Basic Seamanship.

[M118LR]

Red is on the port side (like the wine, port is red is how I always remember that even after all this time). The stern light was white, but that may have been just my stepfather replacing the bulb wrong. He was a “the nice kitchen knives are all screwdrivers” kind of guy.

Red like Port has few letters for the Great Unwashed. ( kind of like left and right) Green like Starboard has more letters. The aft lights either aloft or on the stern gunwhale are white. So what is so important if you observe that the red light is on your right? Clue, it could result in a collision? WHAT!!!! Hope folks understand or need I explain further? Basic Seamanship? Does it relate to all the other basics? Everyone has been told that you can rub two sticks together to make fire, when was the last time you did this to make a fire? How much easier is it if you use certain types of wood for each part of the process? When was the last time that you observed your student perform the procedure Basic Fire making or Basic Seamanship? PS: perhaps you might want to once again perform that Basic Skill prior to assisting a student in their learning process? JMHO. Like " Red right returning" it's so basic everyone knows it like rubbing two sticks together to make fire. LMAO. LOL.

 

[M118LR]

So G-rat I asked a question, and many may feel that I dumped on them when they answered honestly. Yet none that responded knew the answer to a Basic Life Saving Question I posed. So somehow I feel that every landlubber that witnesses a red light on their right while at sea in the dark may report it to the helmsman for some reason unbeknownst to me. Perhaps that is the harsh way of passing knowledge online? But is it better than threading frozen water to remain alive, or dodging sharks in warm water, to get the message? Yup I suck as a teacher, but prior to OJT perhaps I convey my experience while not exactly being proficient at online instruction. I am rather good when face to face if I am allowed to blow my own horn online? Just food for thought. How many folks intend to ask their Grandkids or children to point out Polaris or the North Star next time the are out at night? Rhetorical Question, but it may be an Honest Question. YMMV? That's part of Basic Seamanship for those that don't know or know and don't know that they know. Those that know not, and know not that they know not are fools, avoid them. JMHO. Yet they may be considered internet experts. YMMV?

 

[capt.joe]

I still remember True Virgins Make Dull Companions lol . TVMDC course calculations

 

[Snake-Eyes]

I still remember True Virgins Make Dull Companions lol . TVMDC course calculations

“East is least (-), West is best (+)”

Good stuff.

 

[M118LR]

There is also a color code for resistors. Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly. Black, Brown Red, Orange,Yellow, Green, Blue Violet Grey, White. Almost like: Some Can Tell ,Oscar Has,A Hairy Old A$$. Sine, Cosine, Tangent. Sine-opposite/hypotenuse. Cosine-adjacent/hypotenuse. Tangent-opposite/adjacent. Milspeak, forgive US Please. Also defined as Sailors Lexicon.

 

[justapilgrim]

Ever had a big tree get knocked down on your land? That's the start of a free dug out canoe. Ever heard of a Courieur Des Bois? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coureur_des_bois

No, never heard of a Courieur Des Bois

 

[ABlaster]

Red like Port has few letters for the Great Unwashed. ( kind of like left and right) Green like Starboard has more letters. The aft lights either aloft or on the stern gunwhale are white. So what is so important if you observe that the red light is on your right? Clue, it could result in a collision? WHAT!!!! Hope folks understand or need I explain further? Basic Seamanship? Does it relate to all the other basics? Everyone has been told that you can rub two sticks together to make fire, when was the last time you did this to make a fire? How much easier is it if you use certain types of wood for each part of the process? When was the last time that you observed your student perform the procedure Basic Fire making or Basic Seamanship? PS: perhaps you might want to once again perform that Basic Skill prior to assisting a student in their learning process? JMHO. Like " Red right returning" it's so basic everyone knows it like rubbing two sticks together to make fire. LMAO. LOL.

As far as the red being on my right is it a channel marker or another vessel? If I was coming back in the channel marker red lights should be on my right. If it was another vessel, all I remember is that vessels under power give way to those under sail and if I saw a green light on another power vessel treat it like a traffic light and hold my course. I never had any formal instruction, just some guys at the marina telling me some advice.

