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| Gippsland Lakes Self Cruising - Your Briefing File | |
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| Before setting off ... | |
| Before you board, the boat operator will
have completed over 130 checks in the preparation of your boat - on the
engine and all equipment. The boat will be have full tanks of fuel and
water, the gas bottle will be full, iceboxes will have ice in them and
the fridges will be cold. The batteries will be charged, the toilet
holding tank will have been pumped out, and the boat will be clean
inside, and scrubbed outside. At the start of your holiday, before you cast off from the marina, you will be run through all the equipment on board, including the use of safety equipment, receive a complete map briefing and be shown your boat's handling techniques. The aim is to ensure you feel really confident so that you have a relaxing and fulfilling boating holiday. On board, a map and a manual are supplied. The manual is full of useful information, including:
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| The mechanical parts ... | |
| Engine Your boat has a diesel engine which is easy and safe to operate. There is sufficient diesel fuel on board for normal engine running over a seven day holiday (between 30 and 50 hours, depending on the boat). Batteries The boat has two batteries - one starting battery and one ‘house’ battery. These batteries are isolated from each other so that using accessories such as lighting will not flatten the starting battery. Both batteries recharge when the engine is running, and to keep them fully charged you need to run the engine for a minimum of two hours per day. Keep in mind that batteries, not mains power, run your accessories - it's not possible to run heavy power-drawing appliances such as freezers, and you need always to be conservative with power. The batteries provide 12 volt power, not 240 volt. There is a cigarette lighter adapter for appliances that will run on 12 volts such as mobile phones, some cassette decks, etc. Unfortunately, your 240 volt hairdryer will not work on board, but you're welcome to use the onshore power in our bathroom, or the sea breeze.
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| In the galley ... | |
| Stove Except for the Cavalier 30 which has a meths stove, all the boats are fitted with gas stoves with two hotplates and a small-capacity oven - suitable for casseroles in medium sized dishes, but don't try to cook a large turkey! The gas bottle is full when you start your holiday, with sufficient gas for a seven-day holiday. There are a number of safety devices on board to prevent or warn of a gas leak: a safety cut-off valve on the stove and a gas detector - which remains on at all times. We recommend that you turn the gas off at the bottle before going to bed. There is no microwave oven on board. Fridge Some of our boats have electric fridges operating from the batteries, others have eutectic fridges powered by running the engine. For either type, it is important to run the engine for a minimum of two hours a day. For the electric fridge, this helps to keep the batteries fully charged; for the eutectic, this is when your fridge will be operating and getting cold. Electric fridges must be turned off at night, otherwise the battery will drain while you sleep. Your food will still stay cold. To conserve the coldness, keep fridge opening to a minimum. The boats don't have freezers. Water You have a limited amount of water on board - the boat’s not connected to a reservoir! The water is from our town supply and is okay to drink. As a good rule of thumb, with conservative use the water will last three days. You can top up your water tanks at Riviera Nautic and at Paynesville. Please use just these two locations - some other places have bore water which is unpleasant to drink. Hot water: the water is heated when the engine is running. It takes about 1/2 hour to heat the hot water holding tank. Heating Not hi-tech but very effective, a terracotta flower pot can be placed over a lit burner on the stove and it will give off wonderful fume-free heat to keep you snug on cool evenings. It also helps to remove some of the condensation that can be a bit of a nuisance in winter. Please make sure you keep some ventilation flowing while the burner is lit, and that you turn the burner off before going to bed. Barbecues We are very fortunate that, on the Gippsland Lakes, there are lots of public jetties for mooring. Docking against a jetty is easy, but if we were to have barbecues mounted on the rails they could easily be wiped off. So instead, we offer you the option of hiring a gas barbecue that you can take ashore to use. Also, there are barbecues at a number of locations around the Lakes.
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| In the bathroom ... | |
| Toilet Your toilet is connected to a holding tank to receive all the effluent - better than it going into the lake! If you keep use of the on-board toilet to a minimum (that is, use onshore toilets wherever possible) you’ve got a capacity of about three days - depending on how many people are on board. Toilet pumpouts are available at Riviera Nautic, Paynesville and Loch Sport, and there's an emergency (manual) pumpout at Ocean Grange. To avoid blocking the toilet, please do not put any foreign matter (including tampons) into the toilet bowl. It simply cannot go through the system. And a blocked toilet can really spoil our mechanic’s day! If you notice a discharge from the vent pipe (it comes out of the hull near the waste deck fitting), or the toilet pump is under more pressure than normal, it means the holding tank is full and MUST be pumped out. We stress the importance of this, as continued use can create problems both unpleasant and dangerous, and we will charge for any cleaning up. Shower A hot shower on a boat is a great luxury, but remember that showers use up lots of water.
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| Communications ... | |
| The marine radio The marine radio on board (27 MHz) is for your safety and convenience. It can be used to relay messages to your operator to obtain up-to-date weather forecasts and to talk to other boats. Calling your boat operator on your marine radio Full details will be given to you on arrival Weather forecast You are very welcome to call your boat operator at any time for a weather forecast. They receive a weather fax each morning and updates during the day. They conduct a radio sched at 2.00 pm each day. We start with updated weather information and then call each boat in alphabetical order. This is a good time to ask for advice regarding evening moorings. If you miss the sched, please give them a call before 5 pm to let us know your plans for the night. Mobile phones Mobile phones work well on the Lakes (although not very well in Chinaman's Creek), and your boat is fitted with a 12 volt cigarette lighter adaptor. If you are telephoning the boat operator, please remember that they are there only during office hours. Navigation On the Gippsland Lakes, the harbour starts at the entrance near Lakes Entrance. The entrance, and right up the Lakes system to Sale, is considered ‘into harbour’. So long as you are heading in this direction, you leave all red (or port) markers to your left hand side. Conversely, you leave all green (or starboard) markers to your right hand side. When you turn around to go towards the entrance you are going ‘out of harbour’. Then all red markers need to be on your right hand side, and all green markers should be on your left hand side. Here are two maxims to help you remember: Beacons Rules of the road The rule for passing oncoming vessels is opposite to that of the road - with boats you pass port side (left side) to port side. If in doubt, turn to starboard sufficiently to let the other boat clearly sees you intentions. A faster vessel always gives way to a slower vessel, so in nearly all cases, boats under motor give way to boats under sail. An overtaking boat keeps clear. |
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