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Seminars
for Recreational Boaters
Captain Monahan offers seminars tailored to the specific
requirements of you and your group.
Getting
the Most from your Marine Radar
Advanced
Collision Avoidance and Navigation - Marine Radar
Understanding
Tides and Currents
Weather Strategies for the Inside Passage
Managing
Tidal Rapids
Managing
Your Boat Like a Pro
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Getting
the Most from your Marine Radar
Basic
Radar
Length
-- 6 hours (understanding, controlling and interpreting the display; using the
controls for greater
accuracy; basics of collision avoidance and navigation, new technology)
-3 hours
(understanding, controlling and interpreting the display; rudiments of collision
avoidance and navigation)
In
order to be able to use a marine radar to advantage, users must first feel
comfortable with their equipment. Many are afraid to adjust their radar's
controls for fear they will never be able to get the radar set up properly
again. As a result, their radars are permanently out of tune.
This seminar
removes the
fear of radar. After completion of the seminar, students will be able to set up
their radars for best results and interpret the display under challenging
conditions.
With a few simple techniques, Captain Monahan teaches the student
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how to identify land-masses, other vessels and transient targets,
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simple
techniques for effectively using radar for collision avoidance and navigation,
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how
to interpret and control the display under a variety of conditions,
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how
to recognize and compensate for rain and sea clutter, interference,
ghost images and side-lobe echoes
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the
new generation of AIS, integrated radar systems which combine chart and
radar technology
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the
strengths and weaknesses of modern solid-state radar, doppler radar
and broadband radar
With
real-life screen-captures, and other audio-visual effects,
Captain Monahan will soon have you managing your radar like a pro.
Download
instructions for setting up a raster-scan radar
Advanced
Collision Avoidance and Navigation - Marine Radar
Length
-- 6 to 8 hours
Basic
Radar seminar is a pre-requisite for this seminar.
Includes
advanced understanding of
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integrated
navigation systems, including AIS and Electronic charts/GPS
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advanced
navigation techniques, especially for navigation in remote areas where
electronic charts are not dependable
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managing
and understanding the issues inherent in modern integrated navigation
systems
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advanced
collision avoidance techniques and radar plotting
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using
and understanding ARPA (automatic radar plotting aid)
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Each
student receives a copy of the Shipwrite poster Using Radar for
Collision Avoidance
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Understanding
Tides and Currents
Length
-- 6 hours
(Also
includes
most of the material in "Managing Tidal Rapids" seminar)
A
good understanding of west coast tides and currents can mean the difference
between a smooth ride and a rough ride. The Inside Passage has a water
circulation system where the tides power strong currents around the islands and
in many of the key passes. In fact some of the strongest tidal currents found
anywhere in the world can be found on the west coast.
In this session, attendees will begin by learning how the lunar and solar
cycles create the various stages of the tidal and current cycles. The seminar
will focus on understanding the dynamics of west coast tides and currents, from
the slow but inexorable circulation of currents in Johnstone Strait to the
behavior of currents in tidal rapids and how the geography of the west coast
changes those currents, for better and worse.
The seminar will provide an understanding of how tides and currents are
predicted; how the skipper can use tide tables and other resources to plan safe
passages through tidal rapids; and how to plan for tidal currents to assist
(rather than resist) a vessels progress. Using specific examples of tidal
currents and rapids on the west coast the seminar will lead to an understanding
of tide and current interactions anywhere.
The seminar also examines wind, wave and current interactions and the
effects of shallow water. Wind against current interactions can lead to ugly and
uncomfortable seas. But when they work together, big seas can become manageable,
and small waves almost completely disappear. Using the knowledge, the resources
and the techniques in this seminar, skippers will learn how to take advantage of
back-eddies, and when wait for a few hours to obtain a safer and more
comfortable ride.
Download
a secondary station calculation sheet
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Weather
Strategies for the Inside Passage
Length
-5
hours (detailed strategies for the south coast and the north coast year-round)
Inside
Passage weather patterns are confusing if you don't understand the basic
forces that shape the local weather in the Georgia Strait, Johnstone
Strait and the North Coast.
Once you understand the
dynamics of the most common weather patterns that occur in the region, you can develop strategies
that take advantage of the weather patterns for a more comfortable and
more enjoyable cruise.
This
seminar focuses on the unique weather patterns of the west coast, and how to
make decisions based on weather forecasts.
