V. The cruise involves its planning, piloting to get there without going aground, and the destination itself.

A. Planning a Cruise.

Make realistic projections about travel time over water and excursions in dinghy.

Plan an appealing itinerary:

Islands, bays or cays with attractions

Anchorages with scenic and natural features

Plan meals either at restaurants or on boat

Keep it simple on boat, eg pre-cook some food

Crystallize living patterns to the essential & delightful items & routines, & take & do those

If you can navigate, you can go anywhere in the BVI.

B. Navigating (Piloting), or Not Going Aground. Navigating is an extensive and complex topic, involving charts, compasses, GPS and various principles and rules of thumb to apply to travel on the sea.

Basically, navigating is the art of getting there without going aground. To do so, you must learn to read a chart.

1. Reading a Chart. A chart has a lot of general information like a map. In addition, there is specialized information. Most importantly, the system of naviagational aids must be deciphered and understood.

2. Buoyage System. The system of actual daymarkers and buoys on the water are represented on the chart by a system of symbols and letters. They tell you the location of  shallow water (shoals) or deep water.

A buoy floats while chained to the bottom. A daymarker is fixed, usually on a piling.

The buoyage systems are the same for both the BVI and the U.S as well as the rest of the Caribbean and North and South America: the color red is used to mark the starboard (right side) side of the channel when approaching from seaward.

Thus the phrase: red, right, return.

Nuns are buoys with a red color and a pyramidal or conical shape, equivalent to red, triangular daymarkers. These have even numbers going up from the channel entrance.

Cans are buoys with a green color and a rectangular shape, equivalent to green, square daymarkers. These have odd numbers going up from the channel entrance.

Lighted flashing is indicated by the time interval in seconds and the color of the flash.

Look at your chart's definitions for the correct symbols indicating the above. Generally, cans will be indicated by the letters "C" and "G" and nuns by the letters "N" and "R" on the chart. Sometimes each has a chart color that is different than red or green for better visibility on the chart.

Lighted buoys that come on at intervals will be indiated by the letters "Fl" with "G" or "R" added, along with the interval of the flash. Sometimes strobes are distinguished by a different symbol.

Interpreting depths read on chart. Don't rely on a number close to your boat's depth, since the chart has a scientific definition like mean, low water. Also these can be out of date due to shifting shoals.

Importance of local knowledge. Local knowledge is additional information that is not on a chart. In certain situations, local knowledge can be vital.

It is importance to monitor your depth meter. You need to know the actual draft of your boat as it relates to the the depth meter reading. Will your boat go aground when the depth meter reads 5 feet?

Using a GPS. A handheld GPS can tell you your coordinates and you can plot those on a chart to find your location. The GPS can also help direct you to a new location or "way point" on the chart. Sometimes the GPS is integrated with the chart on an electronic monitor of some sort. The GPS also reports your actual speed and course. However, the GPS is dependent on electricity via a battery.

3. Using a Compass. If you know where you are and how to determine direction from a compass, you can go to a new location safely, i.e. without going aground.

There is true north and magnetic north as well as a deviation due to the effect of the boat itself on the compass.

In practice, it is often best to go from the magnetic reading on the chart to compass, which of course is a magnetic reading, and vice-versa, and ignore any deviation.

Of course, you must also consider the effect of current and leeway and accurate sailing of upwind legs to a course made good.

Using a compass rose and a parallel ruler. A chart has a compass rose with the true and magnetic headings nested in a circle. A parallel ruler is used to move that heading to other points on the chart.

4. Plotting a Course. A line on a chart is called a course. This is the direction or true angle noted above the course line in degrees clockwise from north

Thus C120M or C120C means Course 120° magnetic (M) or compass (C), depending on where read, i.e. the source of the data.

The length of the course line is the measure of the actual distance you need to travel.

Knotmeter. The knotmeter indicates how fast the boat is moving in nautical miles in the water, the actual progress influenced by factors such as current and leeway (as opposed to the absolute geographic movement determined by a GPS).

Dead Reckoning. The speed in knots you intend to travel is noted below the course line preceded by S for speed.

A position is noted by a dot and half circle with the time noted nearby in military time

So knowing where you are and drawing a course line to that destination allows you to take a reading by transposing that course line to the compass rose and taking the magnetic heading. Then steer the boat on that heading.

Basically dead reckoning is the practice of using known existing locations to leverage the boat's progress by carefully monitoring its direction and especially distance.

A Degree in Chart Arithmetic. Charts divide the earth into 360°, and each 1° into 60 minutes, and each minute is divided by the decimal system into10 parts, each of which represents a nautical mile (6076 or 1.15 miles).

Each tenth or .1 nautical mile is about 200 yards. Since an hour is also 60 minutes, 1/10 hour equals 6 minutes, a helpful interval, e.g. the "Six Minute Rule" states that the distance run in six minutes is 1/10 of the speed.

The sides of a chart have these measurements, so a GPS waypoint can be plotted on a chart to a precise point, such as N18 27.167 W64 32.610 where the last digit 100s position is about 2 yards.

