From the Boathouse: Sail to San Diego? Now’s the time

Ahoy!

This is the perfect time of year to set your sights on another harbor below Point Conception. The seas are usually calm and the summer crowds haven’t arrived. I recommend cruising to San Diego for the weekend.

This is a nice voyage and a course that does not require multiple waypoints on the chartplotter. I have made this trip numerous times during the day, during nighttime hours and in very nasty weather conditions.

Usually, I am delivering a vessel, assisting a novice skipper or helping a new boat owner learn the vessel.

My tip of the week is on how to use your vessel’s radar to know the distance between you and another vessel or land.

First, know that when are you are cruising between Newport Harbor and San Diego Bay, you might encounter military ships off Camp Pendleton. Plus, you can expect military ships and submarines entering or leaving San Diego. Your course will be miles off Pendleton’s beach, since the coastline curves inland in this area. You will notice this on your charts.

Homeland Security regulations require that recreational skippers maintain a distance of at least 100 yards from military ships and that skippers slow to minimum speed if within 500 yards of a vessel. I recommend keeping a CPA, or closest point of approach, greater than 500 yards so you can maintain your vessel’s speed, unless you are sailing under wind power, in which case you should go in closer.

If you have to pass a military vessel closer than 100 yards — for instance, inside San Diego Bay — then you need to contact the military vessel, if feasible, and follow its commands or those of any escort vessels.

A recreational boater who does not follow the rules can receive a $250,000 fine and/or a six-year prison sentence. However, I have never heard of anyone being fined or jailed.

On one voyage, we were approaching a military vessel operating off Camp Pendleton, and the military ship was operating a remotely operated underwater vehicle. This time, the ship’s captain radioed us to request a two-mile CPA since a submersible was in the water.

So the question in a skipper’s mind is: How do you know if you are two miles or farther from the ship?

An easy way to maintain the separation is to look at the range rings on your radar screen. Radars will show the display’s range and the circular rings’ distances on the screen display.

For example, 6/1 or 3/.5 are common settings when cruising on the high seas. The 6/1 means that the radar is set in the six-mile display range and every circular range ring is one mile apart. Therefore, you will need to keep the ship more than two rings away (two miles) from the center of the radar display when using the 6/1. Likewise, when you are using the 3/.5, keep four rings away from the vessel: 4 rings times 0.5 miles equals two miles.

It is that simple. So the next time you are wondering how far you are from the beach, count your radar rings and multiply by the rings’ setting.

However, remember the curvature of the Earth. So just because your radar has a 48-nautical-mile setting does not mean you can see an object 48 miles away.

Have you wondered why you cannot see the lights of Avalon on Catalina Island from the shores of Newport Beach? Simple answer is because Avalon is over the horizon. That radars only operate by the line of sight is the rule when you are adjusting the display distance, which is why I use the three- and six-mile display setting when underway in the ocean.

Lastly, here is a tip if you are heading to San Diego. Usually this time of year, you can turn in close to Point Loma because there isn’t any of the notorious propeller-tangling kelp like there is in the summertime.

As always, just keep an eye to the weather for any changes. Please be boat smart and boat safe. Lastly, please boat responsibly and look behind you before you turn the wheel at the helm.

The original boating program “Boathouse TV & Radio Shows” has stretched from coast to coast for more than two decades. See the details at https://www.boathousetv.com, https://www.facebook.com/boathouseradio and https://www.twitter.com/boathouseradio.

Safe voyages!

MIKE WHITEHEAD is a boating columnist for the Daily Pilot. Send marine-related thoughts and story suggestions to mike@boathousetv.com or go to https://www.boathousetv.com.