When did you first go out to sea

When did you first go out to sea?

gaston said:

and how much navigation experience dose one need with today's electronics ?

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That would have been about 1955, I would have been about twelve years old and it would have been my uncle's sailboat out of LA.

There were no "today's electronics", I imagine he had nothing more than a compass.

Operating my own boat? The closest I've come to "out to sea" is St. Andrews Sound on the AICW in Georgia. That would have been a few years ago.

As for navigation experience, it's best to start small and gain experience. There's no set amount of experience needed. And of course the only way to gain experience is by doing. I'm not suggesting just buying a boat and going out to gain experience, education is a great aid to make sure your experiences are mostly good ones.

WesK said:

When did you first go out to sea?



That would have been about 1955, I would have been about twelve years old and it would have been my uncle's sailboat out of LA.

There were no "today's electronics", I imagine he had nothing more than a compass.

Operating my own boat? The closest I've come to "out to sea" is St. Andrews Sound on the AICW in Georgia. That would have been a few years ago.

As for navigation experience, it's best to start small and gain experience. There's no set amount of experience needed. And of course the only way to gain experience is by doing. I'm not suggesting just buying a boat and going out to gain experience, education is a great aid to make sure your experiences are mostly good ones.

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Wes

Your sentence: "There's no set amount of experience needed." is so very true.

Each person navigating aboard boat has their own set of how-to's and what-if's they have gleaned by marine doings of one sort or another. With 2016's broad expanse of electronic navigational equipment available, if a person can read and have clear vision and a bit o' smarts then accurate navigation experiences should be quite attainable. That said; I still believe that every boater should become well in knowledge of compass headings, tidal/current conditions, wind conditions, boat speeds, time elapse, and how to chart-out a plan of action on paper charts. Redundancy is a good word. Back-up plans are great to have.

"Back-up plans are great to have"

Especially when a fuse blows and it gets real dark.

That would be June 1954 reported aboard my first ship USS Buckley DDR 808 stationed at New Port, RI, also just in time to expirience the full force of hurricane Hazel in October. Spent the next six months in the Boston Naval Shipyard having the damage to the destroyer repaired. Seventeen years old and my first taste of salt water and I new the Navy was for me. Even when we later took station in the North Atlantic on the Dew Line extension for a month at five knots in a 50 mile circle covered with ice this mid-west born kid had found I was just as comfortable at sea as I was on the prairies of Illinois.

HiDHo said:

That would be June 1954 reported aboard my first ship USS Buckley DDR 808 stationed at New Port, RI, also just in time to expirience the full force of hurricane Hazel in October. Spent the next six months in the Boston Naval Shipyard having the damage to the destroyer repaired. Seventeen years old and my first taste of salt water and I new the Navy was for me. Even when we later took station in the North Atlantic on the Dew Line extension for a month at five knots in a 50 mile circle covered with ice this mid-west born kid had found I was just as comfortable at sea as I was on the prairies of Illinois.

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D - I love your story!

Some of people are simply attached to water and some are not. Ain't it great to be one that is!

Art

First time at sea... Winter 1950, as a 7-year old Army brat, taking the USS Bremerhaven from NY to Germany. Still can recall the vastness of the open ocean and the chaos of the North Sea.

As far as navigation skills, started sailing in a 17' Venture with many trips from Watch Hill to Block Island using compass, paper charts, and dead reckoning. With today's electronics (chart plotter, depth sounder, radar), it's makes for brain-dead navigation (a good thing and a bad thing). Use the electronics if you have them, but plan on them failing, usually at the worst time.

First set out to Sea, big sea, in 1983. I was 18 years old.
Fast forward 33 years, I'm 51 now, and not much has changed.
I have all the 'old-school' stuff in my back pocket, but primarily use Nobletec & an iPad (with iSailor / Transas charts) as aback-up. I feel the need to move with the times

Wifey B: Ok, my first time to sea as in ocean was 2012. As a kid, no boats in my life. Only time was once I went with some church group to a lake and we were on a pontoon boat. It wasn't the boat though, but the place, the water, the escape. I didn't have a lot of good days as a kid and that was one I never forgot. It was worth all the trouble I got into over it when I got home as I didn't exactly have permission.

