Passage Planning: Part 1

This series of texts presents a recipe for building a navigation plan. It makes use of electronic navigation software. The exposition is pedagogical, in the sense that the plan developed as an example is more detailed than normal.

The first text – this text – sets out the recipe. The next two texts detail the development of a real navigation plan, from Freeport, Bahamas, to Notre-dame-du-Mont-Carmel, north of Lake Champlain.

This example has the advantage of including an offshore segment, a tidal coastal segment and an inland water segment. It also corresponds to a boat deliver that I have executed. To preserve the client and the crew’s anonymity, boat specifications, crew composition and place of arrival are anonymized or modified.

This text shows how to construct the plan. The plan itself (with certain elements omitted) will be in the references of the second and third texts. I it is far more informative to show how to think about the construction of the plan than the plan itself. It should be pointed out that the approach described below is not the only one possible, but it is based on professional sailing planning standards and references.

Is A Navigation Plan Required?

The Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention, to which Canada is a signatory, specifies that a passage plan is mandatory for any vessel engaged in a commercial activity. The convention says nothing of pleasure crafts, nor does it specify if the plan has to be in writing. Thus, a passage plan that exists only in mind would be technically sufficient (!), but it would not be convincing if you had to show an insurance company that you have been diligent.

Common sense dictates that we should have a good idea of where we are going. An informal and personal rule of thumb I apply is to follow the same idea as the Canadian legislation on paper charts: it is best to make detailed passage plan for new passages. In contrast, a simple review of a few key data points may be all that’s needed for a passage that has been done several times before.

Four Phases

The construction of a navigation plan can be divided into four phases:

1. A heuristic phase: searching and exploring;
2. A phase detailing boat and crew specifications;
3. A phase for planning navigation segments;
4. A phase detailing secondary and peripheral elements.

These four phases are presented in a definitive order to clarify the exposition, but actual planning is more akin to going back and forth between phases. One starts by exploring, then make some initial plots, then learn something about the boat and goes back to exploring, and so on. One keeps going at ituntil something sensible comes out.

Heuristic Phase

In plain terms, the heuristic phase is when you “make up your mind”. It generally starts with a vague idea of the route to take, an idea of the constraints in terms of dates, but above all it starts with a lot of unanswered questions! The heuristic phase consists of gathering information and reading or consulting anything that will help you understand the water to be sailed on. The beginning of the phase is blurry, as there are more questions than answers, and the goal is to understand the passage by bits and pieces. It is pretty much about gathering puzzle pieces without knowing if they will ever be used.

In this phase, it is important to stay open and to listen. One of the aims of the heuristic phase is to glean information here and there. Important pieces of information may be revealed at odd times, like between two sailing stories. Above all, keeping an open mind matters, as you do not know yet what information is pertinent. The answers to our questions will take shape as we accumulate information.

It is during the heuristic phase that one talks to people with similar experiences, reads cruising guides, notices to mariners, or various support documents. Of course, looking at charts (electronic or paper) for an overall understanding of the navigation area should also be done. Reading other people’s comments in shared navigation applications or forums may also be useful, as it can inform about the quality of marina services. That being said, comments on the internet should always be considered with moderation.

Boat and Crew Specifications

It is impossible to know which route can be taken without knowning if the boat or the crew can take it. It goes hand in hand. The phase detailing the specifications of the boat and crew enables us to assess, as a system, its ability to navigate in different places. If one plans a short trip with its own boat and a known crew, then this phase can be very quick! On the other hand, sailing with a new boat and a new crew requires a proper evaluation of both.

One needs to find the boat’s capabilities: its ability to hold a course, its ability to sail upwind, and its general sailing characteristics (air draft, draught). One should also learn about on-board systems and the boat’s internal capabilities. In particular, attention will be paid to the condition of the sails and the rigging, the engine capacity (and fuel consumption), and the water capacity. It is also useful to look at the survival equipment on board, and other peripheral elements such as the autopilot and the navigation instruments.

It is all about discovering what the boat can handle. One can look at its age and the state of its maintenance. You can learn a lot by asking the owner simple questions. For example, “When did you last change the oil?”, “Do you have a maintenance schedule?”, or “What needs attention on your boat?”. These questions reveal a lot.

Learning about the crew is also important. Two crucial questions come to mind. Firstly, are the people involved competent? Secondly, do people have a sense of manners on board? Both can be learned in situ, but then you have to ask whether people have a desire to learn… and remember that learning implies space to make mistakes.

Skills can be verified by examining the seafarer’s CV, by looking at certificates of competency obtained, or by examining the sea time certified in the person’s file. Accordingly, it is a good idea for someone wishing to join a crew to keep an up-to-date seaman CV. This is a factor that can easily discriminate if several people express interest.

