Your complete guide to yacht pilotage (done properly)

Chartplotters are an amazing aid, but can detract from your real-world pilotage if not used with caution, says Justin Morton

Long ago, in the days when paper charts were precious, navigators would sketch out the relevant details in their notebook and take it on deck rather than risk the chart getting damaged. Navigator’s notebooks have blank and lined pages for this reason, so sketch maps are not a new idea.

However, I think a slight adjustment to the theme adds real benefit and ease, even when most of us navigate primarily from our on-deck chart plotters, although the rationale may be slightly different to what it once was.

The Royal Marines (and the Army) still make three-dimensional models of the area on the map they will be going to when giving ‘Orders’ (military instructions; look online for ‘model pit’ to see what I mean) as it’s a good way to get everyone orientated.

Three-dimensional thinking

What I found was that if I ever had to make the model (which we had to do often on leadership courses), the topography of what I created out of mud and coloured bits of ribbon often stayed in my head for a surprisingly long time. My take away wasn’t that a three-dimensional model stays in your head longer than a two-dimensional map; but rather it was the physical act of making the model that embedded the topography into my brain as a byproduct of what I was doing.

So for me, the real benefit of making a pilotage plan sketch map is not really in the product (the sketch map). It is in the making of it. I would say 70% of the benefit comes from going through the motions of making it and just 30% in the sheet of paper at the end with the detail on it.

Crucially, for me, it is the least painful and most efficient way I know to learn an area sufficiently well enough to be able to make a really decent and well thought out pilotage plan.

A problem with ‘chartplotter only’ navigation is your ‘bubble of awareness’ (a term described to me by someone well known to you all) can be very limited. Sometimes it can only be as far as the edge of the screen.

You can often get away with only working this far ahead much of the time, and people do, but it does have its drawbacks. First you are ‘fixed’ to the chart plotter needing to check where you are all of the time as a new bit of the route comes into view (as poor navigators used to do bobbing up and down to the chart table continuously). If I do this, I also find I need to scroll backwards and forwards to look ahead and then back to check that my position is still ok.

Create a detailed mind map

As probably the most capable person onboard, if I am glued to the chartplotter, the wheel, or sometimes both, I can’t lend a hand when it may be better for the management of the boat that I do so. I find this frustrating and stressful.

One way to mitigate this is by meticulously scrutinising what is on my route line as I plot it so I know it is always safe. However, this does reduce my flexibility as I may be reluctant to deviate from the safety it provides. In open water this strategy works. In congested areas it may not because, as we sit at the bottom of the COLREGs pecking order, we usually have to give way, often by having to turn towards shallower water. If you hadn’t planned for any deviation from your track, your bubble of awareness shrinks quickly and significantly and you are back to potentially being fixed to a screen and feeling anxious and stressed.

In creating a more detailed sketch map with topographical elements, navigational marks, transits, your route and the tide heights, you’ll become aware of so much more information, and consequently a wider range of parameters in which you can operate. You can incorporate information from lots of sources to create as detail-rich a plan as you want.

Additionally, the process of drawing things out and planning your route within it situates everything in relation to each other. This is even more helpful if it’s going to be a night entry. It also embeds the detail into your brain well enough so that you don’t have to learn anything new once on the water, just be reminded of it.

Whatever happens, your bubble of awareness stays at the far edges of what you’ve drawn on your page rather than what’s on the screen at the time.

Starting your sketch map

The start point is the same as for any pilotage plan. It will take you a little longer, but probably no more than another five or 10 minutes. I always start with pilot books, a chart and increasingly the internet to look up harbour website information, and a growing number of apps also offer detailed advice.

Beware that some of this information is ‘crowd-sourced’ and there of unknown provenance, while other, such as Imray’s Explorer app includes information from the pilot books and has been verified.

