Grant Headifen

About Grant Headifen

My vision for NauticEd is to provide the highest quality sailing and boating education available - and deliver competence wherever sailors live and go.

Entries by Grant Headifen

Reefing the Sails

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Before heading out, check forecasted wind conditions to see if you might need to reef at some point during the day. If so, make appropriate reefing preparations in the calm marina and ensure your crew knows the procedure.

Holding a Straight Course in Sailing

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Holding a straight course is an imperative skill to master as you learn to sail. As an experienced sailor, nothing is more distracting to a good day out sailing than a novice helmsperson swinging the boat in all directions.

Sail Trim

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While setting the sails to general rules of thumb will get you really close to a good sail set,

Latitude and Longitude

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The latitude and longitude coordinate system is the key navigational concept for sailing. It is the mariner’s coordinate system.

Sailing Heave To

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When you have successfully hove-to (heaved-to), your sailboat will be in a stable situation with the mainsail and headsail still up. Your forward speed will be minimal and…

Securing Your Sailboat

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It is convenient to have dock lines that are pre-set to the right length with loops on the end and are permanently mounted onto the marina cleats. Now, when you return to the dock you simply slip the loops over your vessel cleats.

Vessel Lights and Shapes

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Nighttime can be a beautiful time to sail. However, night vision is not the same as day vision and so rules have been established to ensure safety.