On Fri, 17 Nov 2006 12:29:19 -0500, Larry wrote:

Vic Smith wrote in
:

Since I'm never in a hurry (looming weather could change that) and
will be driving a shallow-draft boat, you seem to be giving me driving
options I never thought I had. I like it.

Looming weather is probably too late. We all get caught by weather,
miles from the trailer. In a river, you can speed up, but in open water
that looming weather will whip the surface so you have to slow down, not
speed up. Don't wait, head in early.

Point taken.

I know that water/bottom conditions where you boat might be different
than the Charlotte harbor area, but can you give this newbie a couple
quick personal examples of how you put this to use?


I assume you mean the sonar.

No, I actually meant examples of how you use that Walmart parking lot
analogy in your navigation.

Charlotte Harbor is like the rest of them,
slowly, but inevitably, silting in from the tide currents. The bottom of
any harbor is constantly shifting. That's what all the dredging is about
where commercial shipping must have depth. Where they go, the depth is
kept to 50', like Charleston Harbor's shipping channels. However,
anywhere else is now completely neglected. The ICW in 90% of the nation
is closing itself down because dredging stopped when shipping on it
stopped years ago. Parts of the ICW are so shallow we can't drag a 6'
draft sailboat keel over it any more. Florida's ICW is just awful. I
can't wait to get the ketch offshore, where she belongs. The manatees
have become a fantastic excuse to stop spending money on dredging so it
can be diverted into something more vote productive. So, the bottom
keeps coming closer and closer. In your small boat, you only need a
couple of ft deeper than your motor skeg sticks down, probably 3-4' would
be fine.

I'm really pleased to be reading some boating related info here.
Thanks.

In a small boat, I recommend a "fish finder", a sonar that makes a
graphical recording of the bottom as you go over it. Even if you don't
fish, it lets you see the TREND of what the bottom is doing, getting
deeper or shallower in that gradual slope, reaching out to snatch the
bottom of the motor away from you. The graphing sonar lets you look down
to see how deep it is. When you're buying a sonar, don't worry that it
will see the bottom in 600' of water. Worry that it can see the bottom
in 3' of water! If it sees the bottom 50' down, that's about as far as
we need. The big, deep sonars have powerful transmitters with LONG pulse
widths. The shallowest bottom it can see depends on a SHORT pulse width.
If the reflected sound off the bottom arrives back at the transducer
while it's still transmitting, you won't see it. It has already passed
by the time the long pulse width is over. A short pulse width will be
over BEFORE the echo from the bottom 3' down arrives so the receiver can
hear it and show you it's 3' deep. Also, get a sonar where you can put
in the boat's depth to offset the displayed depth. Set the offset 2'
deeper than the bottom of the engine skeg. If it ever gets close to
zero, you're in trouble. The display will now show the depth of the
water at the bottom of the motor skeg. NEVER let it get near zero. Just
as soon as it gets to 2' of water under that expensive foot, there'll be
a log sticking up to catch it. It's an unwritten law of the sea!...(c;

Thanks for pointing that out. Another argument for putting around
slowly in my case.
I'll be looking to equip a fishfinder having as great a forward
looking angle as possible, and having the most shallow water accuracy.
Then practice using it and getting to know its capabilities and mine
on sandbars and such.
You know, this conversation might get me back to leaning for less HP,
for a couple reasons:
1. I take your cautions about weather very seriously, and within
reason, don't see speed as an answer to staying out of weather.
Speed might be more likely to get one caught where he shouldn't be.
2. Less motor is less draft, and maybe less expense repairing log
damage.
Then there's the standing reasons of initial expense and fuel economy.
I know most boaters recommend getting the max rated HP for the boat,
but maybe I'm not "most boaters."

Other obstructions it can't help you with, like those damned crab traps
with the toilet floats bobbing at the surface....right in the channel
****es me off.

I guess that's where always active eyes and brain come in.

"Red Right Returning" is the saying for the bouys coming into the harbor.
Coming from sea, the red bouys should be on your right. On the ICW, it
changes to confuse everyone. You'll get the hang of it. Go by West
Marine and get a little plastic dash sticker they have showing how the
bouys are marked. Make everyone read it who drives it. You'll be fine.

Thanks. I can do that now, don't even need a boat!

My friend Dan bought a 40-something sport fisherman yacht with twin
diesel monsters in Hilton Head, SC. He and his wife had never driven a
boat in their lives, before. After showing them how to start it and
operate the controls, the broker bade them farewell and helped them by
shoving it away from the dock. Up the ICW from Hilton Head to
Charleston, they only ran it aground 4 times before getting the hang of
it. He'd never driven a rowboat, before...(c;

I've driven a number of motor boats, a lot of small OB tillered, and
some ski boats, all in lakes/rivers, but even if it mattered, I've
forgotten it all. There's no way I'm going out in my new boat the
first time without an experienced local waters captain.
I figure if I'm spending 15-20k on a boat, a few hundred to get some
training is a no-brainer.

A blind man with $500K to spend can buy a big diesel yacht and drive it
away without breaking any laws. Blame the industry who are terrified of
licensing to make it safer. Boats are bought on IMPULSE. If they have
to go get a captain's license before driving it, they probably won't buy
it in the first place. Hence, the lobbying to prevent licensing....

I've been boating since I got my first boat for Christmas when I was 8.
Amazingly, I'm still alive to enjoy them....(c;

Same here, but I quit when I was 25, leaving a very large gap.
Thanks for the tips.

--Vic