# Chart Briefings



## davidpm (Oct 22, 2007)

I've been on both sides of the chart briefing a few times but I know some of you have had a lot of experience chartering.

What have you seen that was either good or not so good with chart briefings you have given or taken or watched?

What recommendations do you have?


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## Jammer Six (Apr 2, 2015)

Unless you're pointing out something unique to your area, skip it.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

davidpm said:


> I've been on both sides of the chart briefing a few times but I know some of you have had a lot of experience chartering.
> 
> What have you seen that was either good or not so good with chart briefings you have given or taken or watched?
> 
> What recommendations do you have?


Can you explain a bit better? What a chart briefing? 
I am not being silly, I really don't know what you're talking about.


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## aa3jy (Jul 23, 2006)

davidpm said:


> I've been on both sides of the chart briefing a few times but I know some of you have had a lot of experience chartering.
> 
> What have you seen that was either good or not so good with chart briefings you have given or taken or watched?
> 
> What recommendations do you have?


Referring to this..?

https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/us-chart-1.html


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## RegisteredUser (Aug 16, 2010)

A briefing, I think, would be the daily/near plan.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

I have found them all nearly useless. I remember sitting in the briefing room at the Moorings, in the BVI. It was either a video or powerpoint, it's been quite a few years. I left the room without any clue what they were talking about. 

In latter years, already being familiar, I had briefings where the staff simply showed me their favs. 

At the least, a briefing needs to start with the big picture, then zoom in. I think that Moorings briefing just put up harbor sized charts, which had no context. 

In the end, if one is competent enough to charter, they should be competent enough to brief the cruising grounds before they ever show up.


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## Jammer Six (Apr 2, 2015)

There are two things a charter company might consider briefing a skipper on: anything that's unique to their waters, and the one place, thing or submerged hazard that everyone seems to run aground on/run into/need help getting through.


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## davidpm (Oct 22, 2007)

MarkofSeaLife said:


> Can you explain a bit better? What a chart briefing?
> I am not being silly, I really don't know what you're talking about.


When you show up for a bareboat charter the person who hands you the keys usually goes over two things.

1. How the boat operates. Startup process for the engine and genset. Switch settings for 12 and 120v panel, fill for diesel and water, valves for multiple water tanks, thru-hulls. Location of spares and tools and safety gear. Most companies have all this in a laminated binder so they don't have to take any time with you. What is broken and doesn't work.

2. Local knowledge of the places you are planning on visiting. Mooring rules, anchoring rules, limits as to where you may go. Bridges too low for your boat. Passages not safe to take. Known obstructions that may not be on the chart. Best times to get to popular destinations. Best places to eat. Again some operations have a book they give you so they don't have to talk much but some are very eager to be helpful.

Just wondering what your experience has been.


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## davidpm (Oct 22, 2007)

aa3jy said:


> Referring to this..?
> 
> https://nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/publications/us-chart-1.html


No

My answer to Markseaoflife was more clear.


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## davidpm (Oct 22, 2007)

Minnewaska said:


> At the least, a briefing needs to start with the big picture, then zoom in. I think that Moorings briefing just put up harbor sized charts, which had no context.
> 
> In the end, if one is competent enough to charter, they should be competent enough to brief the cruising grounds before they ever show up.


Yes, context is super important.

I worry about all the new rules about where you can anchor or fish or moor etc.


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Best briefing tip I ever got was for the Pizza Boat in Christmas Cove, off St James Island. This NYC born and raised boy would have never touched Caribbean pizza, if not for the briefing encouragement. While it's not quite as good as thin crust NYC pizza (although the owners are from the NYC area), it's fantastic and a really fun thing to do. Order over the VHF and dinghy over to pick it up. Love it. 

I guess it's what's not on the chart that the briefing should focus on.


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## MarkofSeaLife (Nov 7, 2010)

davidpm said:


> When you show up for a bareboat charter the person who hands you the keys usually goes over two things.


Ahhhhh, right. 
I've picked up Moorings boats twice in the last 3 years in the Caribbean.

They always try to hurry through the boat stuff. With my old fragile brain I get them to slow down till I understand it. And go over stuff with them until they get the message. 
I don't let them just show me. After they do it I do it. They open a door and then I open that door. Etc etc. ☺


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## capecodda (Oct 6, 2009)

From dozens of charters, the good ones did this:

1. Unexpected Stuff About Boat - show me what's unusual about this boat in particular. Weird way to get to the engine dip stick and strainer, the windless was put in the wrong place so the chain might jump out unless..., the hidden valve behind this panel, the place you hid the spares and tools (if any, on too many charters there's none), etc.

