Here are a few books from my library that I refer to on a regular basis or have found very interesting. They are listed in no particular order. This list is not intended to be all inclusive or safety only. I assume everyone has Chapman’s, The Annapolis Book of Seamanship and the other “Major Reference Books.” Some of the books are below the radar so to speak, but worth a second look. Good books all and recommended.
Good luck and happy reading.
Shilshole Marina is on Puget Sound, west of Scenic Downtown Ballard and the Ballard Locks and south of Golden Gardens Park.
The address for your GPS is:
Shilshole Bay Marina
7001 Seaview Ave. N.W., Suite 100
Seattle, WA 98117
Mapquest Map of the Shilshole Marina Area. Golden Gardens Park is at the far north end of the marina, Ray’s Restaurant is about 400 yards south of the marina. (Zoom out a bit to see the approaches using NW 85th & NW Market Street) (See below for more detailed driving instructions and routing hints.)
Parking: There is plenty of parking in the marina lot. The marina is about 3/4 of a mile long so try and park close to the dock you are sailing from. You may Park in the main parking lot or along the street. Do not park in a spot that says “Parking Permits Required” – you will be towed. “A” dock is at the south end of the marina “X” dock at the north end. General parking starts at the north end of the boat yard and continues all the way to the north end by the dry boat storage and drive in.
Rest Rooms: There are unlocked rest rooms at the far north end of the marina behind the drive in, the main building in the center of the marina, and at the far south end by the boat yard (these are a bit hidden but are on the east side of the boat yard office building.
Printer Friendly Driving Instructions (pdf)
Mtn May 30, 2009 Has been moved to:
http://captnmikephotos.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/mountaineers-may-30-2009/
UPDATE: November 23, 2013.
Three sites in King County are now accepting expired flares for disposal. The Local Hazardous Waste Management Program (LHWMP) of King County, working with other agencies in the area to allow boaters to turn in up to 10 expired flares per trip four trips per year (40 flares) at three Hazardous Waste locations in King County, North Seattle, South Seattle, and Factoria transfer stations.
For locations, limits and hours see the LHWMP web site.
Addendum July 14, 2019: King County has a home pickup program if you are over 65 and physically handicapped, you can call them up and schedule a pickup day and time for all Hazardous Waste! I think this is a great addition to the program. A note also on the North Seattle location. It is only one block east of N. Aurora Ave. Please do not do as I did and confuse Stone Ave. N. with Stone Way.
While the 10 flares per trip 40 flare maximum might seem like a bad limit, I just finished clearing out flares going back to when I started boating just over 25 years ago and managed to stay under the 40 limit, yes I still have about 6 old flares on the boat, but I tend to keep some not quite so old flares onboard just in case.
– c/m –
NOTE: I just received a report that Shilshole Marina is no longer accepting flares so there may be changes in other locations below as the ones listed were all having the flares picked up by the same person. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Boaters in the Seattle area now have a safe and legal way to dispose of old safety flares. The what do I do with old flares is a recurring problem for boaters as safety flares expire 42 months from Date of Manufacture (check the expiration date when purchasing flares and every spring when you start your boating season).
Lighting flares for a non-distress reason on Federally Regulated waters is a Federal Crime. Offenders can and have gone to jail, been fined and required to pay for the cost of responding to the false mayday.
The flare collection sites are:
Elliott Bay Marina
Fisherman’s Terminal
Shilshole Bay Marina
West Marine, Shilshole Bay
Western Fire & Safety, Ballard
Seattle Police Harbor Base (North Lake Union, west of Gas Works Park)
The Seattle flare disposal program was started in 1999 by Mr. Al Jensen, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary member of Flotilla 12, Edmonds Washington. Al started the program after finding out that District 13 Coast Guard (Pacific North West) was spending about $ 1.3 million dollars a year responding to false flare sightings. Al collected and disposed of 2,740 flares the first year and in 2000 he received a Superior Professional Achievement Award from District 13 for saving the district almost $700,000 in reduced false flare sightings. As of spring 2009, Al had collected and safely disposed of about 20,000 flares.
What a skipper expects your mother to have taught you about proper boating manners.
Tips on proper Boating Etiquette when a guest on a boat. Or hints on how to be invited back aboard again.
Boating Etiquette – Opens in New Window
Crew Tips from George:
Tips on how to be a good crew member from 35 years on boats.
Crew Tips from George: – Opens in New Window
Special thanks to the skippers that have contributed to this list and Mike Sinclair for inspiring me to start this list.
Much of Boating safety like all safety is attitude. John Vigor sums it up more elegantly than I.
Vigor’s Black Box Theory:
The basis of the theory is that there is no such thing as fortuitous luck at sea. The reason why some boaters survive storms or have fewer accidents than others is that they earn their “luck” by diligent and constant acts of seamanship.
Aboard every boat there’s an invisible black box.
Every time a skipper takes the trouble to consult the chart, inspect the filters, go forward on a rainy night to check the running lights, or take any proper seaamanlike precaution, he or she earns a point that goes into the black box.
In times of stress, in heavy weather or other threatening circumstances where human skill and effort can accomplish no more, the points are cashed in as protection. The skipper has no control over their withdrawal. They withdraw themselves, as appropriate. Those skippers with no points in the box are the ones later described as “unlucky.” Those with points to spend will survive-but they must start immediately to replenish their savings, for the sea offers no credit.
This method of “earning luck” was well known in practice, if not in theory, to sailors in square-riggers, who were told:
For six days shalt thou labor and do all thou art able;
And on the seventh, holystone the decks and scrape the cable.
From:The Practical Mariner’s Book of Knowledge, John Vigor page 20
This is attitude and diligence, looking and thinking ahead, telling the crew what is expected of them, the crew telling the skipper what they expect of the skipper. Everyone on the boat asking when directions are not clear. It is the proper tone on the boat that everyone feels safe asking a question, asking for help, assistance or directions.
I get very irritated when I hear people say something like “I’ll put on my lifejacket when the weather gets bad.”
I want you to make doing things the correct and safe way the regular way you do things on your boat. Train the crew to do things the correct and safe way from the start. If you start out the safe way then there is no un-training later on.
Yelling at people does not make them smarter.
Remember the skipper sets the tone on a boat. Lets all set a postive tone on our boats and pass the positive tone on.
Thank you for helping with boating safety.
Boating Safety Tips, Tricks & Thoughts from Captnmike 
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