The topography of the west coast influences the weather in unique ways,
and large-scale weather patterns end up causing very localized effects, by
focusing waves and swells on certain areas and not on others, and by
accentuating the wind in certain locations. This results in an extraordinarily
complex regime of local effects which must be taken into consideration when
planning a cruise or when making daily decisions about when to travel and when
to stay at anchor.
The seminar will also
introduce skippers to key concepts of mid-latitude depressions, offshore highs,
and inflow and outflow winds, and their interactions with the geography of the
Inside Passage. Certain locations must be avoided in certain winds, and other
places offer safe passage even during high winds. The seminar also examines the
sequence and timing of weather events in specific locations.
The seminar is not
intended to teach actual forecasting of large scale weather patterns. Instead it
will show skippers how to apply the information in weather forecasts and local
weather reports, to better understand actual conditions in specific locations on
the water.
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Managing
Tidal Rapids
Length
-- 3 to 4
hours
Seminar-includes general strategies for managing tidal currents,
how to read the tide and current tables, specific strategies for managing
Johnstone Strait and Cordero Channels as well as other tidal rapids. Also
includes practice calculation of proper timing.
For
many, navigating
Johnstone
Strait
and the rapids of the
Inside Passage
is a new challenge. Capricious currents that always seem to be working
against one, mountainous seas and ominous calms add a new dimension to
navigating this beautiful area of British Columbia. The result is that most folks are happy to cruise to Desolation Sound or the
southern
Gulf Islands, but are reluctant to travel north of Seymour Narrows.
You may be surprised to learn that planning a trip north
of
Campbell River
is not as difficult as you thought—Johnstone Strait
and the nearby tidal rapids form an incredibly complex hydraulic system, but in a number
of very important ways, it is predictable.
Once
you understand the tidal dynamics of Johnstone Strait, you can navigate in comfort using the characteristics of the system to speed
you on your way, to save fuel, or to help you avoid the worst of the weather. In
this three-hour seminar,
Kevin Monahan will share the local knowledge* you
need to manage your passage through the tidal rapids of Cordero
Channel and how to how to make the currents of Johnstone
Strait
work in your favour.
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Material drawn from Local
Knowledge--A Skipper's Reference
Download
a secondary station calculation sheet
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Managing
Your Boat Like a Pro
Length
-- 8 hours
Developed
jointly with Fine Edge Nautical Seminars
What does it mean to “Manage your
boat like a Pro”?
This
seminar presents a systematic program of boat and passage management
consisting of critical knowledge elements, Standard Operating Procedures,
checklists for maintenance and day to day management, and planning tools.
Tools are provided for the management of all “phases of operation”,
and preparation, planning, and maintenance cycles
In
some ways, it is more challenging for a recreational boater to “manage
like a pro” than it is for the true professional. Professional mariners
depend on engineers to do the mechanical work, on deckhands to manage the
deck, and on a cook to manage the galley. The recreational boater must
combine elements of all four functions, engineer, deckhand, cook, and
skipper into one, without burdening him (or her) self with so much
responsibility that it takes the fun out of boating.
One
way in which there is a significant difference between the competent
recreational boater and the professional seaman, is that the professional
is often compelled to travel and perform during marginal, weather
conditions whereas the recreational boater is not. Very seldom is the
recreational boater compelled to do the same. The true measure of a
successful recreational boater is that he or she does not come home with
horror stories, and tales of adventure or disaster. Instead, a truly
successful boater avoids traveling in bad weather, does not experience
critical failures of equipment and basically has no surprises.
Modern
commercial ship management operates on similar principles, Maritime safety
management as practiced by modern captains now resembles the management of
aircraft safety more than it does the “seat of the pants” type marine
management of the last century.
Above
all, this is a course about management, not about the details of
seamanship. We strongly recommend the various seamanship and navigation
courses available, especially those offered by the
US
and Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons.
The
main principles of vessel management are captured in a number of
conceptual areas. These areas are shared by big commercial shipping, but
their basic principles are as applicable to small recreational boats as
they are to supertankers.
A
professional skipper skilfully manages his or her boat with time honed
practices built upon experience. Experienced instructors will guide you
step by step with techniques they have learned for a successful and safe
means of managing your boat and enjoying your passage.
A
course binder will be provided with all of the key information covered in
the seminar. This will include checklists for use on your boat to allow
you to quickly and easily use the techniques for each of your passages,
whether for a single day or weekend or to visit a far off and remote
destination. The techniques taught in this class apply to any powered
vessel, sail or power. Specific sailing techniques will not be covered,
but all planning, boat handling and management applies to either sail or
powerboats.
Click
here for the seminar outline
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