On board with Tom Cunliffe looking at his cockpit instruments.

Tom Cunliffe describes why he sets up his yacht's cockpit readout as he does.
#TomCunliffe, #YachtsandYarns, #CockpitInstruments
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Welcome on board!
Tom
copyright Tom Cunliffe 2019

[@pops9190]

Always love to hear what you are thinking. Blue water sailing for 60 years now... never tire of listening to you and all your little micro stories? Your'a treasure.

[@vasjalesjak3846]

You cannot do anything but love Tom. The sincerity and experience is just overwhelming.

[@hughsmith4008]

How cool would it be to have Capt. Tom come to your Yacht and have some tea.

[@johncano2594]

Indeed, I could listen to him all day.

[@teddyboysdontknit810]

Hugh Smith met him once in Cherbourg he came up to me to ask if he could take some close up pictures of my rig configuration, really nice guy. That was about 10 years ago, maybe 12, and each time I have been at the boat show in London or Southampton since then he has made a point of waving or talking to me.....a real gentleman.

[@stevecass7575]

I'm not a sailor at all but I find your little videos absolutely fascinating. Thanks Tom!

[@contessa3292]

Great video. Thank you so much for showing us your set-up. Yes, I like the echo-sounder to show the depth of water! Talking of fancy electronics and the old Walker's Log - the lead and line shows depth of water too... Please keep the yarns and videos coming, they're much enjoyed. Cheers, William.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Thanks for reminding us about the leadline William. Mine is the original one from my old pilot cutter, with a concave bottom for tallow and marked in fathoms with knots, leather etc. It lives neatly coiled in the rope locker. I might make a video about it next summer when I'm back aboard.

[@danielculpepper8772]

The only thing negative about your videos is that I can only hit the LIKE button ONCE!! Well done Tom!

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Keep up the good work Daniel!

[@QU1RKONE]

Tom's love of the sea and for sailing is contagious.

[@ukusagent]

Mr Cunliffe , An Ex Wiltshire Boy here Myself , also motorbike riding fool , I really do love your very Down to earth videos , with the Very English way of explain things with very English saying like getting the wind right up the Chuff , I really just found your Channel and instantly subscribed Thank you

[@facmbo6835]

Hi Tom, I have enjoyed your content and guidance for years now. Was recently involved in responding to a mayday, with 6 people on board a vessel that sank rapidly. The only person to perish was a man with out a PFD/lifejacket. A strong swimmer and a healthy guy. I wear a PFD whenever i am on deck now, as an example for the crew.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Good for you. Very sensible. I've no quarrel with that. We all must make our own peace with this issue.

[@thearchibaldtuttle]

Thank you for sharing and explaining your setup!

[@maritimetees2315]

Tom love your videos and your vessel. Your a classic sailor.

[@sarascott2217]

Love your videos tom could listen to u all day. You tell it how it is and make it sound easy real story teller 😁

[@philgray1023]

Excellent and logical explanation. Thanks Tom.

[@JCs-Music]

Love your video’s Tom!

[@reloadncharge9907]

Thanks Mr Tom, I enjoyed the episode. I have my three Tritons set up in a similar manner, and really like them! Yeah.....Walkers Log...sextant...my spare sextant is now displayed in my living room alongside the Walkers Log, and an old Siebe Gorman diving helmet. All reminders of fun I had years ago before it got too complicated! Thanks, Andrew

[@cohenshcohen]

Well done...interesting and informative....

[@SVImpavidus]

Totally agree Tom. Seat of the pants sailing is great and you learn so much. However, embracing change and modern technology gives you so much more information which you can act on and trim to. It probably makes you COG faster because your not second guessing and the data is "smoothed" somewhat, dependant on your update settings to give you a mean or average over time or distance. Just love our "stear to apparent wind" function on longer passages. Makes for higher COG's and we can trim for best distance to waypoint while adjusting CTS at the same time. Great video as always . Sail safe. Ant, Cid and the pooch crew.

[@petem6354]

Yeah, seat of the pants sailing is great . . . until you hit a rock

[@DrCrabfingers]

Brrrr looks chilly. Great video.....thanks for sharing your set ups.

