Menominee. My goal for this cruise was to return to Washington Island, specifically Rock Island State Park, which is only accessible by boat.We had to travel through Death’s Door, the strait between the peninsula’s tip and Washington Island. I had been to Washington Island before and had no trouble. This year, the water was calm—for the first two hours, until we could see through the passage at Gills Rock. Then the water went from calm to 3-foot whitecaps. The swells knocked our small boat off course, and water splashed into the boat.
By John Simons
Our Great Loop adventure took one year and covered 6,500 miles. We departed from Waukegan Harbor in mid-September 2015 and, after making a series of left turns, returned to Waukegan Harbor in September 2016. Our crew consisted of John and Priscilla Simons and Dale and Andy Arnold.Hundreds of “Loopers” make this trip each year. America’s Great Loop Cruising Association conducts seminars to help Loopers prepare for the adventure.
You can read part one here.
By Capt. Katherine Redmond
In my opinion, anchoring out is one of the greatest pleasures of boating. Whether relaxing near the beach, rafting up with friends, or hiding out in one of the little coves that can only be reached by water, anchoring out is awesome.