America's Boating Club Mid Coast Maine

07/20/2024

Before you go boating, you should know how to make good weather decisions.

03/24/2023

Make your boat trailer-ready
Whether you’re planning to take your boat to the lake or a distant destination, consider these tips to make your boat trailer-ready.

Before you go
Check all tire surfaces for defects, and inflate tires to their maximum pressure.
Ensure that the bearings are free of water and properly greased.
Lubricate the hitch and ball with grease.
Test the trailer lights and connector thoroughly.
Put the boat tie-downs in place and check for proper holding.
Ensure all boat systems are operational.
Use safety chains strong enough to support the trailer’s tongue weight. Instead of S-hooks, use hooks with safety latches to hook chains to the hitch.
Ensure the trailer’s nuts, bolts, and supports, as well as the vehicle hitch and ball hitch are in place and tight. Locking nuts with nylon inserts deteriorate over time, and anything bolted or welded can fall off or fail.
Make a short trial run to an empty parking lot to practice your handling and backing skills.
On the road
Position the tow vehicle’s mirrors so you can see the trailer tires and other traffic.
Actuate your trailer’s brakes to remove accumulated rust in the brake drum, especially if you haven’t used them in some time.
Stop and check the wheel bearings for overheating after traveling a few miles. Also, check that the brakes are working by feeling the heat they create. (Careful! Brakes can be hot to the touch.)
Check the tires, hitch and tie-downs when you stop. During a long trip, check them every time you stop.
Repeating the process before bringing the boat home at the end of the summer or for an extended stay. –Jerry Le Cocq

06/16/2022

Man overboard rescue kit
If someone falls in the water, having a man overboard rescue kit on your boat can aid in your rescue attempts.

Your man overboard kit should contain

stand-up pole with flag
whistle
signal mirror
strobe light
attached life ring, and
signal flashlight.
You should learn and, if possible, practice these five simple steps to perform a proper man overboard, or crew overboard, rescue.

When a person falls overboard, immediately drop the man overboard rescue kit into the water. This gives the person flotation, a way to signal you, and a way to stay in your sight.
Keeping the person in sight, circle immediately. Stay close and keep maneuvers as simple as possible. Circle based on the sail set or helm location.
Sailboat on starboard tack, circle to the right; on port tack, circle to the left.
Powerboat helm on starboard, circle right; on port side, circle left.
Circle to a position upwind of the person, and use the boat to block the wind and waves. This position also keeps the boat and person together. The boat will drift toward the person and give you more time to complete a rescue.
Throw a line to the person, get him or her alongside, and secure a permanent attachment. Use either a line with a loop in it or a wide webbing or foam loop.
Get the person aboard, preferably with a hoist. You need a simple, strong, fail-safe system. Try out your hoist to make sure it works.
Once the person is safe, don’t forget to pick up your man overboard rescue kit.

04/15/2022

How to maintain your bilge pump
Avoid the misery of having your boat sink at the dock or while underway; maintain your bilge pump regularly.

Instead of quoting statistics about bilge pump failure and describing their complexity, I want readers to be aware of a few facts that will help keep water outside of the hull where it belongs.

Bilge pumps are more complicated than most of us realize. They can be overly sensitive to the float, which controls the pump’s turning on and off, and many expensive pumps have resets and sensors that can cause the pumps to accidentally stay off when they are most needed. Test them daily to be sure they are working properly and check the hoses to confirm that water is being pumped outside the hull.

Regular inspection is key. It’s amazing what finds its way to the bilge, and all those bits and pieces can easily lodge themselves around the pump intake or against the float, preventing it from moving and telling the pump to turn on. Many a boat has sunk with a working pump that didn’t activate because the float was mired in debris.

From my experience, bilge pumps don’t last long. I have three in Melodic, and every year, I replace at least one of them. Why they stop working properly is anyone’s guess. All I know is that the cost of a new pump is nothing compared to the cost of repairing a boat sunk at the dock.