[@jeanlucraoelina2509]

Dear Mr Cunliffe, I discovered your sailing videos recently and have enjoyed your precise, clear and lively explanations, all the more since I am a mere landsman and armchair sailor . The short videos on the use of the sextant , and the one on Lady Belleville her full keel were very revealing. Thank you very much for the good work.

[@Gio-dj6ds]

Thank you Tom. Another interesting and informative video. You have a very easy manner when presenting which makes for delightful viewing. ‘The Boats that Built Britain’ remains one of my favourite BBC docs.

[@mickey1299]

I used to watch Tom back in the 70's , on television . He presented a weekly series called "Plain sailing" , his manner was exactly the same then . Certainly one of the better presenters with his laid back manner , i could well imagine he's a very approachable guy .

[@karhukivi]

Very interesting, Tom!

[@saltybuster946]

thanks again Tom, I will pop to the B&G stand at the boat show on Saturday

[@RH-lz3om]

Thank you, sir. Love the mason 44. Could you show us the auto pilot steering gear? Comment on the difference systems available, perhaps? When, if at all, would you use a wind vane system instead?

[@joejunior1974]

Thanks for the wise words!

[@erikhn9331]

Another great video from TC. I’ve been quite conservative too, but now I have an echo sounder and a GPS - the latter is also for security: if something goes completely wrong, you can tell a rescue team your exact position. Besides, ‘cause everybody has a GPS these days, they have taken away a lot of navigation marks like lighthouses, buoys and beacons.

[@eamongreen]

Hi Tom, Great video, and great to hear you advocate the use of "Depth of Water" rather than "Water under the Keel". Way too many yachts seem to have the latter set up, especially charter yachts, which always strikes me as unseamanlike!

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Exactly! Drives me to drink.........Good we're singing from the same page. Tom

[@simonallan2931]

Good video Tom. The Triton screens are really good units and like you I’ve found them very flexible and easy to use.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Thanks Simon. Good to know that you're a fan too. Tom

[@colincampbell-dunlop498]

Another great video Tom. Very clear and concise. I now run on ‘depth of water’ rather than below the keel you will be relieved to hear.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Good for you Colin. You've joined the elite! Tom

[@markbailey6051]

You got it an you deserve it!

[@timallen6025]

All that array of flashing and changing numbers claiming ones attention takes some getting used to.The sounder is pretty handy though! Thanks for the tech "Heads Up"

[@ruaraidhmcdonald-walker9524]

Brilliant and such a clear and helpful explanantion of the whys and wherefores of your choices. Excellent! Thank you.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Thanks Ruaraidh. Tom

[@ruaraidhmcdonald-walker9524]

@@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns Just rewatching!! What are the instrument models you're using here? Many thanks! Do love the clarity of this video.

[@rrinozzy5917]

Thnk you sir for sharing your nice video

[@humanbeing2009]

So useful Tom - thanks! Wish my West Marine salesman explaining B&G was as colorful as you :-) I hope to update our Lyle Hess cutter "Minke", a sistership to the Pardey's "Taleisin" with these same instruments. Cheers

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Thanks John. You won't be sorry, and what a truly lovely boat!

[@ianswales7219]

Enjoyed the video Tom, its great to see and old school sailor embracing and taking full advantage of the modern gear. What has not changed is the price structure though as a decent Walkers Log and Sextant in those days probably equates to a similar amount in weeks wages to a modern set up if not more. We have certainly seen a lot of changes and it frightening to think back to being Schooner rigged and navigating by DR definitely not 3 digital places. Cheers again

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Very good point Ian, to put cost in perspective like that. Thanks. Tom.

[@grahamsmith8122]

It's one thing having all the information Tom but predicting what it's going to do next is what matters. Keep up the good work.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

I still have to do that by looking at the sky and the sea, Graham. Thank heavens I have the senses I was born with. It's our responsibility to educate the next generation so that this stuff is not forgotten. Thanks for the comment. T

[@brennigjones]

Interesting your comment re depth of water vs water below the keel

[@allanwood3562]

Had to read that title twice.