Fast forward to 2001, I've met the love of my life and go to visit and we get out on the water. Heck yeah, I was hooked and it was only starting. Three months later, on my 22nd birthday we got married and I was a boater forever. On the water was just where we both loved being. Maybe I just felt his love for it. I don't know. I just know it was so right and has always been a huge part of our life.

In the last 10,000 miles between Fl and NJ...I have never taken the ball cap off my compass that protects it from the sun.....

Kinda ridiculous I am protecting it from the sun....

2 years ago I even stopped plotting electronic courses.

Just not that big of a deal down the Atlantic seaboard/AICW, Chesapeake & Delaware Bays.

But everyone has their pleasures and comfort levels.

psneeld said:

In the last 10,000 miles between Fl and NJ...I have never taken the ball cap off my compass that protects it from the sun.....

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Wifey B: Shouldn't a ball cap be on your......

I mean it's not a compass cap.

Is in this case.....

BandB said:

Wifey B: Ok, my first time to sea as in ocean was 2012. As a kid, no boats in my life. Only time was once I went with some church group to a lake and we were on a pontoon boat. It wasn't the boat though, but the place, the water, the escape. I didn't have a lot of good days as a kid and that was one I never forgot. It was worth all the trouble I got into over it when I got home as I didn't exactly have permission.

Fast forward to 2001, I've met the love of my life and go to visit and we get out on the water. Heck yeah, I was hooked and it was only starting. Three months later, on my 22nd birthday we got married and I was a boater forever. On the water was just where we both loved being. Maybe I just felt his love for it. I don't know. I just know it was so right and has always been a huge part of our life.

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WB - Congrats on all you found and all you have! Never let go!!

One Item I'd like to bring up here (that I hope most - if not all - on TF are blessed with) is good stomachs... i.e. in that we do not get sea-sick.

Point in fact: My son LOVES the water. He was brought up in Maine around and on the water all the time. Well, he married a simply outstanding woman whom he met in Aspen CO a couple decades back when he was executive Chef at Aspen's Ajax Tavern. T'waz love at first sight; a fine grand daughter they provided. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to son while still in Aspen falling madly in love with his wife to soon be - Chris - Chris can not step foot aboard without getting sea-sick. This has created no problems for them other than they do not have a boat... even though living basically on the water in Dana Point CA. I feel for my son. In his 40's now he has grown to accept the fact that water doings aboard boat in not in their lifestyle... so they enjoy other hobbies and fun actions like avid skiing, swimming, running, travel for events and the like. Tobs always knows that if he jones too bad and needs a boat fix that he can always plan a few days to visit dad and my love for a fun boat excursion. Poor Chris turns green on a boat at dock during calm day. Makes me sad for them both, as well as for Helena, their wonderful daughter.

Boy, having never been seasick in my life, I can't imagine what that must be like. I know in just the right conditions even people who "never" get sick sometimes get it too, but not yet for me. There's got to be some way to condition a person past that, isn't there?

Just anecdotally, I have observed mal de mar afflict folks unexpectedly - even experienced sailors. During the first day or so of a long offshore trip, after too much time ashore, I sometimes feel queasy and have even blown chunks over the side. It settles down after a day or so, but it's true that for some unfortunates, waterborne adventures are just off-limits. Pharmacological remedies like scopolamine can have adverse side-effects that could pose a risk to health and safety aboard.

I feel for those who get seasick. When we have new guests who haven't cruised we do have them take something the first time. We caution them about what they eat before boarding.

Also, Sleipner did some interesting testing and it points out the role stabilizers might have in preventing seasickness. They tested a 56' Princess with Side-Power Vector Fins. At 11 knots they found the vector fins reduced roll by 97% and reduced seasickness by 99.8%. At anchor, they found they reduced roll by 66-72% and seasickness by 88-92%.

Last, I'd suggest anyone who gets seasick in calm conditions might be well served to see an ENT regarding a potential inner ear problem.