If you are lucky, a pilot book will have a suitably sized chartlet that you can trace around. I always trace because I am hopeless at drawing and you do need to get the perspective right or you’ll struggle to fit things into the right place. As I almost exclusively plan using electronic charts, I find that a piece of Perspex over my iPad screen stops the screen responding and the beauty of this is I can make what I am drawing match the size of my paper.

Trace the map

First, I trace the land (it’s the easiest to match back up if the paper shifts). Then trace the drying contour lines, rocks, other natural hazards and put in buoys and marked transits, even if I don’t think they will be relevant to my plan.

I include light characteristics if there is any chance it may get dark and include sector lights as they are usually visible in daylight and can be useful.

Know your limits

I then go back and pick out the relevant depth contours (the ones closest to my draught + safety margin at the lowest height of tide at the time of pilotage) and draw them in. These are key because if I deviate from my intended route, it is this information that becomes very useful.

Remember, by doing this you are learning the lay-of-the-land and you’ll notice much more. This will help with the decision-making process of how you are going to route yourself into the port. You always want to be in a position when afloat to know whether, draught-wise, you can safely venture into a certain spot.

Plan your route

Once I have the topographical information in place, I go on to plan my route to decide what I am going to use to navigate my way in, be it established marks or something I want to pick myself.

A common limitation is to only put the navigational marks in that you plan to use. All marks are great reference points so do include them. Finally draw in your direction / route lines with arrows and include bearings.

These lines are really useful to orientate you to the direction you will need go at each subsequent turn, or even to look, which sometimes might not be as obvious as you think. Remember, while a chartplotter might suggest the fastest route, you might choose a slightly longer one with straight courses and sharp corners so that you can use a fixed headmark, transit, an easy compass bearing (nearest 5º), or to jump from one buoy to the next.

It is so much easier to orientate yourself and stay on track if your actual route is defined by what you can see in the real world rather than a wiggly line on a virtual screen.

Calculate ahead of time

One key rule I follow is, whatever is on my sketch map page must be immediately useful and not require me to have to do ‘something’ with it. For instance I don’t include lats and longs because I’d have to plot them. I also always write tidal heights out at hourly intervals.

If I just had high and low water times and their heights referenced, I’ve got to do some calculations. It’s much easier to do the calculations ahead of time. I finish with any other relevant useful information that I might need to find in a hurry – VHF channels for the harbour and marina, expected tidal stream and so on.

Imagine the route

The final step is to have a good look at your sketch map and imagine yourself travelling through it from start to finish: effectively, create your plan and form a strategy on how you are going to enter the port. Don’t just think about navigation marks, the bearings between them and distances to travel.

Think about how you can use anything and everything to provide you with extra help to know where you are. As you do it, add extra detail as necessary or make things a little more obvious if you need to. But don’t over do it – the more you add the less clear it will be. You want your sheet of paper to be able to quickly answer any questions you might have on the way in.

Importantly, you want to develop an understanding of your options beforehand and at each stage know what you want to do. Often, once you’ve finished, it is surprising how straightforward everything will look and feel.

Were anything to happen to your electronics you have a backup, but crucially it is just good seamanship not to rely on a single source of information. A spot depth and a compass bearing can confirm that you are where your plotter says you are.

Putting it into practice in Salcombe

For this article we chose Salcombe. It is a popular destination and although only a few hours away, I hadn’t visited for a few years.

I think the entry is quite interesting as it’s one of those ports where as long as you get the basics right, it’s pretty straightforward.

Salcombe is known for its bar which is really only a problem (for most) around low water springs or in a strong southerly wind. There can also be strong currents in the channel which means a little extra focus is required when turning around and mooring up.

From Dartmouth, I have to pass the headland at Start Point, so it was timing this correctly that was the most important thing to get right on this trip. The entry time would have to adjust accordingly. As my trip was planned for a few days after neaps and with a light wind from the north east, the entry was going to be fine whatever time I arrived.