 

[M118LR]

Best thing about Basic Seamanship, since most all of it is really Old, much of the knowledge has been passed in really Old fashioned methods that don't even require the ability to read. Tales, songs, easy to remember oral word plays, ( like Red right returning etc...) Stories of sea creatures going in and out of holes when tieing knots. (IE like Quinn teaching Chief in JAWS) Reading, writing, and arithmetic are not requirements to find the North Star or Orion's Belt. These are Basics that have remained constant for so long that the average Seaman didn't need literacy to learn. Thus children even so young that they don't know the alphabet song can figure them out. All it takes is a few minutes of sharing between folks and the Basics can be retained for another generation. JMHO. 28 seconds in

 

[Beached]

A lot of the youth today never have been in the woods or the ocean unless it was in a video game. They can tell you anything you want to know about a smartphone but could not build a birdhouse. Or row a boat. Honda in the 70s used to put instructions in the owners manual on how to adjust the valves troubleshoot the engine. Now they put warnings do not drink the gas. The exhaust will burn you etc.

 

[m4a1sof]

My son does:

 

[Idoono]

I thought the original question was very interesting. When I seen the answers coming in it got me to thinking how I need to spend more time with my grandson teaching him these things. Kids now-a-days do not have the same opportunity to learn the way we did. You can only learn so much from a computer and then it's hands-on time.

BTW, I laughed at the question, but then again my daddy was a boatswain mate for 20 years so it was ingrained in me from my earliest memory. Wish I could remember it all now.

 

[Capt. Dave]

I find it ironic that nobody has mentioned MOA. If you know how to range in your scope, you already know 90% of marine navigation.

 

[TK5o]

I find it ironic that nobody has mentioned MOA. If you know how to range in your scope, you already know 90% of marine navigation.

Can you expand on this? I know MOA but how does that help navigation if you are on open water?

 

[Capt. Dave]

Can you expand on this? I know MOA but how does that help navigation if you are on open water?

The earth is divided into 360 degrees, Or minutes of angle. You need an accurate Mercator chart and two good and accurate compasses. One being gps, the other magnetic.in theory, you can get anywhere on earth by good accurate chart plotting. You have to know where you started unless you know celestial navigation also.

 

[Snake-Eyes]

The earth is divided into 360 degrees, Or minutes of angle. You need an accurate Mercator chart and two good and accurate compasses. One being gps, the other magnetic.in theory, you can get anywhere on earth by good accurate chart plotting. You have to know where you started unless you know celestial navigation also.

360° East to West, but “only” 180° North to South.

Labeling and scale.

One degree of Latitude is always 60 nautical miles. One degree of Longitude depends on where you are as to what the distance is.

Edit to add:

Each degree is broken into 60 minutes.
So one “minute” of Latitude is exactly one nautical mile.

Clarification not aimed AT Capt Dave; just to clarify for folks who may not know.

 

[Capt. Dave]

Don’t forget deviation and variation on a magnetic compass due to the earth not being perfectly round and magnetic variable location. Also don’t rely solely on gps as gps calibration occurs every day at around 06:00.

 

[M118LR]

Just imagine what navigation was like when LORAN was the most accurate system available.

 

[Capt. Dave]

Just imagine what navigation was like when LORAN was the most accurate system available.

Most of that system is shut down now. I think they still have it in and around Alaska.

 

[fisheadgib]

Just imagine what navigation was like when LORAN was the most accurate system available.

I was pissed when Obama shut down loran because I had thousands of spots in loran and I've never found any accurate conversion programs. Loran was accurate enough but you had to understand the lines as you didn't have a map with arrows telling you where to go. You had to follow a compass heading.

 

[fisheadgib]

I thought the original question was very interesting. When I seen the answers coming in it got me to thinking how I need to spend more time with my grandson teaching him these things. Kids now-a-days do not have the same opportunity to learn the way we did. You can only learn so much from a computer and then it's hands-on time.

BTW, I laughed at the question, but then again my daddy was a boatswain mate for 20 years so it was ingrained in me from my earliest memory. Wish I could remember it all now.

I thought about this but I'm not sure that many kids nowadays care about or want to learn the things that many of us learned at a young age. Years ago, my brother was was down here on vacation with his three kids and they enjoyed going fishing but none of them were the least bit interested in learning how to drive the boat.
Another example is driving. When I was a kid, my friends and I couldn't wait to get our drivers licenses. A few of my friends with teenagers say that their kids aren't anxious to get there licenses because it's a "hassle" and their parents will drive them anywhere they want to go.