There are a bunch of inexperienced boaters running around on the water in Southwest Florida. How do I know? It's simple -- just look at the population growth in the area and note how it is accompanied by a steady growth in the number of boat registrations. Many, many folks move here to enjoy our little bit of subtropical paradise, and a good number of the new arrivals buy a boat soon after moving into their new Florida homes. Since a large percentage of these newcomers originated in the Midwest (myself included -- I'm from Kansas City, where it's a long way to the nearest salt water), it's fair to assume that most are neophyte boaters. Following are a few tips I've gleaned about boats which may prove helpful to anyone who's just getting into boating.

Charts

Buy at least one chart. The most current, most accurate, most technically correct and most update-able chart you can buy is an official U.S. Government paper chart. The Chart ID Number for Charlotte Harbor is 11426, and it's available at most major boat supply houses. This chart is updated by weekly Notices to Mariners and can be kept current until the next edition is printed, which happens so infrequently for this area that years of updates may be needed until a new version appears.

The two major disadvantages of the government chart are that it's printed on paper and it's a very large document. Both of these detriments make the chart impractical on a small boat; as a result, many area boaters instead purchase a third-party chart. The most popular is produced by a Punta Gorda company called "Waterproof Charts." The products from Waterproof Charts are printed on a plastic material that won't disintegrate if (when) it gets wet. The charts are smaller than government charts and much more manageable aboard a small boat.

Which to buy? If I were planning a trip across the Gulf of Mexico or anywhere else where precise navigational information was critical, I'd stick with the government charts, but for most local boating or fishing, a Waterproof Chart product is probably more handy.

Compass

A compass is one of the most basic navigational tools imaginable. Mariners have used compasses for hundreds of years to help find their way on the oceans of the world. A compass is still a highly valuable aid to today's boater. There are two secrets to finding your way with a compass. First, you have to actually own a compass. It amazes my how many small boats are not equipped with compasses. Even my smallest flats skiff has a decent compass mounted on the console, and I would not feel comfortable on the harbor or offshore without one. Second, you have to use your compass when you really don't need it. Your compass will get you safely home when fog or rain unexpectedly cuts your visibility, but only if you know how to hold a compass heading, what heading to hold and for how long. You can only learn these things by practicing on days with calm seas and good visibility. The same principal applies to your fancy new chart-plotting GPS unit. It may get you home, but only if you practice using it before you actually need it. By the way, if I had to choose between a compass and a GPS, I'd go with the compass. The GPS system occasionally goes off-line, but the earth's magnetic field seldom fails.

Bilge pumps

All boats accumulate a bit of water in the lowest part of the bilge. Most boats are equipped with bilge pumps to remove this unwanted water. Usually, the amount of water collected is minimal, and under normal operating conditions a single factory-installed bilge pump is more than adequate to keep ahead of any accumulation. There are at least two conditions which can arise which may change this balance. First, your bilge pump will eventually fail and the normally slow accumulation of bilge water could eventually be enough to fill your boat. Second, something catastrophic may happen, which could result in much more than the normal amount of bilge water, overwhelming the capacity of your pump to remove it. There's more than a little truth in the old saying, "Sinking can ruin your entire day." There are some fairly easy steps you can take to lessen the odds that you'll fill with water and lose the boat.

First, consider installing a backup pump. Any vessel of more than about 25 feet in length should have at least two pumps. My largest boat (a 65 footer) has six fully independent automatic pumps. The owner of a small fishing skiff may not think it's not practical to install a second bilge pump, but there is another option. Most of today's fishing skiffs have bait wells which utilize a pump mounted to a through-hull fitting somewhere in the bilge. If you're handy with a wrench and a screwdriver, for about $30 worth of fittings and an hour's labor, you can add a valve and a second suction line to your bait well pump. This allows you switch between pumping water out of the bilge or pumping water out of the harbor. In an emergency the same thing can be jury-rigged by simply closing the through-hull fitting, disconnecting the pump from the fitting, and dropping the entire pump into the lowest part of the bilge you can reach with the discharge hose attached to the pump. It's a good idea to try this before you find yourself in a panic situation. You'll find when you're nervous about sinking, your hands are wet and you're standing on your head trying to reach into the bilge that using a 5/16 inch nut driver is a much faster way to loosen and tighten hose clamps than is using a screwdriver. The water pumped out of the bilge by a bait pump will go into your livewell and will then flow overboard through the livewell drain.

Second, try to eliminate things which can cause your boat to suddenly fill with water, possibly faster than your bilge pump can handle. Your boat can fill up with rainwater or with seawater. The most common cause of a bilge full of rainwater is clogged scuppers (overboard drains). The cockpit scuppers on most flats skiffs consist of two one-inch diameter holes which make a perfect fit for a loose popping cork or a few leaves, especially if the holes are covered on the exterior of the hull with aft-facing scoops (check yours, you'll see what I mean). Once the cockpit scuppers in a flats boat are clogged, water can fill the cockpit until it flows into the console, and then into the bilge through the wire ways which penetrate the deck inside the console. On larger boats, the scuppers will be much larger than those on your small skiff, but even the largest scuppers can be plugged when a life jacket, a pile of old rags or a coil of line slides into the opening, followed by a few leaves or other debris to make a good seal. Don't think it can happen? A bit of squally weather, such as a severe summertime afternoon thunderstorm, hurricane or tropical storm can combine leaf-blowing winds and heavy rains to do the job. You can minimize the odds of clogged scuppers on your boat by making sure that there's nothing which can end up on your deck and in your scuppers.

The most common reason that boats fill with seawater is through some sort of equipment failure below the waterline, most commonly the failure of a through-hull fitting or a hose. If a 99-cent hose clamp fails, your boat might sink. By simply adding a second hose clamp to every hose connection, you can reduce your odds of trouble. On medium- and large-sized boats, double clamping the hose connections is standard industry practice, but it's not always done on smaller vessels.

Let's Go Fishing!

Captain Allen owns and operates the King Fisher Fleet of sightseeing tour boats, deep sea fishing charter boats and back bay guide boats located at Fishermen's Village Marina in Punta Gorda and can be reached by phone at (941) 639-0969 or by e-mail at captain@kingfisherfleet.com for boating or fishing information or with questions you want to see answered in WaterLine.

By Capt Ralph Allen