Remember, the sketch map is really only just that, a map and a way to remember the topography. You still need to have a plan or strategy. For me, this usually splits into three parts: the approach from seaward, the detailed pilotage workings and finally, where I am going to moor up or anchor.

I always start with the one that seems the trickiest (so I’m at my freshest). In this case I felt it was the part from the outer bar into the main channel but it’s laid out below in chronological order so it makes more sense.

Approach options

When coming into the bay from the east I’ve got a couple of options. I can aim for the other headland (Bolt Head) until I pick up the prominent, well-documented transit (given as 000°) and turn north; or try and intersect it somewhere before I get to the bar. Distance-wise there isn’t much in it but there are pros and cons to both.

Continuing towards Bolt-head, a light north-east wind keeps me on a broad reach, which is slow. Once I get to the transit, it’s unlikely that I’ll be able to sail north so I’ll be motoring (which does have it’s benefits because I’ll have less to do) but that’s the end of my sailing for the day.

The transit is also quite close to rocks and should my engine not start, I’m pretty close to a lee shore. I’m not too worried about that because I can tack and head away on a reach, but it’s still a negative to count.

The other option is to harden up and try and hit the transit before the bar. The positives are it’s a simpler sail for longer. The negative is I won’t be able to see the transit for quite a while so could do with some boundary lines to funnel me towards the right place to cross the bar.

Funnelling in

The eastern side of the bay is reasonably clear with all hazards within 500m of, what is on this day, the windward shore. The tide is flooding – taking me north – and unfortunately I don’t know the rate. This is where the tide set and drift function on your instruments / plotter is useful but you need your log and heading sensor to be calibrated properly to be able to trust the readings.

Distances are really hard to judge at sea so if there is a decent depth contour, it’s much easier to use that as a boundary. In this case, the 20m contour goes in the right direction at about the right angle. A parallel course of about 300° will take me in the right direction and if the depth shallows below 20m (plus tide), I’ll know I am being pushed too far north. Fortunately, I only have to bear away to get to deeper water.

When I am due east of Bolt Head, the 20m contour veers off west and the water then shallows quite uniformly towards the bar.

Thinking Ahead

Due east of Bolt Head is also about the time I’ll be able to see the whole transit for the first time because the cliffs will have obscured my view of it until then. Once I’ve positively identified it I can relax a bit but still need to think ahead.

At this point with about 3/4 mile to run (about 10 minutes) to the bar, I’ll want to think about getting my sails down. As I’ll be clear of the transit and in more sheltered water at this point, it’s about as good a place as any to get them down.

It then looks like a pretty clear run towards the bar. The depth reduces gradually from 20m down towards 5m and it’s only at the 5m contour that I need to be careful. I can angle my way in, monitoring the depth and ideally try and judge it so I arrive on transit just before the bar. What is important is the transit isn’t my only reference point.

A gradually shallowing depth is to be expected and there is lots of water up until the transit.

That changes once I arrive at the 5m contour. At that point I really want to be close to the transit, not because there isn’t room to the east, there is, but it will be hard to work out how far away from it I am. Being close to the transit also leads me towards my next mark.

Over the bar

The transit takes me over the bar at what seems to be one of the deepest parts (1.4m). If I stay on the transit I then shouldn’t miss seeing a red port-hand buoy 50m to the left of me at the point where the cliffs seem the closest.

A problem I might have is other boats either entering with me or leaving. All may stop me using the transit and, if so, I will need to keep to starboard. If I do get pushed off the transit to the right (east) between the bar and the red buoy, I need to be careful that I don’t get caught up in the rest of the bar (named ‘The Bar’ on the chartlet) on the eastern side. But how to identify if that’s happening? The Bar is just 40m from the transit which isn’t much (two boats passing each other can use up 20m).

As the Bar’s depth is given as 1.5m and the 2m contour is defined north/south, I have a straight-forward depth boundary. I could just calculate the depth I would see if I crossed it and head to port (west) or slow down as necessary.

