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.
Lifts and Knocks in Sailing
Lifts and Knocks are technical terms for how the direction of the wind changes, requiring changes in how you respond while sailing...
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...
Electrical Measurements
To be prepared and understand electrical power usage on a modern vessel, it is important to learn a few basic terms and concepts.
Tacking and Gybing Maneuvers
Tacking when you want to sail in a direction to exactly where the wind is coming from— guess what—you can’t! The best we can do is to follow a zig-zag course by sailing at about 30 to 40 degrees off the wind...
Types of PFDs
Types of PDF's Here is a graphical explanation between a lifejacket and a buoyancy vest. PFD Type ratings are being phased out...
Sailboat Generator or Large Battery Bank?
Dedicated electric generators on board sailboats are usually only reserved for large sailboats because of their weight and size. Unless there is a desire for large amounts of electricity...
Communications while Underway on a Charter
Contact between vessels, or a boat and a land station, is usually carried out using VHF (Very High Frequency) radios.
Spinning Propeller
As you sail along, the water flowing over your propeller will cause it to spin. Some sailboats are fitted with a special alternator that will create electricity...
Propeller Entanglement
If there is a sudden slowing or stopping of the engine while motoring it is possible that you have picked up some floating line, hopefully not from your vessel.
Key Sailboat Instruments
Sailboat Instrumentation can be very sophisticated and intelligent. Most electronic displays provide a wide range of menus of useful information...
Seacocks – Getting Familiar with a Charter Boat
Seacocks are designed to let water flow out of the hull safely. They are not one-way valves so any loose clamps around the seacock itself create leaks around the hoses and can allow water to enter into the boat. This is usually bad – right?
DC Electrical System on a Charter Boat
Batteries power the 12 Volt DC “house” electrical system. There may be one or several batteries linked together to supply power...
Safe Speed Nav Rule
The Rule Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can...
Sailing Heave To
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...
Sailboat Diesel Engine Operation
As noted earlier, diesel engines are sturdy and highly reliable, and operating them today is straightforward.
Sailboat Design
Surely, the first sailboat was invented by a five-year-old child with a block of wood. He or she stuck a twig through a piece of animal skin and then down into a knothole in the wood.
The Types of Sailing Charters
There are two types of sailing charters; captained and bareboat. The captained charters have a professional captain on board to navigate and operate the vessel, and usually...
Wind
Winds can be gentle, hardly felt, like zephyrs flitting about in a local area, or they can be vast movements of air moving swiftly across oceans and continents at low and high altitudes.
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.
When Turbulent Flow Happens in Sailing
An airplane stalls and falls out of the sky when the wings stop producing as much lift, similar to when turbulent air flow happens in sailing...
Using Prop Walk
You can use prop walk to turn your boat in a tight marina by applying forward and reverse gears at appropriate times, leaving the rudder locked to starboard.
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.
Unfurling or Raising the Sails
You have motored your vessel from the slip into open water and are now ready to either unfurl or raise the sails, depending on your setup.
Sailing Safety Introduction
Emergencies at sea extend from simple and almost funny episodes to major challenges that are extremely serious.
