The Ships Logg

Several months ago, I noticed the shower drain in my boat was not removing water as it should. Rather than water running down the drain, it just collected in the pan at the bottom of the shower. Recently, I decided to tackle the job and figure out what was going on. I knew I was going to spend the entire July 4 th weekend on the boat and I wanted to be able to take a shower without worrying about the water building up. If you are not familiar with the workings of a basic shower sump system on a boat, it is actually pretty simple. The drain at the bottom of the shower empties into a box down in the bilge. Since the box is most likely below water level, there is a pump in the box that pumps the water up, out and overboard. Often the pump has a float switch attached to it to cycle the pump on when the water gets to a certain level and off when the box it empty. A Basic Sump Pump Setup In my case, I had already checked the line from the shower drain to the b...

We are well into boating season now and as expected, the traffic on our local waterways has picked up quite a bit. But if your experience is like mine, you may have noticed that boat traffic is even more than it was at this time last year. We can thank COVID-19 for that. In this age of social distancing, people are realizing that spending time on the water is one of the best ways to have your fun and remain safe. It is pretty easy for a family to be out on the water, whether on a boat or a few PWC’s, and keep their distance from other individuals. Statistics have shown that boating has long been one of the best activities for families to participate in. It seems that more and more people are starting to realize that again. Flying across the water on a PWC, a bow rider or raising the sails and gliding across a body of water is not a bad way to spend your time during a pandemic. It sure beats staying indoors. On Lake Lanier, where I do most of my boating traf...

If you have been boating for a long time like I have, you probably already know that no matter how diligent you are about doing the right things, sometimes things just come down to blind luck. I guess you can just say that about life as well. Sometimes your luck is good and sometimes not so good. One thing is consistent though. You can usually learn a lesson from whatever happens. Such is the case with an experience that I recently had on the water. It was February 23 but a nice day for late winter. The temperature was in the upper 60’s and the winds were calm. The Bear’s Den II had not been out of her slip yet since November 2019. That’s not normal for me. But life happens. I was eager to take her out. Two of my friends and I headed to the marina and boarded the boat. I let the blower run while I did my preliminary checks before turning the keys to bring the twin Crusader 454’s roaring to life. After a few minutes of warming up, we cast the lines and headed out...

So here we are again, sitting at home looking out the window as the wind blows the leaves around the yard.   Maybe even some of us are looking at snow.   We are wondering how another boating season has gone by so quickly.   For those of you who live in places like Miami or Phoenix this does not apply to you, so I guess you can skip this paragraph and move to the next one.   For the rest of us, we are once again wondering how to pass the winter months as landlubbers.   Here is a suggestion:   Learn how to tie some knots. Here are six of the most useful knots for boaters, what you should use them for, and how to tie them. Bowline This is definitely one of the most versatile knots you can have in your arsenal.   I have heard a lot of boaters claim that if you only learn one knot it should be the bowline.   Some call it the life saver because it is taught to sailors as the knot to use to tie themselves to a lifeline should they fall ove...

Written by guest writer Brian Kearin You’re a hundred miles offshore and your boat is rapidly taking on water. You reach for your boat’s VHF and broadcast a desperate mayday call with your position. As you don your lifejacket and crawl into your boat’s life raft you think of that last mayday call you made, did anyone hear it? Did your radio have the range to reach the Coast Guard station on shore? Are there any other boats around who may have heard it? It’s a scenario we all hope to never find ourselves in. However far too many boaters are almost entirely reliant on their boat’s VHF radio or worse - their cell phone - for emergency communications. While your boat’s radio is a vital piece of equipment, both for regular use and in emergencies, it has its limitations. In the scenario above, range is limited and dependent on there being someone in range who happens to be monitoring the channel you’re broadcasting on. Additionally, each broadcast is done manually meaning you hav...

Once again, it's that time of year where the weather is cooling off and many of us are putting our boats away for the season.  Is it just me or does it seem like summer went by too quickly?  If you are like me, you really don't want to put your favorite floating toy up until spring.  Do we really need to do that? Let's think about this for a bit.  There are plenty of things we can still do with our boats over the winter months.  Don't misunderstand me.  I know that if you live in upstate New York and you keep your boat on a trailer in your back yard, you are going to have to winterize. But do you really have to leave it there until spring?  Here are some things that you can do to enjoy the boating lifestyle during the winter months and make the boating off season on season. Fall Foliage Cruise Fall is an awesome time to cruise local rivers and lakes to check out the colorful showcase that nature presents.  The air is cool and crisp but...