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Old 26-05-2017, 07:50   #1
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Tips for mucking around in the coral.

I thought some might be interested in a couple of tricks I used to make life easier in coral waters. I spent 8 years cruising the tropical Pacific islands, & another 10 with tourist boats back in Oz.

I used to run the outer reef overnight & longer fishing trips for a few resorts in the Great Barrier Reef. This entailed anchoring in always submerged lagoons, or behind coral patches 30 to 50 miles from any land.

It is quite remarkable how good some of these reefs are at offering quite good anchorages, even when under 15Ft of water, apart from one problem. At night you have no reference point to judge the boat is not dragging anchor.

An old professional reef fisherman gave me this tip. Always anchor a 5 gallon plastic jerry can 50 yards in front of where you plan to drop your anchor. Then if the wind gets up, & you hear that worrying rumble of chain over a hard bottom, a quick check with your spot light will tell you that the jerry can is still there, & you have not dragged.

Then there's the old Polynesian trick of finding a small lagoon, or patch of reef after a long sail, in often highly variable currents.

It is usual to have from 3 to 5 eights of fluffy white cloud cover at sea. That beautiful turquoise colour of the water in a lagoon, or over a coral reef will be reflected in the cloud over a lagoon. It is quite remarkable how distinct this colour is, once you look for it. You can find a lagoon at about twice to three times the distance you will see the tops of coconut palms, making it much easier to find an isolated atoll.

Any one got any other tricks & tips?
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Old 26-05-2017, 08:23   #2
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Islands often make clouds, and clouds can be seen far, far away.

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Old 27-05-2017, 05:29   #3
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Don't have any tips myself, hasbeen, but I always enjoy your posts. Thanks!
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Old 27-05-2017, 08:15   #4
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

My one trick isn't really very tricky, but here it is.

In the older version of Google Earth, I do a slow speed flyover of my intended course at 3 to 5 thousand feet, depending. This loads the cache with satellite images of my projected track, helping the process of visually locating an anchorage immensely.

I loaded OpenCPN on a cheap tablet to minimize the drain on the electrical budget. Using OpenCPN, I set a mark where I intend to Anchor. Since I have units set to nautical miles, I set 5 range rings at .01 or approximately 60 feet each. I set another mark when and where I actually drop the anchor. Then I move the first mark directly over the second one, aligning my preset range rings to the actual anchor location.

Select 'follow me' and turn on 'track'. You now have a visual reference of exactly where the boat is and has been, in relation to the anchor.

My anchor alarm runs on another device. Because most economical anchor alarms must re-establish GPS every time it checks location, it is not as initially accurate as OpenCPN. However, it will wake the dead.

If I have 120 feet of anchor rode out and pass the second range ring, I know exactly what is amiss and how it needs to be corrected. This has saved my boat and bacon more than once.
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Old 27-05-2017, 09:06   #5
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

There's a thread around here where some folks show how dramatically it helps to use a drone to find a good anchorage. It gives you your own personal set of eyes in the sky, & from some of the images/footage, it was quite easy to see where channels & such were located, & where to stay away from (shoals).
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Old 27-05-2017, 10:07   #6
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Quote:
Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED View Post
There's a thread around here where some folks show how dramatically it helps to use a drone to find a good anchorage. It gives you your own personal set of eyes in the sky, & from some of the images/footage, it was quite easy to see where channels & such were located, & where to stay away from (shoals).
Good call. I was noticing that the pricing of drones is starting to come down to reasonable levels. A drone is already on my wish list and for this very reason.
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Old 27-05-2017, 10:23   #7
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Quote:
Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED View Post
There's a thread around here where some folks show how dramatically it helps to use a drone to find a good anchorage. It gives you your own personal set of eyes in the sky, & from some of the images/footage, it was quite easy to see where channels & such were located, & where to stay away from (shoals).
Here's the thread, complete with video footage. http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ne-177408.html
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Old 27-05-2017, 11:46   #8
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Quote:
Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED View Post
Here's the thread, complete with video footage. http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ne-177408.html
Thanks UNCIVILIZED, lots of good stuff.
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Old 27-05-2017, 15:01   #9
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

And for those of you who are concerned that using drones interferes with others' privacy, consider moving between 10 am and 2 pm, while the sun is high enough for you to have good view into the water. You can still keep safe, stretching the time, but you need to get your eyes higher. For this reason, people created ways to get to their spreaders, but still, it's getting very dicey by 4:30 in the afternoon, and very difficult after 5 in the tropics.

