Beginner Guides

A visitor berth is a short-term berth for a boat that does not belong to the harbour, charged per metre of length per night or per day. Some harbours take bookings weeks ahead; others allocate every berth on arrival, or cannot reserve moorings at all. The guide to booking a visitor berth explains the methods, what information a harbour asks for, how charges are calculated and what happens on arrival.

A fixed VHF radio on a UK boat needs an Ofcom Ship Radio Licence, and the person using it needs an operator’s certificate, normally the Short Range Certificate. The VHF basics guide covers the licences, the channels used for distress, calling and harbour working, how a call to a marina is structured and where the Coastguard broadcasts its safety information.

A tidal gate is a point that can only be passed at certain states of the tide: a sill or bar that needs enough water over it, a lock or bridge that opens at set times, or a headland or channel where the stream runs too fast to push against. The tidal gate guide explains each type, with examples from harbours across the south coast and the Channel Islands, and how heights and streams are read from the official tables.

Sailing from Great Britain to France, Belgium or the Channel Islands is a journey across a customs and immigration border. The Crossing the Channel guide covers the pleasure craft report, the documents carried by the boat and crew, arrival procedures at French and Belgian ports, the Q flag and the rules for returning to the UK.

A handful of terms appear on every harbour guide and passage planner. The table below gives each one in plain English, and the beginner guides explain them in more detail.

HM Coastguard broadcasts maritime safety information, including the inshore waters forecast and gale warnings, on VHF. Each broadcast is announced on Channel 16 and then read on Channel 62, 63 or 64. Solent Coastguard’s full broadcasts are at 07:30 and 19:30 local time, and Dover Coastguard’s at 07:10 and 19:10, with shorter updates every three hours between.

The Met Office inshore waters forecast divides the UK coast into areas. Area 6 runs from North Foreland to Selsey Bill and area 7 from Selsey Bill to Lyme Regis; the Channel Islands have their own area. The shipping forecast covers the sea areas further offshore. NAVTEX receivers on the south coast pick up safety messages from the Niton station.

In an emergency at sea, the Coastguard is called on VHF Channel 16 or with a DSC distress alert on Channel 70, or by telephone on 999. The live tides and weather page gathers today’s tide times from the UK Hydrographic Office and wind from the Met Office for every harbour in Old Sea Dogs Guides.

Several official bodies set the rules covered in these guides. Ofcom licenses ship radio equipment and assigns call signs and MMSIs. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which runs HM Coastguard, sets standards for radio use and operator certificates, publishes guidance notes such as MGN 324 on VHF, and broadcasts maritime safety information. The RYA administers the Short Range Certificate for the MCA and issues the International Certificate of Competence.

The UK Hydrographic Office publishes ADMIRALTY charts, tide tables and tidal stream data, and its predictions are used for the tide times on Old Sea Dogs. Border Force and HMRC handle pleasure craft reports and arrivals in the UK. Abroad, French Customs (the Douane) and the Police aux Frontières run border control at French ports, and the Belgian Federal Police’s Maritime and River Police do the same in Belgium. Each harbour has its own authority, whose local rules, signals and VHF channels appear in the harbour guides.

Once the basics are familiar, the area guides cover individual harbours in detail: the Solent, Poole Harbour, Chichester Harbour, Sussex & Kent, the West Country and the Channel Islands. Each harbour guide includes its VHF channels, berthing arrangements and tide times from the UK Hydrographic Office, and the live tides and weather page brings today’s tides and wind for every harbour together.

For anyone new to the sport, the guide to yacht clubs explains how clubs work and how to join one.