2. Unexpected Navigation Stuff - last week somebody hit the reef here because this marker is out of place, the chart isn't accurate here cause the sand bar moved.......etc.

3. Entertainment - Joints to avoid, places to go, best food, best rum drinks, etc.....

4. Interactive - have you been here before? What kind of trip (big sails, big drinks, great food, isolation, crowds, etc.) you looking for....here's where I'd go if I was you. Oh, you haven't tried this bay, there's a great restaurant, etc.


Examples of bad briefings: Sure, there will be no Northerly Swell tonight, that bay will be great! Yea, everything works, no worries, have a great trip (except for the jammed primaries, and the Atomic 3 --- not a typo --- they do sort of kinda run on 3 cylinders for a while at least).


What I've learned to do as the brief-eee: Run every subsystem on the boat you can while the briefer is with you. Water, gas stove, windless, start the dingy engine and shift it, flush the heads, drain the show sump, top off the fresh water yourself (don't trust they did), check the engine oil, check the strainer, inspect sails ......do everything you'd do if you were delivering somebody else's boat. I cannot think of a time I've done this and everything worked.


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

I only have 2 different charters under my belt, one at Moorings and one at BVIYC... So my experience is limited so take it as that. They both did 2 different briefings though.

One was boat related (and a sign off of what is already damaged/waiver)
The other was location/navigation related.

I found BVIYC was way more thorough on their boat briefing... They told me where stuff was, but then made me operate it, much as Mark suggested above. I was more confident after their briefing than I was at Moorings which was, this is here, that is there, spares here, pointing all the time. It may have been my fault at Moorings though we caught them at the end of their day, and I suspect they just wanted to get out of there. If I had deferred until the morning it may have been more thorough.

I've found that asking questions during the boat briefing (and nav briefing) helps focus the presenter, and get you more pointed and valuable information.

Presently the BVIs are still in a state of flux so pointed questions about mooring conditions in especially Tortola mooring fields is important and should be asked and listened to thoroughly. If only a local knowledge dump could happen for it no? but they do pretty good by giving lists of things open and not open on a quick cheat sheet.


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## SanderO (Jul 12, 2007)

I am not a person to charter a bare boat... but I have thought of "lending" Shiva for use by a trusted sailor friend. There was only one person I would have done this with... and he had his own boat and when it was between boats he sailed WITH me... never wanting to sail Shiva alone.

But Shiva is a pretty complex boat ... system wise... especially if things go wrong and you need to fix something or do a work around.

I can't even imagine how long and complex a Shiva briefing would have to be for a random sailor to cruise for a week or two. She's way too complex in my opinion.

How many owners of "tricked out" boats over 35' or so would lend their boat and what sort of briefing would you have to make?


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

Nobody is ever borrowing my boat and I have many friends more capable than I. 

One thing bareboats do to prepare for the average charter is label everything: switches, valves, what’s behind cabinetry, warnings to follow proper procedure, etc. It never looks all that nice, but it does help with a foreign vessel.


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## capecodda (Oct 6, 2009)

I can think of 4 people I'd trust with my boat without me on it to move it someplace. The 3 of them work in the marine business, are close friends, and more capable than myself. One of them is my wife.

The briefing would be easy, and the boat would come back with a couple of systems I'd been struggling with fixed, spotlessly clean, and at least in one case probably with a fresh coat of varnish .

But it is a darn short list!


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## fallard (Nov 30, 2009)

Minnewaska said:


> I have found them all nearly useless. I remember sitting in the briefing room at the Moorings, in the BVI. It was either a video or powerpoint, it's been quite a few years. I left the room without any clue what they were talking about.
> 
> In latter years, already being familiar, I had briefings where the staff simply showed me their favs.
> 
> ...


Agree with the above, but consider local knowledge important-things you don't automatically pick up from a chart you should have familiarized yourself with before arriving for the charter. Using the Virgin Islands as an example, it is very helpful to get the local forecast on ocean swells that can make some areas very uncomfortable-enough so that you should adjust your intended itinerary as appropriate. Otherwise, there is local information on shoreside activities, when to arrive at a mooring field to assure availability, where there have been problems with poor mooring maintenance, and where the best snorkeling spots are to be found. For first timers, it is also useful for the chart briefer to point out what happens when you anchor close to shore in the lee of a volcanic island.

You can pick up a lot of the local knowledge from the cruising guides, but an update can be very helpful from the charter base. That said, if you've done your homework, you can skip the standard chart briefing and ask for the 10 minutes of updates that are useful.


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