Rule of 3s. Similarly, multiples of 3 allow us to avoid formulas to determine "measured runs" by obtaining the "distance run" in yards/tenths of nautical miles, if the speed is simply made a multiple of 3, e.g. 3 knots = 100 yds. (1 football field) per minute or .05 miles; so 6 knots = 200 yds. per minute or .1 miles

Course Made Good. A "course made good" is the true course achieved to a destination, while the "course sailed" may be a series of legs as the boat tacks into the wind.

5. Using Lines of Position. A compass itself gives direction only--a series of parallel lines on the sea and chart. A Line of Position (LOP) involves finding information that gives you one of those parallel lines, although you may not know where on the LOP you are. Helpful info includes a landmark sighted or a depth contour line, or an approximate "distance off."

LOPs can be calculated and used to get fixes and create safety bearings to successfully "pilot" the boat to its destination.

A Range. A range is two landmarks in sequence that are lined up to create a visual LOP.

A Fix. A course can be laid by pointing the boat to a mark or buoy and noting the compass heading on the chart. Plotting two such courses gives a "fix" at the "x" or intersection of the lines.

Running Fix. A running fix is good along shores where the "distance off" is the key. One kind of running fix is called "two bearings and a run," where a bearing is taken to a landmark, then a second bearing after a "measured run," then the angle is charted and the "measured run" shows the "distance off" as plotted on that chart angle.

Bow & Beam. A variant of the "two bearings and a run" is "doubling the bow angle," to create an equal angled triangle where the "measured run" is identical to the "distance off." A simple form is the Bow & Beam where a bearing to a landmark is made at 45 °, then the boat does a "measured run" until the bearing is 90° off the beam. The "measured run" is equal to the "distance off" to the landmark.

Rules of Thumb. Rules of thumb can be used to estimate "distance off," such as the appearance of objects at certain distances off, e.g. humans as dots at one mile off or their leg movement detectable at 1/4 mile off.

Angle of Sight. If a landmarks' width in feet is known, then an "angle of sight" can be defined by putting the hand out to arm's length, measuring the landmark width against a finger (each finger equals 2°, the hand equals 5° and fullest digit spread equals 15°) and then applying the formula: "distance off (in miles) = (width in feet)/(100 x angle)."

Safety Bearing. A safety bearing is a course or LOP, taken get safely around a hazard. Basically, one of more danger bearings or sectors is created with respect to the hazard.

Maintaining windward margin of safety to shallow water. The margin of safety is almost always in the windward direction, since the wind is difficult to advance against rather than to go with. The same thing is true where there is significant current.

Rule of 60. A quick rule of thumb to calculate the heading to take when a certain "distance off" a hazard is desired and the "distance ahead" is known. Take the "distance off" divided by the "distance ahead" and multiply by 60 and steer that result away from the hazard.

Plotting a Course in Constrained Settings. When plotting a course in constrained passages and harbours, take into account the right of way (ROW) benefits, especially the starboard ROW, so as to maintain an uninterrupted course. Note that sailing nearer a beam reach offers greater maneuverability on the upwind side than a close hauled course.

Stern Sector, No-Tack Zone ROW Benefits. With the wind pointing into a harbour, utilize your boat's 135° stern sector ROW benefit to sail a broad reach 22.5° below the beam, such that you have the ROW on nearly all of that side of the wind, since any other boat cannot sail the same side course without being either the overtaking boat or in the no-tack zone directly into the wind.

Piloting. Piloting is the art of leveraging known positions with various techniques to plot courses, always double checking work, to move the boat to its destination.

To plot a course you need intellect, to keep it discipline. This means it is difficult to keep the boat on a constant heading for any length of time.

6. Using a Depth Meter

Importance of boat's draft re boat going aground

Relating draft of boat to reading depth on chart

Knowing how depth meter is calibrated, ie to botton of keel, to waterline, or to otherwise

Reading a Reef. Reef and other bottom colors impart information about depth:

10' or less--very pale green over sand or light brown over rocks and coral.

15-25'--light green or turquoise/brownish over rocks/coral.

50' or more-deep blue/lighter over sand.

7. Getting Off After Going Aground.

Analysis: composition of reef or shoal, direction of "deep" water, boat position & eye of wind.

If being driven hard aground, quickly drop sails & motor off by backing.

If tacking into mud or sand shoal, use sails and wind to get off, including backwinding sails.

Heel boat over by shifting crew weight.

The possibility of kedging.

Assess situation: damage to boat and likelihood of sinking, amount of pounding to keel by wave action, alternative sandy shores.

Stuff any accessible leak with any available material.

Turn on bilge pump and monitor bilge.

Call charter base immediately.

Move to shallower water if sinking.

C. The Destination: An Integral Part of a Cruise.

Pick a nice anchorage within the general destination area.

Anchoring or mooring is often preferable to limiting and expensive marina slips.

A good practice is the cruise slowly throught the destination area checking out the various anchorage choices.

Choose your next water neighborhood from among a variety of surroundings for your boat based on its closeness to ashore attractions, moorings available if desired, holding quality of the anchorage, protection from ground seas and in the event of a hard blow, etc.

The sailor's particular taste for scenic anchorages is known as "gunkholing."