However, I can make things a little simpler and more assured. As I will want to know when I am crossing over the main bar anyway, I am going to be watching the depth like a hawk. As the two bar depths are so similar (within 10cm), and, assuming they haven’t changed, all I need to do is note the shallowest depth I see when I cross the main bar and note that height.

What’s better is I’m using the actual height of tide at the time rather than the predicted height. I then use that as my ‘don’t-go-any-shallower-than’ depth for the right-hand-side as I head north. All of that boils down to: between the (outer) bar and the first red buoy, I don’t want to let the depth get any lower than the shallowest depth I saw when I crossed the bar – deeper water will always be towards the transit.

Making the Turn

Looking roughly 055° from the first (most southerly) red buoy, there should be a line of green buoys over to the right marking the right-hand side of the channel as it turns north-east. The chart also gives a leading light bearing of 042.5° which is actually on the wrong side of the channel for entering the harbour.

The bearing is fine, just not the ground track. As I’ll need to stay right to keep to the correct side of the channel anyway, it’ll pay to try and leave the transit as soon as I can and cross to hug the green buoys. I’ll want to avoid staying on the transit too long and for a line of boats to feel it’s ok to cut the corner and go between me and the greens and stop me crossing over.

The other important thing to note is the channel isn’t very wide and there are a few nasty-looking drying rocks close to the channel edges. It’s worth making sure they are all marked on my sketch map so I have a good idea of the detail.

Into the (sea) ‘weeds’

From the chart, it looks like I must keep the very first red to port because it marks a big rock (+0.8m). Once the first starboard mark is due east (think in compass points which don’t change, as terms such as ‘off the beam’, ‘off the quarter’ change with boat angle), there is quite a bit of clear water to the north and west of the first red but it doesn’t have a clear boundary.

I could use my noted shallowest bar depth here too if necessary. The closest rock I could hit in that area has the lower main red-and-white transit post sticking out of it which I’ll have already seen. There is also a rock between the first and second green buoys the other side of the 2m contour; and there is a little room between the second and third green buoy. Helpfully, the rock between them is marked by a fixed green and white post (so is absolutely on station).

The final two marks in the channel are a red and white post and red buoy that I must not go north of on the other side of the channel, and that’s it. I’m then safely into the main channel.

Finding a mooring

The Harbour Guide and pilot books state that Salcombe can be very busy so it’s good to have an idea where you want to moor and also a backup location. I hope to try and moor on the visitor’s pontoon in ‘The Bag’, around the corner from the main town quay as it’s more sheltered.

I should however, keep a lookout to see what mooring buoys are available as I pass them up the main channel and be prepared to come back and raft if necessary. The last thing to think about is to double check what time the tide is going to turn and have a look for good areas to turn around in as I am likely to be arriving around full flood (albeit neaps).

In a perfect world, I’d want to favour port-side-to on the western side of the visitors pontoon (in The Bag) so I am being blown off.

A final note

Please don’t be put off if, when reading the entry strategy section of this article, it seems like too much hard work. It’s much harder to read and to follow than to work out for yourself. If nothing else, it will hopefully give you an idea of the level of detail I go into when entering an unfamiliar port or when doing a bit of tricky pilotage.

Do give it a go, it works. Also don’t forget, although your entry strategy and the sketch map can be used alone, you should also have a chart plotter, whether it’s on your phone, a tablet or a dedicated unit. What this process does is make you more aware of your surroundings and allows you to retain much more information. Consequently it gives you better tools to make and execute a really detailed plan.

As you’re heading in, your plotter then only needs to confirm your position for you. Importantly this is within an area you are really familiar with and at a time when you know what you are trying to do. With both ‘systems’ working in conjunction with each other, it really is an incredibly powerful combination, that makes for much easier and much less stressful pilotage.

You’ll know when you are getting it right when you arrive in a ‘tricky’ port and wonder what all of the fuss was about.

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