[@garygerard4290]

This is the 3rd video I've watched, very informative, thank you nice gauges and good explanation of what they do. I'd spray paint over the B&G, I'd get awfully tired of looking at that

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

You don't notice all that stuff after a while. What would you put instead? Tom

[@garygerard4290]

I'd just black out the BG emblem with a stripe of matching black paint, either gloss or flat black. Maybe a strip of black electrical tape I took the Chevrolet emblem off my car in high school and I'm sure as heck not going to pay extra for a company logo on a T shirt just a personality trait I guess Again, Great videos

[@hughsmith4008]

I am looking forward to your input on bow thrusters... I am with you 100 %

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Good idea about the bow thruster Hugh. I've quite a bit to say about those. Maybe next summer. Tom

[@eolof7]

Hi. I live in Trafalgar cape área and would appreciate any info, anecdotes, suggestions for both crossing to Tánger and the passage of Gibraltar straight. My boat is a 25 ft Albin express with 15 hp outboard engine. Thanks so much. Kind regards.

[@MonkPetite]

WoW Tom , your boat is going well on this ride. Il looks like it’s running on rails.. you sure you where sailing ?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

I certainly was, with the wind where she loves it and the autopilot doing a great job. I've never liked steering that much!

[@duncanmacnair6091]

Any chance you could discuss the pros and cons of your in boom reefing on the yacht? I remember an article in Yachting Monthly when you first got the yacht and you were a bit unsure about keeping it.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Coming up next year Duncan. Good question though. Bottom line is we love it now. More in a few months!

[@duffygc]

@@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns I was just about to ask the same thing. Keep up the good work, Tom!

[@nigellucas560]

On my half tonner weather helm made the boat sail faster. Not the type that required the helm in your hip pocket but just a bit to give the helm some feel. It was the same on my Mirror 11’ and the International Moth. After 50 years I still do not know why but I tuned all my boats to be that way. So a beam reach giving over 6 kts with some weather helm seems just about right to me.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

I quite agree. A touch of weather helm lifts the boat to windward and gives the helm some feel.

[@karlsmith5935]

Very informative sir as always. I have an instrument quandary myself at the moment I have just about finished restoring my 27ft sloop and im at the point of placing my instruments now my quandary is should my plotter go in the cabin or outside in the cockpit? Kind regards karl

[@ianswales7219]

Hi Karl for what its worth, my plotter is at the helm and initially I wished it was in the cabin but in my case Im glad its outside near the helm for a couple of reasons. Mine is a B&G Zeus and I have wifi connected to it so I can use a iPad to mirror the display and plot routes etc down below sitting (or laying ) anywhere. I can plug the iPad into the TV as well so have a nice 22 inch display. The plotter has a very good daylight display and therefore beats using the iPad outside in bright weather. But the main reason I am swayed to having the plotter outside is with the various software upgrades a lot of my autopilot controls and functions are done from the plotter also the entertainment system is controlled from the plotter so one can quickly mute it from the helm. Tom is lucky having multiple displays on his boat but on a smaller boat like yours and mine the plotter gives a lot of options for displays where you need them. So for me its staying outside with a iPad with its 10 inch display inside for plotting. I use an anchor alarm on my iPhone and iPad when in the cabin.

[@fezmancomments]

I agree with Ian Swales. A good waterproof plotter at the helm with Wi-fi available for cabin iPad. However, these plotters can be rather “in your face” unfortunately, nevertheless I’m pleased mine is with me, first-hand on the binnacle. I think Tom Cunliffe has his plotter in the cabin. Here’s the link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n3nMqXaLa5lmn68

[@UncleFester84]

I've just noticed: is that an in-boom furling mainsail?

[@nickwebb9290]

That’s great and they say you can’t teach an salty dog new tricks…good on you for embracing technology Tom. At least you’d know what to do if the power died 👍

[@sailingchannel1173]

Hello Tom, thanks for sharing this video, as always very interesting indeed. Just curiousity; I see you are not wearing a lifejacket. The weather conditions as shown in your vid are well beyond the point where I start wearing lifejackets on board my boat. At what point do you start wearing those?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

I'm pleased you've asked this. Having sailed together since 1969 and stayed alive, Ros and I have a policy that we wear our lifers when we feel we need them. We don't have a hard and fast rule. On all but the quietest of nights, harnesses on outside the cockpit after dark, especially on watch alone, is a sound plan. This has stood us in good stead so far for 50 years on many a frowsy old trip. On that particular day, it had been windy but we were not in big waves. Our cockpit is very safe and we don't generally have to go on deck at sea in bad weather. The wind was unimportant compared with the sea, so it didn't even occur to us to put them on.

