How to use pilotage skills to enter any harbour without a chartplotter | Motor Boat & Yachting 

I've been boating for 50 years and I still learnt loads from this video, completely brilliant !

Amazing...that was fascinating...I like the attitude that the plotter is a safety net and marine skills are to the fore...

Absolutely Brilliant video from Hampshire UK 🇬🇧 👏

Yet another informative and engaging video from Jon Mendez. Thanks again Jon!

That was very clear and useful. Really important to pilot by the lights and not the chart plotter. I came into Padstow over Doom Bar for the first time a few years ago at 03:00. Pitch black. One of the channel boys had been moved a bit (to cater for the shifting sands on the bar presumably) and the (up to date) chart plotter would have sent me out of the channel. Possibly not by much - but I'd rather trust the local knowledge and buoyage. And it wasn't scary at all - until I took a walk the next day and had a look at the bar at low tide...

I love this man for his knowledge, accuracy and his marvelous English!

Thank you for this video,so interesting plain speaking, excellent straight forward instruction,no froth and vidio was about the job in hand and not someone playing to the camara.very refreshing.thanks again

i love the beginning of these vids. it needs its own 3 minute clip. great info though,

Superb training, I have been nervous about night pilotage and this helps enormously. Thank you.

Just love it!

I'm not a boater, but have now learnt how to navigate a boat into Dartmouth Harbour.

great pilotage video. thanks Jon, these are superb for us novices !

Excellent explanation. Was studying pilotage and passage planning today and found this a great help. Thank you.

Hi Jon. That was a fantastic lesson, perfect for night navigation using a passage plan. Many thanks 😊

Absolutely superb how to vid 👍, John explains the information so well, thanks for going to the effort ❤️🇬🇧👍😁

Absolutely brilliant video! Very helpful, brought me straight back to my RYA course! Many thanks.

That was excellent John, really informative and well explained. Thank you 😁

Great lesson. Thanks for posting this.

Thank you for the coming into harbour lesson.

Brilliant information as always. Best on youtube

Brilliant stuff Jon...I really enjoy your instructional videos. Wish they came out a bit more frequently.

That is miserable weather in Most of the world, but for UK...that is a nice day.

Thank you for sharing your experience and knowledge. Truly appreciated.

Always learning. Thanks for this!

Brilliant stuff John. Absolutely love your videos. Such a measured and calm approach. We've all observed the dockside approaches with the screaming, shouting and chaotic passage making of those that fail to plan (plan to fail) or those that haven't quite built their experiences to match their ability! Confidence bourne out of planning planning planning, knowing your limits, building experience, and knowing every day is a school day! And always having a plan B! Having not completed much in the way of nasty weather evening dusk passage planning your video's give me confidence to plan some evening excursions for next year. As a winter get-together passage planning exercise, there's an idea for boat clubs to get together a couple of evenings a month to passage plan ports in their region, day and night versions which could then be made available to everyone?? May give others the confidence for extending their horizons? Always better together, and a tipple 'n tale or two to boot! Great videos John. Thank you.👍👍

Excellent vid! Currently studying for rya day skipper theory this clarifies everything for me. Many thanks

Such clear and interesting lessons. Really enjoy the videos well done all involved.

Very good video, it would be an idea if the camera was facing forward so we could see what you see thank you

Thank you.

I learned Nav as a teen sailing the Caribbean, hardly any lights anywhere. If a green marker looked red, it just meant it had gone rusty. Real seat of the pants stuff. I used to help Don Street update his charts and cruising guides for the Leeward and Windward Isles.

Always great information Jon. Thanks.

Great video and information

Good education. Thank you.

Thank you John! Excellent educational how to video as always!

Excellent video and many thanks

Heck I know captains that do that all the time in there home ports Geez they way some of them drive can scare the hell outta a person... But 20 or 30 years of doing the same thing makes it easy.... But this was a great confidence builder for those little ports I would love to go see and now I am not to nervous to do it in the dusk.. BRILLIANT!

Not dissimilar to VORs and PAPIs when flying

great video

Excellent video

Very informative videos

Simply excellent

just like flying Rnav strobe is am radio morse.... even if you are not a flier or boater it is good to understand this stuff ... if you were to need a to navigate from a crash or forced downing it might mean the difference in living and dying!! he does such a splendid job of execution and explaining the topics.....

I’d admire what your doing but not being a boater myself as much as I would like to be. I think this bit to much to take in or maybe its because I don’t understand it all. But really enjoyable watching you. Thanks

It’s fun to navigate at night 😊

wondered if you have corrected your compass and produced a correction card. Or is the compass close enough that you are able to use magnetic bearings from the chart. Good video!

I thought i was daft being the only one that prefers being out at night to day 🤣 everyone else thinks i'm nuts at the marina.

Do you use a special handheld compass?!

Lekker man lekker

Just wondering about magnetic variation. When flying we have to factor variation in our navigation, is it still a factor when navigating boats? Great video John.

What I don't understand is how is this guy not in Guy Richie movies?

Don’t think a sectored light is pilotage. Last time I went into Dartmouth I was running head marks and stern marks on the castles.

Great idea and useful, except that the videographer keeps focussing and showing John! For gawds sake, when you are trying to show something happening that is important and ISN’T the face of the presenter, please don’t focus on the person but instead focus on the thing (like the lights from a distance away) and let the presenter overdub. It was incredibly annoying and useless to have John talking about what he’s seeing, how interesting it was - and the videographer slavishly shoots John! So great idea, but please change the videography.

I enjoy your vids and learn a lot -- but when you say "you can see" well we cannot in the first 5 mins. Your cameraman was pointed on you for the majority of the time. At 6 mins in I finally saw the sector lights you were speaking about and after that the vid and your commentary lined up far better. * mins and onwards again we saw you not what you were speaking about.

sounds like alot of messing about just to sail into a harbour? surely water deep enough that far out?

Very interesting but t’would be much better to see more of what you’re talking about and less if you. We can still hear you so no need to keep cutting away. I barely saw your pilot plan long enough because the camera kept cutting back to you for much longer Han it was on the plan. Same goes for lights etc. A clear view without worrying about keeping you in the frame would be better. Thanks though.

Only criticism it would of been very informative if the camera was focused on what you were looking I at from your point of view instead of focussing on yourself the majority of the time , good video otherwise

Pilotage? what?

why not use any smartphone + maps/navi app? Paper+log+compass is not safe

On entering Dartmouth the 6 knot speed limit starts at Castle Ledge Buoy, the green starboard hadn't mark you passed when saying that you hadn't entered the speed limit area. Check your chart, check the pilotage directions and check the harbour handbook. In the area inshore of Castle Ledge Buoy you frequently encounter children in canoes and on paddle boards. There are also crab pot markers which at the speed you were doing doesn't give you enough time to react so you'll end up with a rope round your prop or a fisherman with lost gear. This video is very irresponsible and entering any harbour in reduced visibility at the speed you were doing is almost criminal. This video should be deleted as it sets an appalling example to all recreational boaters.