Having a plan is key to successful, safe and enjoyable journeys, whether just a day out on the water or an extended passage.

Maritimo’s Skipper and a Master Four-qualified mariner with many years of experience across many vessels, both locally and around the globe, offered some helpful and practical tips to cut through all the clutter. Above all, planning is key to a safe and enjoyable boating experience.

“I always say that a passage plan can be as long or short as you want. You really break down each day or each part of that trip, or even waypoint to waypoint within that, to what you expect to see on that section of the journey.”

“Then it’s about putting that plan into action. That might mean putting it into the navigation system or transferring it over. If you have ActiveCaptain®, which has been a fantastic addition to the world of recreational navigating, you can run everything. You can be sitting there on your phone the night before, making a passage plan and then pushing it through to your screens, via the boat’s WiFi, so that you’re not hovering over your screen all day long, putting four thousand fingerprints on it. It’s just a nice way to do it. Then you can review it on your big screen and run through the whole voyage, put in any parameter in terms of what you want to see and what you don’t want to see, regarding depth or any obstruction – or perhaps your closest point of approach to a headland, or something like that.”

“ActiveCaptain® doesn’t have everything. It’s great on auto guidance, you can definitely see your local tides, currents, and all that information. It’s really good to have at your fingertips, especially if you’re sitting back in your helm chair and you’re running a Garmin or a Simrad system. Essentially on a smaller iPad system, where you’re operating it from the helm, so you’re not leaning over the big screen all day long.”

“When you’ve got all your pre-planning done, you can then easily be following it and referring to it on the screen. But I always really stress as much as it is great to have all these screens, we always need to keep our eyes up as well. The more gear we put on boats, the more people are putting their heads down and not looking out the glass.”

“When it comes to planning and weather PredictWind has a whole powerboat section and you can put in the parameters of your boat and it’ll tell you which is the best day to go based on weather considerations, and which day not to go. It can calculate your travel time, the most comfortable route to travel and even your fuel burn. So, the most economical day to travel.”

“Up until a few years ago the preferred method was to engage a third party that would route the weather for you. They consider your entire journey and the service might cost you say around $500, but you’ve got that backup, and plenty of captains out there still use that exact system, because it forms part of the management of the vessel, which also helps with the insurance.”

“When it comes to weather, don’t be afraid to look at the five different reports. Don’t be afraid to ring up a professional.”

“There’s a heck of a lot of electronic aids for you. But there are two things that you should never forget, which are the ‘rules of the road’ and also as I said before to ‘stick your head out the room with a view’ every now and then. So that you’re aware of your surroundings and other vessels around it. You’re watching for birds that doing different things, whether they’re attacking fish, or flying in certain directions, or you’re looking out for others on the water, like 15-year-olds in tinnies coming straight out in front of you.”

“Collision regulations are just fundamental to navigating a boat. Whether I’m moving around from here to Sanctuary Cove, or whether I’m doing any type of boat movement, I’m always applying those collision regulations.”

“Most boaters go and get a boat license and they’re done in a day, right? They learn eight collision regulations and then away they go. International Collision Regulations is a very detailed subject in itself and within those collision regulations you get a lot of rules that may apply to either the stand on vessel or the give way vessel. It’s not to say everyone needs to learn every single collision regulation, but like everything on the water, I think being aware of a few more of those rules is really going to help in navigating the boat safely. So, take the time out when you’re not on board to read up more and review.”

“Another helpful hint is to keep an App handy on your phone that has a quick reference guide for yourself or keep a little detail at the helm where you can remind yourself for example which way to turn, if you’re heading towards another boat. The reality is that most use their boat say six times a year, so are they going to be good navigators in terms of the collision regulations – especially in an urgent situation?”

“I think it’s just as important as having an updated chart, which is also very important on Garmin, Simrad and Furuno – they’re not all just going to automatically update themselves. There is an onus on the owner or skipper to go to the relevant websites to download the latest software, before you go out. I don’t think many people know that you should be updating their Navionics App, specifically the chart that you’ve downloaded, every other week, because you might have had a couple of different updates come through that week.”

“And further to that what’s your Plan B for navigation? We, know there’s a lot of errors in GPS. Or what happens if you lose an electronic screen or the iPad breaks? Plan B might be something as simple as having a sailing guide or a paper chart that’s somewhat up to date, or carry a handheld compass. Why not teach yourself a couple of old skills and make them your new skills? But incorporate a backup in your plan is the message. It’s that simple.”

“For longer journeys one of the other big things is to log on with your radio and to know the next port and the next radio station that you’re going to log in to. It makes a lot of sense to have a radio schedule and to advise where you are and where you are heading, so others are aware of your position, your ETA etc. It will also give you entry information on a seaway or port and other local conditions for where you are heading.”

“So, you’ve got your plan and backups, and this is where you can also involve other people. The night before you leave, while you’re sitting around talking about that passage plan, you can focus on tomorrow. Everyone’s starting that new day a little bit closer than they were the previous day and they know what everyone is trying to achieve.”

“I think it’s all about raising awareness, raising safety, making sure everyone’s having fun, but that shared responsibility, I think is a big part of it. Then the guy on the helm that’s doing all the work and all the navigating that has all the responsibilities is not out there on their own, but has support with roles and with more eyes and ears out there. The more people that are aware of the plan, the better.”

Helpful Tips for Your Journey:

Make a Plan: Whether your journey is short or long, always have a clear plan and keep it easily accessible.
Share the Plan: Discuss the plan with everyone on board and assign roles.
Update Your Apps: Ensure all Apps are up to date before departure. Many apps have weekly updates but don’t always update automatically.
Familiarise Yourself with the Route: Review each leg of your journey in advance.
Check Weather Conditions: Cross-reference weather information from multiple sources to ensure accuracy.
Device Backup: Know which devices are running what information and have a backup plan in case of electronics failure. Learn traditional navigation methods to cross-check and strengthen your skills.
Collision Regulations: Brush up on the Collision Regulations and keep a quick reference guide at the helm.
Radio Schedule: For longer trips, use a radio schedule to stay in contact.
Look Beyond the Screens: While screens are helpful for guidance, make sure to look up and out the window regularly to maintain awareness.