[@mm5aho]

What brand of lifejacket is that?

[@AndyUK-Corrival]

Hi Tom, very useful info, these new instruments are great, maybe an upgrade for me one day when funds allow. You say you want to know the depth of water and as you say many yachtsmen have the depth set for water under the keel. I assume you adjust your depth to allow for the transducer depth below the water or do you just take depth from transducer to seabed? Thanks for your videos. Andy UK

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Yes Andy. I measure the transducer depth then add that as an offset. I much prefer to know how deep it really is. If my boat draws 2.1metres and that's what it reads, Im aground, so why complicate matters by measuring under the keel? Thanks for raising this important point.

[@AndyUK-Corrival]

Tom Cunliffe - yachts and yarns Thanks Tom. A

[@philskype101]

@@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns That very true, mine is setup to read under the keel. I will change it next time I'm aboard to read depth of water!

[@ancientmariner7473]

👍🏻

[@geoffcampbell5681]

Tom, any reason that you went with several smaller displays rather than a larger multifunction display?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Yes, there is a reason. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't like to have a permanently mounted plotter in front of me when I'm steering the boat on passage. It tends to fascinate and distracts the senses from what's really going on. The individual instruments are less demanding. A quick glance and you are done. If I want the luxury of an electronic chart in the cockpit during inshore pilotage, I use my iPad, either hooked up via Wifi to the MFD down below, or using its own chart program.

[@WRPUS471]

Great video! Do you really think about depth in meters?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Yes I do Will because our charts are in metres, but I still measure my chain out in fathoms. Don't ask about the logic of that. There isn't any and I have to do a quick sum every time, but I like fathoms. They were good enough until Napoleon decided otherwise and for some reason the Admiralty followed him having put him firmly away at Trafalgar. No accounting is there? Tom

[@ianhumphrey26]

Tom, love your videos and very informative. What are your thought in mast furling or how you getting on with them? I think I would be too nervous it case it got jamed. Ian

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Hi Ian. I'm not a fan of in-mast and wouldn't have it on a boat of mine. I have in-boom on Constance. I made a video about that this summer, but have yet to post it. Watch this space! Tom

[@ianhumphrey26]

@@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns . Hi Tom. Apologies as I wrongly though Constance had in mast . I am not a fan either as prefer hosting and dropping with all lines to cockpit. Will look forward to the new video and keep up with the great work. Thank you.

[@frankiealas1]

Hi Tom, Can you do a video about your mainsail traveler setup ? You are the standard for seamanship. Cheers from Ottawa

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Hi Frank. That's a good idea. It won't be easy to shoot, but we might give it a go next season. It's interesting as an examiner to discover how many misconceptions exist about this subject. Thanks for the thought. Tom

[@frankiealas1]

Thank you Tom.

[@PaulBKal]

Lovely video Tom. Of course for all this to work, you need an instrument that has been either deficient, or completely missing in just about every boat I’ve sailed for years, being a boatspeed indicator. On most boats you are restricted to SOG, so have no readout on true wind, set, drift or distance travelled. Just finished a charter in New Caledonia (wonderful sailing) on a 50 footer with TWO chart plotters (one by each wheel) of which only one worked, and no boat speed indicator. Same thing last year in Tahiti, New Zealand 2016, Scotland 2013. In 2017 sailed Fremantle to Bali on boat with boatspeed indicator that was so unreliable that it might as well have been absent. So I guess my question is, what do you have to do to get a decent, working boatspeed indicator?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

PaulBKal I do have a boat speed indicator. Watch the vid again and you'll see it pops up on the middle dial as I scroll through my options. Mine is very reliable so long as I keep the tiny impeller on the transducer clean. Not much bother. It does everything you want it to. As you say, very useful. I'm sorry you've had such a bad experience. It must drive you nuts. Similar things have happened to me in the past but, as Mick Jagger noted in different circumstances, 'It's all over now!'

