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.
Sailboat Diesel Closed Water System
The second sailboat cooling system fluid is called the closed or coolant water system.
Vessels in Restricted Visibility
What is the safe speed at night, in fog? As safe as it needs to be under good seamanship.
Sailing and Wind Forces
A sailboat moves in upwind and downwind directions. Downwind is intuitive; it just gets blown downwind. But just how does a sailboat move into the wind?
Heads on a Charter Boat
You don’t need trouble with the waste system, especially when on vacation.
Sailing Safety Introduction
Emergencies at sea extend from simple and almost funny episodes to major challenges that are extremely serious.
Action by a Stand-On Vessel Nav Rule
Strangely enough, the written text for the action of a Stand-On vessel is longer than that of a Give-Way vessel.
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.
Global Positioning System
GPS stands for global positioning system. It uses a network of satellites in orbit. Although the GPS is used as a navigation device, it is also a form of communication to the vessel.
Vessel Lights and Shapes
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.
Standing Rigging
To keep the mast from toppling over, an array of rods, cables, ropes (lines), and wires are attached at various spots on the mast and run down to the bow, stern, and sides of the vessel.
Operating the Engine – