The proper way to anchor

While out on the water, one of the most common mistakes I see involves improper anchoring techniques. How many times have you pulled up to your local beach or sandbar and watched a guy hurl his anchor off the bow? Better yet, is watching a novice husband & wife team try and anchor their new craft which usually turns into a screaming match.


The best piece of advice I can give with regards to anchoring is think ahead. The five most important criteria any skipper should know before attempting to anchor are as follows: depth of water, wind and/or current direction, type of bottom (mud, sand, rock), sea conditions and room to swing on the anchor.

In normal sea conditions, you will want to multiply the depth of the water by approximately 7 to figure out how much anchor rode (line) and chain you should let out. For example, if you are in 10 feet of water, you'll want to let out about 70 feet of line and chain. In stormy conditions, you'll increase the scope ratio (scope is the ratio of rode in use to the depth of the water) to 10:1. So, if you are in 25 feet of water, you'll increase your rode to 250 feet. Don't forget to have enough chain (often the length of your boat) on your anchor line because without the weight of the chain holding the anchor down, it will be rendered useless.

After you have determined the water depth, direction of wind/current, and how much space you will have to work with, now you are ready to begin the anchoring process.

First, you will want to head the boat into the current. Next, when you've determined where you want to anchor, continue slightly beyond that point and then let out the appropriate amount of anchor line. Once you have let out enough line, tie off the line on the bow cleat (never, never anchor from the stern or the side!) and let the current take the boat until the line becomes taught, which indicates the anchor is set. If there is not a current, you will need to put the boats engine(s) in reverse and slowly reverse away from the anchor until it sets. Once anchored, keep the engine running, until you are able to get a visual on a couple of fixed objects, which will help you determine if the anchor is dragging. Many GPS units have "anchor drag" alarms on them, which will alert the captain if the boat drags a certain distance beyond the original anchoring location. Once you are confident that boat is secure, go ahead and shut down the engine(s) but always keep an eye out to see if the boat is dragging .

When it comes time to head home for the day, now you'll need to retrieve the anchor. The best approach is to motor slowly toward the anchor while simultaneously retrieving the anchor line (Obviously, this task is much easier with two people - one on the bow retrieving the line while the captain runs the boat). Once the boat is over the approximate location of the anchor, the forward momentum of the boat should pop the anchor free, at which time, you will need to finish retrieving the remaining anchor line and anchor. Once the anchor is just below the bow, it is generally a good idea to rinse it off first, then bring it onboard and stow it away securely.


Capt. Ed Mancini
The Navigator Club, Inc.
Charlestown, MA 02129
http://www.thenavigatorclub.com/
Boston's premier boat club
617.880.2525

The Navigator Club final fishing report of 2009

As stated in my previous blog report, now that the Navigator Club - Boston's premier boat club - is closed for the season I decided to go out fishing with my friend Nick for one last trip of the season on Wednesday, October 21. We started out the day at 6:00 am at the ramp in Gloucester. Headed out to the same spot where we caught bait for the bachelor party....and almost 2 hours later we finally had 8-9 baits in the livewell. With the baits, we steamed 13 miles offshore to Northwest corner of Stellwagen and deployed them. It was lifeless out there....no whales, no birds, nada. I know we missed the early morning bait, due to the 2 hour delay caused by getting the uncooperative bait.

As we continue to fish and hope for the best, we hear reports from friends that they are landing fish on livebait down on the southwest corner (off Provincetown) so we decide to pack up and head there (maybe another 15 miles south...probably more?). On the way down, we make a stop or two and deploy the baits and Nick starts jigging a hammered finish diamond like jig on light tackle while the baits are swimming around. Nick gets hit and the line pops in about 45 seconds.

We decide to move around a bit, but the dogfish are relentless, so we meet up with a friend about 2-3 miles off the beach in P-town where the water drops off to about 200 feet. Nick and I are jigging again, but now with 50lb class gear, and he gets a hit and immediately we know it is a tuna.

I clear the lines and he settles in for the fight. About 20 minutes later, the fish comes to the surface and I harpoon her on the second attempt....clean shot right through the gill plate and into the head. I tail rope her and bleed her out, and haul her on board. She is just over 55 inches long and approximately 140-150 lbs.

It is now 3:15pm and we decide that we went to get some cod before calling it a day even though the spot is over an hour away - 23 miles east of Gloucester in no mans land. So, I steer his small boat toward the waypoint while Nick guts and cleans the tuna. We arrive there around 4:45 pm and start jigging. About 15 minutes in we have one cusk and one cod on board. Then, Nick lands a 20 lb cod and I get another keeper or two. It is now 5:15ish, the sun is low on the horizon and the winds are picking up. So we decide to call it a day and I turn the 20 footer west and start making the 23 mile run back to Gloucester Harbor while Nick cleans the fish. The ride was pretty uneventful arrive and after picking our way through some lobster pots, we arrive back at the ramp at 6:35 in complete darkness.

After 12 hours on the water, we were both exhausted but happy to end the fishing season on a great note. I have posted some pictures of the fish for your enjoyment.

Regards,

Capt. Ed Mancini
The Navigator Club, Inc.

40 Warren Street

Charlestown, MA 02129

http://www.thenavigatorclub.com/

617-880-2525

"Boston's premier boating club"

One last trip...didn't I say that last week?

I am headed out for one last trip tomorrow....aboard my buddies boat. The goal is to target any remaining tuna in the morning and then head east with the tide swing and try and jig up some cod and haddock.

Stopped by Fishing Fanatics in Everett today to pick up some last minute gear. Pete Santini was very helpful. The old world italian music playing in the background is quite nostalgic too. If he had a plate of ziti and homemade meatballs on the counter I would have thought I was at my grandmothers house in 1978.

This will be the last trip, I promise but will gladly post pictures afterward.

One last thing....since we sold out of memberships in 2009, we are now taking names for memberships for the 2010 season. If you are interested in becoming a member of the club for the 2010 season, now is the time to get on the list. Any questions....call the office at 617-880-2525.

Regards,

Capt. Ed Mancini
The Navigator Club
40 Warren Street
Charlestown, MA 02129
www.thenavigatorclub.com
617-880-2525

New fuel flow meter installed, pulling the boats

Took advantage of the good weather the other day, and decided to pull the boats. Once I pulled them out of the water I washed them down thoroughly and hauled them to the winter storage yard.

On the way to the storage yard, I dropped off the Whaler at Voyager Marine Electronics and had the new Lowrance fuel flow meter installed. Jon Schimoler is a great guy to work and his crew did a neat, professional job. Now all of the club boats have Lowrance fuel flow meters installed and we will better able to track fuel consumption.

Will be winterizing and wrapping them this coming week. Will post some of the progress pictures..

Capt. Ed Mancini
The Navigator Club, Inc.
40 Warren Street
Charlestown, MA 02129
617-880-2525
http://www.thenavigatorclub.com

Dinner in the North End and a night on the Grady

After a delicious meal of homemade cannelloni (almost as good as my grandmothers) in the North End, we spent the night aboard the Grady White at the marina. The crisp fall air, and first rate accomodations at Constitution Marina made for a pleasurable evening.

Looking forward to doing it again.


Capt. Ed Mancini
The Navigator Club
40 Warren Street
Charlestown, MA 02129
617-880-2525
http://www.thenavigatorclub.com

Enjoying the sunny, fall days.

In a little bit, I will be heading down to The Navigator Club as we have some boat club members heading out at 2:00 pm. At this time of year, it is important to take advantage of good weather like we are having today.

Last Thursday, I ran a 2007 36' Chris Craft Corsair from Boston to Padanaram. It was a choppy and cold, but still quite enjoyable, especially in that boat. The owner is a client of ours who relies on us to move the boat to various ports of call throughout the season. Yet, another growing facet of our business.

This Saturday, the boys and I will be heading on an offshore tuna charter aboard the Karen Lynn out of Gloucester. The Karen Lynn in a 43' Lowell Brothers downeast that has the latest equipment and technology. I will make sure to take pictures of any tuna, cod and haddock we catch.

Enjoy the day,

Capt. Ed Mancini
The Navigator Club
40 Warren Street
Charlestown, MA 02129
http://www.thenavigatorclub.com/

Fireworks

Wow, did I have a great time last night. A couple of us jumped on the boat, and ran over to Swampscott around 8:00 pm, anchored up, shared some great food and sat tight waiting for the fireworks. Around 9:15 pm the sky lit up and we were treated to a front row view of a great fireworks show.

Attached are some pictures courtesy of Swapscott Fireworks23.

Regards,

Capt. Ed Mancini

The Navigator Club

www.thenavigatorclub.com

Got back from Florida late last night. We left Boston at 5:30 am , arrived in Florida around 10:00 am and were back in Boston around 10:00....total bonazai run. Needless to say we took care of the business we needed to complete.

Switching gears, do you know that it is only 8 days before the Tall Ships arrive in Boston again? It should be an exciting event and we have a fewsightseeing charters still available for non-members. If you are interested in booking one of the remaining spots, give us a call at the office.

On another note, I did get to install the Lowrance LMF200 Fuel Flow computer in the Grady. Once I was able to get a set of accurate directions, the install was not too bad. Now I just need to find some time to sit down and program it.

Well, I am off to the marina. Have a good day.


Capt. Ed Mancini
The Navigator Club
40 Warren Street
Charlestown, MA 02129
617-880-2525
http://http://www.thenavigatorclub.com/

Boat Show Setup Completed

Just thought I would post a quick update. We finished setting up our booth at the boat show this evening and it looks great. The new backdrop with a picture of Minots Light in the background and a Grady White in the foreground looks incredible. Would like to publicly thank the guys at White Light Digital Media in Beverly, MA for making it happen.

I will take some pictures tomorrow and will post them.

Hope to see you all at the show.

Time to get some ZZZZZ's,

Capt. Ed Mancini
The Navigator Club, Inc.
40 Warren Street
Charlestown, MA 02129
617-880-2525
http://www.thenavigatorclub.com/

The Navigator Club is the Boston area's premier, private boat club catering to people who do not own a boat; both novice and experienced mariners are welcome at our boat club. Based at the award winning Constitution Marina on Boston Harbor in Charlestown, MA, The Navigator Club provides boat club members with the finest powerboats, unparalleled customer service and first class facilities.

New England Boat Show

The 2009 New England Boat Show is coming up quickly. This years show will be held on February 14 through February 22 at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The Navigator Club will be exhibiting at booth #423, so be sure to stop by and introduce yourself. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have as well as go over our membership options.

Also, The Navigator Club was recently featured in three more publications.

Points East Magazine, Fall 2008
Anchorline - The Grady White Owners Newsletter, December 2008
Pallium - The Canterbury School Magazine, January 2009

To read each article in its entirety, click on the link below.

http://www.thenavigatorclub.com/news.html


Regards,

Capt. Ed Mancini
The Navigator Club
40 Warren Street, 3rd Floor
Charlestown, MA 02129
617-880-2525
http://www.thenavigatorclub.com/

The Navigator Club is the Boston area's premier, private boat club catering to people who do not own a boat; both novice and experienced mariners are welcome at our boat club. Based at the award winning Constitution Marina on Boston Harbor in Charlestown, MA, The Navigator Club provides boat club members with the finest powerboats, unparalleled customer service and first class facilities.

Floating your way to Freedom

Floating your way to Freedom

Cruising the coastal waters aboard a boat is a great way to spend time with family and friends, relieve some stress, explore new ports of call and if you are so inclined, do a little fishing. The eastern seaboard from Florida to Maine and points in between offer many exciting and interesting places to go boating. Some are well known and others, are closely guarded secrets that are waiting to be explored.

For many years, if you wanted to go boating you either had to buy a boat, charter a boat or if you were lucky, befriend someone who owned a boat. Chartering or befriending a boat owner are fantastic ways to get out on the water and get introduced to boating. It is great for those of you who only want to go out on occasion and/or prefer to sit back and let someone else handle the responsibility of operating the vessel. Charter captains know their local waters intimately and are not only good at finding fish, but most also make excellent on-the-water tour guides too. There are many talented charter captains out there. To find a well respected, licensed captain in your area, contact the Northeast Charter Captains Association at http://www.northeastcharterboatcaptainsassociation.com/ or your local charter boat captains association.

However, if you’re like me and enjoy being behind the helm and desire the freedom and challenge associated with it, you basically have two options. You can go buy your own boat or you can join a local boating club which allow members to use the club’s boats.

If you have a good understanding of what is required and have ample free time, boat ownership can be a very rewarding experience. As someone who has owned numerous boats and sold countless others to buyers, I know what it feels like to desire to own a boat. Boat ownership offers freedom, adventure and a lot of fun. Whether its heading over to the local sandbar to spend an afternoon soaking up some sun with friends or planning a weekend excursion to a new port of call, having your own boat allows you to go just about wherever you want, whenever you want - weather permitting of course.

However, as with most large purchases, owning a boat also requires time, responsibility and a fair amount of disposable income to not only purchase the boat, but maintain it as well. Many first-time boat buyers often make the mistake of spending their entire budget on purchasing the boat, leaving little left over to maintain it. Unlike automobiles, boats are hand-made machines and are exposed to a wide variety of environments and forces and as such, they need to be cleaned and maintained on a regular basis or they will fall into disrepair, regardless of the brand.
Based on my personal and professional experience, the best way to determine how much a boat is going to cost you to maintain on a yearly basis in your area, is to ask an experienced boater from a local marina who owns a similar boat. Cost of ownership calculations should include dockage fees, insurance, spring commissioning, winterization, incidental repairs, storage, fuel, depreciation and future resale value. Once you have calculated annual cost of ownership and determined your total boat buying budget, you are now ready to start shopping for a boat that will fit your requirements. When determining which style of boat is for you, you need to consider your experience level, boating interests, body of water and time availability. where vessel will be used whether you primarily plan to go out for the day or for long excursions you are looking for a new boat, the National Marine Manufacturers Association maintains a list of certified, well respected boat dealers in your area. To find a dealer near you, go to http://www.discoverboating.com/ .

If you are considering purchasing a pre-owned boat, which can be an attractive option, you should consider having the boat surveyed prior to buying. The cost to survey the boat is nominal and is money well spent. To find a competent surveyor in your area, log on to http://www.marinesurvey.org/ .

Unfortunately, with ever increasing demands on time from careers and family obligations, many folks feel that they just don’t have the time or the desire to own a boat, but yet still want to get out on the water on a regular basis. Or, what about those folks who have always wanted to get into boating, don’t have any experience and are unsure where to start? For those of you who fall into this category, a membership in a boating club is ideal.

What is a boat club? Although there are variations, a typical boat club is a membership based club where members get to use club owned boats on reservation basis. In addition to buying the boats, the club normally pays for a comprehensive training program as well as slip fees, insurance, cleaning, and maintenance. In addition, luxury level clubs, also offer access to premium brand boats, as well as pools, sun decks and locker rooms and discounts on restaurants, yacht charters and boating related items like foul-weather gear, and sunglasses .
As far as usage is concerned, membership allows a member to reserve a boat(s) for a predetermined number of outings per month. In addition, clubs even offer “standby” usage options for those spur of the moment decisions when the local weatherman calls for a torrential downpour when it actually turns out to be 85 degrees and sunny.

Membership based boat clubs are not entirely new. However, they have become very popular recently, mostly due to the fact that over the last ten years consumers have less free time available and as a result, they have become more comfortable with leasing and fractional usage arrangements made popular by the automobile and aviation industries.

Is a boat club membership right for everyone? Probably, not. If you are the type of person who wants to go out all weekend, every weekend, or you’re planning a three week cruise up to Maine or maybe you just like to sit around and oil the teak while tied up at the dock, you’re better off buying your own boat . However, if you lead a busy lifestyle and find that between work and family obligations, not to mention the infamous honey-do list, you have a limited amount of free time, then a boat club membership may be just the right thing for you.

There are numerous boat clubs throughout the country. To find a club near you, do a search on the web, for “boat clubs” or log on to www.discoverboating.com/boating/boatingclubs.aspx

Happy Boating,

Capt. Ed Mancini
President and Founder
The Navigator Club
40 Warren Street, 3rd Floor
Charlestown, MA 02129
617-880-2525
http://www.thenavigatorclub.com/

The Navigator Club is the Boston area's premier, private boat club catering to people who do not own a boat; both novice and experienced mariners are welcome at our boating club. Based at the award winning Constitution Marina on Boston Harbor in Charlestown, MA, The Navigator Club provides boat club members with the finest powerboats, unparalleled customer service and first class facilities.