Most bilge pumps are located midships in the lowest part of the hull, but since water also accumulates in the bow and stern, a three-pump system provides real safety benefits. Position your pumps where they are most needed.

Lastly, keep a manual, non-electric bilge pump onboard in case you lose electrical power while taking on water. In a tight situation, an inexpensive hand pump could keep you afloat until help arrives. –Daniel S. Fannon

03/17/2022

YOU CAN BE A BETTER BOATER!
Don’t fight your boat — control it! Need to know more than the basics? Take America’s Boating Club's BOAT HANDLING COURSE online.
https://mailchi.mp/hq.usps.org/boat-handling-2022?e=f3e67697bd

08/13/2021

Keep in Touch on the Water
Need emergency help while boating? Want to know what that cargo ship is doing next? Need to get your dock assignment from the marina? You need a good marine radio and the knowledge to operate it effectively.

Learn which VHF marine radio best fits your boating style and how to operate it with confidence. Take All About Marine Radio, an online seminar from America's Boating Club!

Learn more
Copyright © 2021 United States Power Squadrons, All rights reserved.

United States Power Squadrons · PO Box 30423 · Raleigh, NC 27622 · USA

Marine radios provide boaters the best and most reliable communication on the water. Marine radios have many advantages over cell phones, especially in an emergency. Learn about the digital selective calling (DSC) rescue feature as well as everyday uses such as to secure a marina slip, call for brid...

05/18/2021

Prepare for boating season
If you haven’t started to prepare for boating season, it’s not too late to ensure a safe and enjoyable summer cruising experience.
Get yourself ready
Make sure all operators have and carry a state boater education card if required by your state.
Review the Navigation Rules to refresh your working knowledge of on-the-water boat operation.
Honestly evaluate your health and physical fitness and that of your crew. You want to ensure that everyone is ready for the rigors of boating under the conditions you are likely to encounter when cruising.
Take time to plan your summer cruising activities to stimulate excitement. Then, take time to prepare for what you plan to do and where you will go.
Ensure that your boat is properly equipped and maintained, so it’s ready to get underway on schedule.
Follow this spring commissioning checklist.
Get the boat ready
When preparing the boat, complete any tasks left undone at the end of last year’s season.
Perform required regular maintenance on your sails, electronics, cooking, refrigeration, freshwater, sanitary systems and other boat systems.
Replenish the spare parts and bulbs you carry on board.
Restock fresh supplies of food and other consumables.
Activate and test your systems and safety gear, including flares, dry cell flashlight batteries, first-aid supplies and fire extinguishers.
Sign up for a free vessel safety check with a qualified vessel examiner and correct any discrepancies.
Remember that all vessels must use shore-based pump-out facilities or approved disposal service pump-out vessels for disposal of all sewage unless they are operating at least three miles from U.S. shorelines prior to any discharge. Vessels previously approved for “flow through” sewage treatment and discharge systems must secure and cease use of these systems and use pump-out facilities instead.
Before you go
Before getting underway on any voyage, file a float plan with a trusted friend or relative.
Conduct a pre-underway briefing. Make sure your crew and guests understand the voyage and the safety equipment they might be required to use.
Make guests feel comfortable by assigning a life jacket for their personal use. Reassure them that you are a safe, well-prepared skipper and that they are aboard a well-found vessel ready for a safe and enjoyable cruise.

04/15/2021

How to make a MAYDAY call
All boaters should know how to make a mayday call as well as other distress calls using Channel 16 on a VHF marine radio.

Types of marine distress calls
During an on-the-water emergency, the quickest way to call for help is to use Channel 16 on your VHF marine radio. When making the appropriate mayday, pan-pan or securité call, you tell the U.S. Coast Guard or other receiving vessel how quickly you need help.

Mayday, the highest-level emergency call, should be used only when there’s imminent danger of loss of life or vessel.

Pan-Pan calls reflect a sense of urgency without the potential loss of life or vessel. This could include loss of steerage or power, or injuries that adversely impact your ability to safely operate the boat.

