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 A passing ferry in The Solent. It's really closer than it looks! | |
My assigned course was to sail to a specific buoy about two nautical miles down Southampton water. Given 15 minutes to plan, I plotted a simple course “buoy hopping” at the side of the channel—with a half-mile or so between buoys. I could give the helmsman a course to steer, a depth to look for, and landmarks or buoys near our course to call out as we passed.
Our instructor pretended it was foggy and that he couldn’t see anything farther than a hundred meters or less away. Motoring at about four knots—a mile every 15 minutes—I gave the helmsman a course for the first leg and the approximate time we should arrive. As we approached the first buoy, the instructor called out its identification and the approximate distance and side at our closest passing. I plotted our position and recalculated a course to steer to the next buoy based on our drift and new position and figured the time we should reach it. The current was pretty much parallel to our course so adjustments for current were easy and after about three legs I had a good correction for current by iteration.
 One of the many rivers that feed into The Solent—posing yet another challenge for someone used to sailing on a lake. | |
At our destinations, the instructor called us out to see that each of us had hit his destination buoy dead on. Nerve wracking as it was, our half-hour blind navigation exercise was a great experience. e found that we could navigate without being able to see much and correct for current and other variables to accurately reach our destination determining our estimated position with dead reckoning and a little feedback—all without GPS!
 The HMS Victory seen here at the Portsmouth Harbor is still in commission. | |
In our course we were able to learn and practice many new skills such as identifying ships by navigation lights, reading cardinal marks, docking in a fast current, tacking down a narrow creek and using a “ferry glide." We also practiced MOB procedures off Portsmouth with British Navy ships spanning 200 years anchored nearby (HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship, is at Portsmouth). None, however, was as memorable as my exhausting and harrowing 25 minutes of blind navigation.
Sailing in England My course was in late June, but instead of shorts, sunscreen, and shades on the deck with a cold drink in hand, we wore wool sweaters and oilies and sat in the cabin with a warm milky drink.England is quite far north and its mild climate comes by way of the warm Gulf Stream. On the water, summers can still be cold and wet. The RYA (Royal Yachting Association) offers many courses in sailing, power boating, and wind surfing. The Day Skipper course that I took is probably equivalent to US Sailing’s Basic Cruising course. The RYA web site (www.rya.org.uk) is quite extensive and worth a look. I used Southern Sailing School (www.southern.co.uk) a non-profit school. Several other sailing schools are in the area and all organizations worldwide offering RYA courses are listed on the RYA website. There are a dozen or so English sailing magazines, some that can be found on US newsstands. I subscribe to Sailing Today (sailingtoday.co.uk). Many schools and charter companies advertise in the magazines and the articles give a little different look at our favorite pastime.
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