It is not an exact science to check people’s manners, but validating that the people on board understand that you will be “all on the same boat”, possibly with no way of getting out, and that the saying goes that the boat shrinks by a foot a day, is a good starting point. It’s not forbidden to communicate expectations about life on board, perhaps by discussing a crew philosophy.

Most books on navigation focus on the technical considerations of a sailing plan, but I would argue that taking into account the capabilities and morale on board is just as essential. The idea is to validate whether the boat and crew are capable of executing a sailing plan. Conversely, we can think about the limits that the boat and crew impose on the navigation we can take. An extreme plan where the crew is not sufficiently experienced is a recipe for failure or disappointment. It is also a beginner’s mistake. It is more enjoyable when everyone is relaxed and can have fun.

Route Planning

The route segment planning phase begins when you somewhat know about the route you want to take, and are ready to plot a route on a map. The complete route is broken down into segments. In this example, there are basically three segments: an offshore segment, between the Bahamas and New York; a coastal segment, between New York and the Catskills; and an inland segment, between the Catskills and St-Jean-sur-Richelieu.

In this phase, you start planning your routes directly, creating waypoints, calculating distances and estimating the duration of each segment. Depending on your preferences, you can then record your waypoints in a notebook, a .gpx file, on a map or by other means. From this point on, you will have a route on your maps.

This is undoubtedly the most “technical” phase of planning. You’ll need to pay close attention to the navigation symbols on the map, as well as working on the usual vector constructs to identify the course over the ground.

It is also in this phase that we will clarify certain assumptions we may have about how navigation is to be carried out. Will it be day or night? How will the watches be divided between the people on board?

This planning phase may not be successful on the first attempt: adaptations will probably be necessary if we realize that certain segments take too much time, or that the boat does not allow it. A classic example is the discovery of a navigation segment where the draught does not allow the boat to pass. Another is the realization that a navigation segment is taking longer than expected. We then return to the heuristic phase, modifying the routes and/or thinking of an alternative way of tackling the constraints identified.

Examination of the main route will also come with some planning tests: does the planned path meet the identified constraints? At what point along the way should we decide whether or not to enter a more technical navigation segment? And if the start was postponed by three days, would the planned segment still be possible? Conversely, what alternatives are there if something goes wrong? We will also be thinking about possible ports of refuge if we are sailing for a long time.

These few questions, acting as a robustness check, will quickly reveal weaknesses in a passage plan. If you are a day away from missing an important event at the finish (or an hour, on smaller passages), it may be best to go back to the drawing board, and identify a plan with an additional day or two (or an hour or two) as a safety margin. A change in the weather can happen quickly.

“Plan b” planning is also important, because a big truth of passage plans is that they will most likely be modified or adapted along the way. Weather and wind play a central role in sailing and it cannot be controlled at will. The idea, therefore, is not to have a rigid plan, but rather to have given sufficient thought to the options – with a main option – that allows you to take advantage of the conditions and possible problems at sea.

Passage planning will also detail possible berthing/mooring locations (if there are stops), contact numbers and VHF channels, as appropriate.

The level of detail of the navigation segments will largely depend on the nature of the segment (coastal, offshore, or pilotage) and the crew’s experience in understanding the big ideas. On the simple side, one could write “we’ll follow the Gulfstream”, or “start with the tide”, implicitly meaning that you intend to exploit the currents when they are to your advantage. It is also possible to be more detailed by directly specifying the route and times that embody the same ideas, or even identify in advance when the tides are in our favor for a few key dates.

Planning the Periphery

Secondary elements relate to administrative, legal and logistical considerations. This phase will detail, for example, where and how to make customs declarations, where to obtain fuel and food, and present a pre-departure checklist.

One will also prepare the documents needed for navigation: employment contracts (if any), legal documents, insurance and the conditions required to navigate legally in the territorial waters visited. It is also time to think about the division of tasks within the crew: who does what, etc.

It is also time to thinking about purchases and logistics. Where to buy groceries? Where to get a cell phone card for Internet access? How to get more technical parts delivered… and is it possible to get them on time? What about the reservations required (plane tickets? marina reservations?) to carry out the plan?

Conclusion

Building a navigation plan is not rocket science. If you have already planned a voyage or a route, it is basically the same process. The only additional, or sailing-specific, effort is to assess how sea conditions may influence the voyage.

In the second text, we will apply the method and develop a passage plan for a boat delivery from the Bahamas to Quebec (Canada, via New York). This type passage is a great example, as it includes an offshore, a coastal and an inland segment. It is also a popular path for Quebecers who wish to sail to and from the Bahamas!

References

International Maritime Organization (s.d.). Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), texte récupéré en ligne en avril 2024 à partir de cette adresse.

Wikipedia (s.d.). Fichier .gpx (format), texte récupéré en ligne en avril 2024 à partir de cette adresse.

International Maritime Organization (s.d.). Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), text retrieved online in April 2024 from this address.

Wikipedia (s.d.). Fichier .gpx (format), text retrieved online in April 2024 from this address.