Boating Knowledge Base
Have a sailing question? Access NauticEd’s sailing and boating knowledge base, and gain in-depth answers to your sailing questions. If you’re interested in powerboating, visit our new powerboating blog.
Ferrying Docking Technique
Ferrying is a docking technique whereby you can maneuver your boat in high wind and current easily.
Prop Walk Bests You
There is one situation where you are just going to have to suck it up, admit defeat, and work with the forces of nature.
Heads on a Charter Boat
You don’t need trouble with the waste system, especially when on vacation.
Chart Symbols
Studying a harbor layout does very little good without understanding the symbols and what they signify. It pays to
Plumbing and Tankage – Getting Familiar with a Charter Boat
A diaphragm pump below directs flow from the water tank(s) to various faucets throughout the boat. You'll always begin a charter with full water tanks but understand that water conservation is still required.
Aids To Navigation (ATONS)
Aids to Navigation include buoys, lights, lighthouses, and markers, among others...
Towing
The following diagram shows how you can tow another vessel. Form a “bridle” from the rear cleats...
Electronic Communications
Nowadays, gigabytes of data can be sent in a second as a digital signal. It is all a complete Wow!
Sailboat Fire Extinguishers and Requirements
Fire Extinguishers Fire Extinguishers are given a letter rating that matches the type of fire they will be battling.
Clothing for Sailing
Dressing appropriately for weather conditions is an important but often overlooked topic. Weather in the marina may be considerably different from weather beyond the marina and conditions can drastically change during your venture.
Dock Slips Docking Techniques
Wind coming into the dock slip channel and your boat is to be docked stern-to, steer into the slip channel...
Catamaran Maneuvering Mastery
As now learned, Cats can turn inside their own length, they can vector sideways, and using the bulldozer effect you can instantly rotate the Cat to point in any direction, you can do almost anything.
Docking onto End Ties
Wind blowing you off the dock end ties, plan a fairly steep approach so that you are facing more into the wind.
Understanding How Airflow Creates Lift
Understanding how Airflow creates lift and the need for smooth airflow when sailing...
Non-Electronic Communications
Sailing has been around for thousands of years. Electronic Communications has been around for less than 100 years (not counting the telegraph).
Sailboat Engine and House Systems
Perhaps the most important use of DC power on a vessel is for starting the engine. Considerable power is needed for this task and if the engine does not start immediately...
Dock Line Release
Have a dock line untying plan based on the wind and the current direction and then communicate this to the crew. Depending on which is stronger...
Sailboat Diesel Engine Operation
As noted earlier, diesel engines are sturdy and highly reliable, and operating them today is straightforward.
Marine Radio Licensing
To operate a marine radio lawfully, you must comply with the laws of the country in which you are operating the radio.
Generators on a Charter Boat
Some charter boats have generators. These are small diesel engines that convert fossil fuel to DC electricity that is stored in the battery banks and AC electricity that is used to run the air conditioning, microwave, and AC outlet plugs around the boat.
Typical Sailboat Energy Usage
Here we show the devices and how much energy you would typically use on a sailing boat on a sailing vacation each day.
Sail Trim
While setting the sails to general rules of thumb will get you really close to a good sail set,
True Wind vs. Apparent Wind
Learn the basic difference between True Wind and Apparent Wind...
Types of Anchors
Anchor design has been the focus of much research over thousands of years, and as a result, there are
