Commander…Ahoy!
By Paul Bolden, Commander of the 9th Coast Guard District, Central Region, Division 16
I Told Ya So…Sort Of
As you may recall, last month I debated whether or not to issue our annual “Ice Fishing” edition because the water temperatures were still relatively warm. I forgot that we were in Ohio where weather can turn on a dime…radically…and it did! Surprise, we got Winter! I didn’t get a chance to see if there were any fishing shanties out but it was cold enough pending whether the ice was safe to be on. Not being an ice fisherman myself I didn’t venture out to check ice safety during this deep freeze. If you have or will, please review last month’s Gazette before venturing out.
Erie Sea Conditions
As of this writing, the near shore sea temperatures are 34°F off Toledo and 33°F off Cleveland. Near shore is a mix of ice and open waters. While Erie is mostly ice covered, ice fishing is not advised under current conditions.
Put-in-Bay Maritime Academy (Part 3)
For our final Put-in-Bay Maritime Academy class for this off-season we are going to discuss the importance of charts while navigating the waters around PIB. I’ve said this before, but the importance of having and knowing how to read area nautical charts can’t be understated. As every island resident knows, the waters around our area of the western basin are shallow. With that comes additional boating risks that you are less likely to encounter when boating near Cleveland (for example). If you are not totally familiar with the area that you are boating in, the only way to know of various hazards is by consulting nautical charts. I would like to also point out that if you are new to boating, particularly in and around the islands please take a boating class that includes some level of navigation training.
Here are my personal navigation procedures as it relates to charts. I divide my trips into three categories. Very familiar, moderately familiar or not familiar. In the very familiar category I rarely consult my paper charts. These are courses that I have navigated for years. These are also heavily travel waters by other mariners and I stay alert for navigation bulletins in the event that a hazard alert is issued for these waters. In this case I rely on my GPS and visual points of reference to stay on course and to stay safe.
In moderately familiar waters I will consult my charts the day before the trip. For example, pre-pandemic when I would travel to Leamington, these waters are moderately familiar to me,but not familiar enough to skip charting my trip in my opinion. While I am confident of my route to Leamington I still need to review the waters adjacent to the route for depth and hazards. I will also have the course programmed into my GPS. In the case of Leamington I bring a copy of the Leamington Marina so when I’m given a docking assignment I know exactly where to go. In actuality I have already familiarized myself with the Leamington Marina dockage diagram the day before the trip along with reviewing the nautical charts. You don’t want to be floating outside the marina’s breakwall trying to figure this thing out.
This coming Summer my wife and I are considering making a trip to Cleveland (approximately 52 nautical miles from PIB). We have not made this trip before on our vessel therefore these are not familiar waters. The day before the trip (if not earlier) I will methodically chart the course using my nautical charts and also program the course into my GPS. I will also locate what I call emergency ports of call if an unexpected event should occur before we reach our destination such as bad weather or engine problems. Using your charts for each of these is essential to safe boating. To embark on such a long trip in unfamiliar waters on a whim without first charting are both rookie and hazardous.
What I have tried to do in this article is offer one strategy relating to the appropriate time to use nautical charts. There may be other appropriate strategies. It could be argued that anytime you are navigating the lake you should consult your charts,but in reality for routine trips who’s going to do that?
An additional consideration is to always carry paper charts with you while underway. Remember, GPSs can and do fail and if you travel in Canadian waters you are required to have charts on board in accordance with the Canadian Shipping Act-2001 as I understand it.
What we were not looking to do in this article was to explain the different features contained on nautical charts which requires study in depth. I strongly encourage you to seek out that training. There are many online courses that provide this. In fact, right now would be a great time to take such a course online in advance of the ‘22 PIB boating season. Please think about and consider doing this.
For information about serving in the Coast Guard Auxiliary. Contact the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary at 614-848-4544.
The previous piece is published in this month’s Put-in-Bay Gazette. The Gazette has been producing incredible independent Put-in-Bay island news for over 40 years. If you have any interest at all in what is happening on South Bass Island, we urge you strongly to subscribe to the Put-in-Bay Gazette. One-year online subscriptions are only $15, and print subscriptions are available as well. To subscribe please click here.
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