My “seaman’s eye” discovers a new clue to shallow water in an unfamiliar harbour.
You’re lucky if your pilot guide gives you any information at all about the streams, currents and shallows you’ll need to negotiate in port. Even then they may be next to useless. Wind shifts around buildings and ships, rivers and harbours silt up and debris accumulates, currents accelerate around obstructions. Harbours and anchorages are living, developing things, reminiscent at times of a petulant toddler.
We’re taught to use our “seaman’s eye” when navigating around a harbour. We search for clues as to where the water may be shallow (inside of a bend or where suspiciously still), the direction and strength of the stream (the way other boats are lying, the wake of rocks, or the tilt of a buoy) or the prevailing wind strength and direction (the movement of flags, trees or blowing litter).
Our seaman’s eye benefits much from experience. And sometimes it finds new clues where you wouldn’t even think of looking.
Dumb
We slipped our lunchtime mooring in one of the lower Clyde’s many charming little ports of call with plenty of time to make it back to our home marina before the sun started to set on a fresh spring day. With a bit of time to kill before heading back we decided to have a nosey around a small marina, a new addition to this little town’s attractions.
As we motored slowly out of the moorings and pointed our bow at the farther of the two gaps through the breakwater we heard a loud shout across the harbour.
“Shallow water!”
Sure enough, the depth sounder started rapidly ticking down. A quick burst of astern was in order, as was perhaps the closer of the two entrances.
As we waved and shouted our thanks, the harbour worker pointed out our sheer stupidity to us.
“If there was any water there, we’d have put moorings down!”
Dumber
Lesson learnt, and yes, probably an obvious one in a country so often hell-bent on milking yachties for every penny.
It’s always a bit risky to go meandering around an unfamiliar harbour without checking the charts and pilot guide first, but we’ve got our seaman’s eye to guide us after all. Pay attention to the depth sounder, slow revs on the engine, keep a good lookout and you’ll be fine.
And maybe your seaman’s eye will learn a new trick or two as well.
If you’re in a popular small-boat harbour and there’s a patch of water with no mornings down, there’s probably a very good reason. Or a bad reason, depending on how you look at it.
And hey, you’ve got to love that Scottish sense of humour!