Securité alerts boaters to the broadcast of safety information. These events could include seeing a loose piling in a channel, a light out on a navigational aid, a vessel overdue in transit, or severe weather moving through the area.

How to make a mayday call
Reserve the mayday call for severe emergencies with immediate danger to life or property, such as a sinking boat, fire or life-threatening injury or illness.

When calling for help, repeat “Mayday!” three times. Anticipate the Coast Guard’s questions, and be prepared to answer them.

Give your boat’s geographical position. If you can’t provide the boat’s latitude and longitude from the GPS, look for an identifiable onshore feature or identifiable buoy or beacon from which you give your distance and direction. You could also use a chart to communicate your position relative to identifiable navigational aids.

Describe your emergency, your distress situation, and the assistance you desire. Be as precise as you can about your situation so the responder can assist you.

Describe the type of boat you are in, its color and size plus any distinguishing features that would make it easy to identify. Let the Coast Guard or other responder know how many people are on board and if any are injured or have medical conditions that need attention. Describe the boat’s condition when asked.

Saying “Over” means you have finished providing this piece of information and are awaiting a reply. The Coast Guard may request additional information and keep the radio link open. When you complete the communication, saying “Out” ends the expectation of additional transmissions.

03/26/2021

Boating 101: Get Your VHF Radio Ready for the Season

In recreational boating, cellphones are just fine for routine communications. So why do you need a VHF radio – either a handheld or fixed mount – on your boat? Because in an emergency it’s the only thing that can directly connect you to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Rescue 21 system, giving you access to high-tech emergency response and Digital Selective Calling (DSC) capabilities that can hasten your rescue.

All you have to do now is to ensure your VHF radio is ready to go for the season.

Check the antennae, power and ground to the VHF radio, and batteries/charger if a handheld. Rusty or ill-fitting connections rob your radio of range. Hand held VHF batteries need to be fully charged.
Read your radio’s manual so you know features like squelch, scan, and hi/lo power settings. Familiarize yourself with the most important VHF radio channels.
For those with non-DSC VHF radios, automated VHF radio check systems are no longer available. However, you can make a short radio check voice call on VHF channel 9. Using channel 9 will not tie up the distress channel 16 and potentially delay emergency communications by another boat to the U.S. Coast Guard.
For those with DSC VHF radios, enter the U.S. Coast Guard coast station group identity “003669999” into the radio’s DSC memory. Once stored, 1. select “Test Call” from the radio’s DSC menu; 2. select the U.S. Coast Guard number you just entered; and 3. transmit the call. Your DSC VHF radio’s display should indicate when that test call is acknowledged and display the acknowledging station’s nine-digit identity. Note that the identity may be different than the group identity you previously entered.
Get your DSC-VHF radio’s Maritime Mobile Service Identity Don’t forget to enter the new MMSI number into your DSC VHF radio and ensure GPS connection is made (if DSC-VHF radio doesn’t have internally).

03/10/2021

Using a Spring line cheater

Many of us operate from the same dock most of the time. We leave our lines on the dock and pick them up with a boat hook when we return from our day on the water.
Spring lines make docking a lot easier. Get close enough to get a spring line on, give the boat a touch of power ahead, and when the boat settles into position, the rest of the lines can be picked up in an orderly but not rushed manner.

Most of us aren’t accomplished cowboys capable of lassoing a cleat on a regular basis, so how are we to get that critical spring line on the cleat in a timely manner, while looking cool, of course?

Enter the spring line cheater.

I took a piece of PVC pipe, ran a line through it, and put eye splices in both ends of the line. On one end, I also put a small piece of flexible vinyl tube to keep the loop open. The other end goes on your midship cleat.

The advantage of this setup is that you can dangle the dock end of the spring line 3 to 4 feet over the side to hook it onto the dock cleat without having to do any gymnastics or tossing lines. Slip it over the cleat, let the helmsperson know the spring line is on, and go about tying up the boat. –Capt. Carl Smith

02/23/2021

Here is a great free app from America's Boating Club. All boaters will find value in it.