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Old 27-05-2017, 17:04   #10
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

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And for those of you who are concerned that using drones interferes with others' privacy, consider moving between 10 am and 2 pm, 0 in the afternoon, and very difficult after 5 in the tropics.
Ann
A time schedule for boats with generators and drones?, WTF, how about never?
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Old 27-05-2017, 17:33   #11
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Well, I guess mucking around in the coral means different things to different people.
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Old 27-05-2017, 17:54   #12
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Just an aside, but for coral cuts, we've found that betadine works great for keeping infection away from them. When you come back to the boat, wash the cut thoroughly with the betadine, it kills any coral polyps that might try to invade your bloodstream. This will sound strange to people unfamiliar with the issue, but untreated, the polyps can migrate in your nice salty bloodstream, and built wee reefs in your joints. Treatment is surgical, and it is a serious problem. Much has been written about what antiseptics to use, and hydrodgen peroxide (not bleach strength, the milder one) has its proponents, but only the betadine is known to kill the coral polyps. We've had only one tropical sore, and it was a nick that had a fly walk on it hours before we got back to the boat. It developed into a tropical skin ulcer, flucloxacillin treated it successfully.

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To Guy,

I gotta thank you for the opportunity to comment, what I wrote wasn't clear at all. my apologies to all.

What I meant was that if one were willing to eschew using a drone, because people do find their presence invasive, then the old rule about moving between 10 and 2 would serve one well.

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Old 27-05-2017, 19:27   #13
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JPA Cate View Post
Just an aside, but for coral cuts, we've found that betadine works great for keeping infection away from them. When you come back to the boat, wash the cut thoroughly with the betadine, it kills any coral polyps that might try to invade your bloodstream. This will sound strange to people unfamiliar with the issue, but untreated, the polyps can migrate in your nice salty bloodstream, and built wee reefs in your joints. Treatment is surgical, and it is a serious problem. Much has been written about what antiseptics to use, and hydrodgen peroxide (not bleach strength, the milder one) has its proponents, but only the betadine is known to kill the coral polyps. We've had only one tropical sore, and it was a nick that had a fly walk on it hours before we got back to the boat. It developed into a tropical skin ulcer, flucloxacillin treated it successfully.

Ann

To Guy,

I gotta thank you for the opportunity to comment, what I wrote wasn't clear at all. my apologies to all.

What I meant was that if one were willing to eschew using a drone, because people do find their presence invasive, then the old rule about moving between 10 and 2 would serve one well.

A.
Ann
I usually find your post accurate, informed and well reasoned but this coral growing in the human body sounds pretty far fetched. In order to maintain homeostasis a polyps need food, sunlight, proper salinity, temperature and many need a symbiotic relationship with specific bacteria. The salinity of blood versus sea water is orders of magnitude different. Plus the lack of access to sunlight, soluble calcium and the extreme temperature for polyps of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Not even considering the bodies immune response. I am not seeing how homeostasis is maintained. Can you offer a little more evidence to your proposed polyps growth in humans?

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Old 27-05-2017, 20:39   #14
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JPA Cate View Post
And for those of you who are concerned that using drones interferes with others' privacy, consider moving between 10 am and 2 pm, while the sun is high enough for you to have good view into the water. You can still keep safe, stretching the time, but you need to get your eyes higher. For this reason, people created ways to get to their spreaders, but still, it's getting very dicey by 4:30 in the afternoon, and very difficult after 5 in the tropics.

Ann
Quote:
Originally Posted by Guy View Post
A time schedule for boats with generators and drones?, WTF, how about never?
I think what she's getting at with the time window thing, is that between 1000 & 1400, the sun is much more directly overhead, which makes it easier to see coral though the water. Whereas if you try to move around early or late in the day, you can't see it nearly as well, in order to be able to safely navigate though questionable areas.

Think about the difference in the degree of difficulty seeing into a dark or dim room from the outside when using a flashlight or car headlights, when the light beams are perpendicular to the glass vs. striking it at an angle.
Point the lights right at the windows & you can see inside, shine them at an angle & you can't make out nearly as much, if anything.

Also, keep multiple pairs of polarized sunglasses onboard. With various colors of lenses, & levels of tinting. As each color, & each level of tint, as well as polarization levels, will work differently (better or worse) in various conditions of light, & opacities of water.
There's a science to it, but... enough on light propogation theory already.
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Old 27-05-2017, 20:49   #15
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Re: Tips for mucking around in the coral.

Do any single-handers (or double handers) out there take their autopilot remote up to the spreaders with them in order to pilot through coral? I'm curious as to what techniques such folks use to navigate said questionable waters. As obviously with a crew, the person up high doing the coral spotting can tell the helmsman which way to go. But lacking crew, or good comms, then this isn't an option. So I'm wondering what folks do in such circumstances.
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