[@PaulBKal]

Tom Cunliffe - yachts and yarns, My apologies Tom, I was a bit careless in my comment. I was not suggesting you didn’t have a boatspeed indicator (although I can see why you’d think that’s exactly what I meant), rather to make the point that to get true wind, set, drift, etc out of your instrumentation you do need one and all too often it’s not there. Fortunately us old salts still have Admiral Beaufort’s scale to fall back on for the true wind, and as long as the compass in the system knows your heading, you can vaguely figure out set and drift from the difference between heading and COG. I still like to maintain a paper log, with log and heading etc in case of the very credible threat of electrical failure owing to the close proximity of current and sea water. But this is a bit hard without a boatspeed indicator.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Too right Paul. Our paper log books have continued from 1972 right through the electronic revolution. We never fail to keep ours up. Apart from protecting us against electronic meltdown, it's often a pretty good read too!

[@markmuller8829]

Nothing wrong with the wizz bang electronics if you already have the seamanship, seat of the pants, wind in the hair, practical skills and knowledge. The problems arise when people new to sailing & cruising, rely 100% on the electronics and have not learned the fundamental basics using their 5 senses! I recently watched a youtube video of a chap motoring the inside passage of Fraser Island in his new catamaran. This passage has many dead ends and constantly shifting sand bars and channels. He had his eyes glued to the iPad with Navionics as sole means of navigation! In a situation like this, any chart or charting software is to be taken with a large pinch of salt. You navigate with your eyes, dead slow ahead at times, with an experienced crew on the bow watching for the tell tales - changes in graduation of water colour, changes & disturbances in water flow & currents around sand bars, wading birds, whatever else your senses pick up. You can't even rely on channel markers in a situation like this.... I was glad he was navigating through sand and not the western approaches of uncharted reef in Fiji (where many an unwary sailor has come to grief).

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Quite right Mark. I navigated the oceans fro 20 years before GPS was thought of, much of the time with no engine, using a compass, a trailing log snd the signs of heaven. Instruments are here to stay. The best thing us old stagers can do is not to forget where we've come from and encourage folks newer to the sea is to use them sensibly. Thanks for your input.

[@tamar5261]

I like that you wear ordinary clothing not that yottie stuff

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Can't afford it mate! That's a genuine US Navy Pea Jacket. Unbeatable value and as warm as it gets. The old 8-panel cap jams down firmly. It takes a whole gale before it looks like blowing anywhere. All the best Tom

[@autoculto7629]

Impressive electronics. How much would a setup like that cost ?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

That pod is part pf a bigger package so it's hard to say. Best look at supplier's website for individual units and their transponders.

[@tiborkiss9186]

that is all fine. We only have an autopilot, depth, Navionics - and a normal compass. We never needed more.:)

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

You are right. You don't need more. I sailed the seas for decades with a lot less than you use now, but the kit enhances the experience if you have an open mind. The trick is to use it, enjoy the benefits, but not to let it blunt the senses we were all born with!

[@virgelmccluskey8700]

Do you use a chart plotter?

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

I certainly do Virgel. It's down below. Have a look through my video list and you'll find it. Tom

[@virgelmccluskey8700]

Ok great I will check it out. Thanks

[@grakkerful]

"I've got a jolly good fair current" Weird way to describe a 1/2 knot current.

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Hi Benjamin. Yes, it would sound strange to someone from the 'outside' in northern Europe, but I was up in the high Baltic where the streams are for the most part weak and unpredictable, so half a knot is not bad going there. Tom

[@marclachance5200]

K

[@iainlyall6475]

not using fathoms? shame on you tom :-)

[@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns]

Funnily enough Iain, when I'm calculating how much chain to lay out, I always think in fathoms. My cable's marked in fathoms too. I can't think in metres but we are stuck with them thanks to the charts. If you really hate them, go to America. It's still fathomless and feet there! Tom

[@iainlyall6475]

@@TomCunliffeYachtsandYarns trouble with me is i spent too much time in the US when i should have just stayed in canada. born '60 as a reference :-(