[PUP] Anchoring experience, building confidence!

[John Marshall]

Scott,
	We all seem to share the same experience with this... my solution was  
to purchase a pair of Leica binoculars that had the range finder  
function built in. Outstanding binoculars and a very good rangefinder.

	Advantage is that you are always looking at things with binocs  
anyway, and pushing the button lets you get range data as you scan  
around (as long as the target is within about 600 yards or so).

John Marshall
Serendipity - N5520



On Feb 4, 2008, at 1:16 PM, catdoctor at earthlink.net wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
>> From: "Scott E. Bulger" <scottebulger at gmail.com>
>> Sent: Feb 3, 2008 5:48 AM
>> To: 'Passagemaking Under Power List' <passagemaking-under-power at lists.samurai.com 
>> >
>> Subject: [PUP] Anchoring experience, building confidence!
>>
>> What I wanted to share was an experience we had coming down to  
>> Acapulco.
>> There was an anchorage, Caleta de Compos, where we tucked behind  
>> some rocks
>> and secured a really nice location.  The waves were predictable,  
>> wrapping
>> around the rocks, into the cove and onto the beach.  I'd guess we  
>> were maybe
>> 300 yards from the shoreline and 100 yards to the rocks.  Oh,  
>> note:  It's
>> really, really hard to judge distance on the water.  Over and over  
>> I've been
>> shocked just how much room there is between boats when I get on the  
>> dingy
>> and motor away from Alanui.  On the boat it looks like 50' to the  
>> other
>> boat, but once away from the boat the distance becomes 300'.  I  
>> guess in
>> time I'll develop that skill to estimate the distance.  Anyway,  
>> what I found
>> very interesting was an occasional GOOD SIZE wave would wrap around  
>> the
>> rocks.  You would feel the boat begin to pull against the anchor  
>> rode and
>> the bow would dip, then the whole boat would start to rise, perhaps  
>> 4 or 5
>> feet.  As the wave rolled under the boat I'd look out the stern  
>> toward the
>> beach and watch the wave continue to pile up to the point it would  
>> foam on
>> top, then crash on the beach.  I'd guess the wave was actually  
>> breaking
>> about 200 yards aft of Alanui.  Well after a day and a night of  
>> this I
>> became reasonably comfortable that all was good and a "BIG ONE"  
>> wasn't going
>> to come around the corner and break on us.
>
> REPLY:
>
> Scott,
>
> I have the same problem judging distance from our boat. I solved  
> that by buying a handheld range finder. I have the Bushnell Range  
> Finder. It is the size of a small set of binoculars and sells for  
> less than $200. They are made for golfers and hunters. Simply look  
> thru the view finder and push the button when the X is on whatever  
> your target is and the range is immediately displayed. I bought mine  
> at Sport Chalet but they are widely available. The only problem I  
> have found is that it does not work well in fog. I assume the  
> infrared beam it uses is confused by all the water droplets in the  
> air in those conditions. I find it very comforting to know that  
> those rocks that are surely 50 feet away are really 300 yards distant.
>
> Stan Creighton
> Pax Nautica
> Selene 53
> Ventura, CA
> _______________________________________________
> http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/passagemaking-under-power
>
> To unsubscribe send email to
> passagemaking-under-power-request at lists.samurai.com with the word
> UNSUBSCRIBE and nothing else in the subject or body of the message.
>
> Passagemaking Under Power and PUP are trademarks of Water World  
> Productions, formerly known as Trawler World Productions.