East Coast Tidal Pilotage Association / Passage notes

Shoal-draft seamanship

A shoal-draft boat can open up quiet East Coast berths, provided her crew understands the bottom, the tide and the limits of her equipment.

Drying upright on mud

Check that the boat is designed to take the ground, including her keel, rudder, skin fittings and any centreboard. Ask the berth operator about the nature and slope of the bottom, obstructions, expected level and local practice. A soft-looking berth can hide a hard patch or debris. Leave sufficient line for the tidal range and check how the boat will settle and refloat.

A kedge in a stream

A kedge can help control a vessel or assist a refloat, but strong flow and a loaded warp can create serious loads. Choose a suitable anchor and a sound attachment, keep crew clear of a tensioned line, and consider how the warp leads as the boat moves. The angle between the anchor, fairlead and direction of pull changes the useful component of force; a longer or poorly aligned pull does not automatically solve the problem. Plan for failure and seek local help when needed.

Night pilotage practice

For an RYA Coastal Skipper exercise, prepare a leg on a current chart in daylight: identify lights and their characteristics, clearing lines, depths and a safe abort point. At night, compare each observation with the plan, keep a continuous lookout and log the vessel’s position. Background shore lights and fatigue can confuse identification. Practise first in familiar water with a competent crew.

Work through an illustrative clearance estimate on the home-page calculator and verify the actual tide and local conditions independently.