Dublin Bay Sailing Club Committee Boat Sea –U
In addition to acting as the Boatswain, and Coxswain, the boatman shall carry out administrative duties, as instructed.
The boatman shall complete a log sheet for every scheduled race day, even those days when racing is \ 1, cancelled ashore. The Saturday boatman shall leave his log sheet in an agreed location and the Tuesday boatman shall send both log sheets to the Hon Secretary in the stamped, addressed, envelope provided.
The boatman shall be on board Sea -U at least one hour before the scheduled departure time from the . assembly point, currently the R St G. The boat shall depart on time, subject to the agreement of the Race Officer.
When you climb on board sweep your eye around the cockpit, look for evidence of intruders, bird dirt, and anything that is not normal. Open the cabin door, stow your luggage, and hoist the burgee.
Check the water in the Port locker for signs of petrol or oil. Bale out the water in the cockpit lockers
and the bottom of the boat. The last bit of water can be removed using the pump. Save some. water, if possible, for washing the boat.
Wash the boat, not just the cockpit, paying particular attention to the doghouse windows, inside and out. The boat normally lies facing downwind so the inside of the windows can get very dirty .This operation may be postponed until you can get a bucket of water. Lean over the stern of the boat and inspect the engine and propeller. If the propeller is foul with seaweed lock the propeller by putting the engine in gear and clean each propeller blade, in turn, by rotating the propeller into a convenient position. Reach down the side of the engine and clean the engine.
Remove the engine cover and inspect the engine, control levers, and the oil level. Top up the oil tank to the maximum level.
Check the steering by rotating the steering wheel. Look under the steering console to check the end of the steering cable pops in and out of the steering box. Remember to watch the engine!
The first start of the day should be a hand.start. When the engine is left for a few days the oil drains out of the bearings and other important places. The oil also gets cold and thick. The two-stroke engine has not got an oil circulating pump. This means that when you operate the electric starter there is no adequate lubrication for a fraction of a second, leading to excessive wear and a high electrical starting load. The electric choke also uses a lot of electrical energy, The engine does not run for a long enough time to put a really good charge into the battery, just a good top-up.
It is good practice to tie a weight to the rope connecting the mooring bridle and the marker buoy.
Check the Sailing Instructions to see if the Race Officer will need the starting mark. Rig the mark before anybody comes on board.
Put the flag box behind the cabin door. Get out' the clipboards and put a Schedule of Starters on one clipboard. Put a Result Sheet for each scheduled race on another clipboard. Put your Boat Log on a third
clipboard and start to fill it in. If stocks are running low make a note on the Boat Log. Hide a few sheets to act as a reserve.
Go and look for the Race Team-
The Boatman is responsible for safety on board. If there are big waves think of your foredeck /anchor man.
There are spare buoyancy aids in the cabin, one on display, more under the Starboard bunk.
If the Committee Boat is in the race area, waiting for the marks to arrive, the Committee Boat will have to act as a rescue boat until the real rescue arrive.
If the racing is cancelled "On the water" tell the Rescue Officer that you are returning to the Harbour, he might ask you to tow a boat or lift a mark.
Sea -U is a small, round hull, displacement boat that will not plane. The engine is too powerful for the boat; it was the smallest electric start, remote control, engine available. This means that the boat reaches its' maximum speed of about 5 kts at 4 100 rpm. This is in flat water, or very small waves.
The boat speed is controlled by the "Splash Factor". The waves come aboard, the side benches get wet, the Race Team gets wet, and life gets miserable. There is nowhere to put anything, clipboards, flags, radio etc Slow down, be dry, make life pleasant; you will arrive, eventually.
If you are racing in Scotsman Bay do not anchor inside a line running from the swimming baths to the forty foot. This roughly marks the extent of the rocks.
Leave the basket in the locker. Launch, and retrieve, the anchor from the cockpit, to starboard. Use lots of rope, you will not have to haul it in, that is the job of the crew.
When you are satisfied that the anchor is holding you may switch to "Standby". Fill in your Boat Log. Help the Race Team, it will help you to keep an eye on the equipment.
Tie the anchor rope to the mark yourself. Not everybody in the Rescue team has a rope-mans badge. Tie the anchor rope to the mark by making a round turn above the eye fitting. Pass the tail of the rope through the eye fitting, make a bowline, and tuck the tail under the round turn.
After racing lay the anchor rope out along the pontoon. Put the anchor in the bucket and remove all the kinks in the rope as you feed it into the bucket in figure of eight coils. Wash the rope with the water hose.
Do not lend anything to anybody; they never bring it back. If you cannot see it you have lost it. You are not running a chandler shop. If you tow a boat home make sure that your crew keeps your tow rope. Be paranoid about this.
After you have taken the race team back to the R St G proceed to the DMYC, go ashore and hand in the race results. The Results Service is either in the room at the end of the Dinghy Park, or in the office inside the front door. If they are not there hand the results in to the bar.
If anything is left on board keep it on board. It was the last place the owner saw it, so that is where he/she will expect to find it. Do not give it to somebody who will "Pass it on", now nobody knows where it is.
Tidy up the boat and put everything away. It will help if you get the Race Team to tidy up as they go. Disconnect the fuel lead, set the engine to fast idle, and let the engine run out of fuel. If you leave
petrol in the engine it will evaporate. The petrol fumes will get under the engine cover and may affect the electric wires etc. When the petrol evaporates it can leave a layer of lacquer (varnish) in the carburetor. If this lacquer peels off it will get in the works and either stop the engine, or prevent it starting.
Park the engine by applying maximum left hand down and retract the steering ram. If you do not do this the rain will wash the grease off the ram and it will corrode.
Fill in your Boat Log and either put it in the agreed place, or put the Saturday, and Tuesday, sheets in an envelope and put it in a post-box.
Lower the burgee to show that you are off duty .
Take a last look around, front, rear, up, down, all around the boat, lock up, stow the keys and wave to the launch.