Crew at the Helm

Nine important things to know while staying aboard overnight or for months. Managing the galley, water, health, money, communications, planning for a cruise, weather planning, etc

How to select an anchor, line, and other gear…choose a suitable anchorage, deploy and set an anchor, what to do if it’s stuck, how to pick up a mooring, and raft with other boats.

Learn the special skills needed for river and lake boating. How to “read” a river, cope with river currents, go through locks. Plus the navigation rules unique to river boating.

Learn the signs of changing weather, how to anticipate storms, what causes weather, how to read weather maps, what clouds mean, how weather systems move, why winds blow.

Important for offshore boaters, the 500 millibar upper air chart will help you predict upper-level wind speed and direction, trough and ridge patterns, and the 5640 storm track line.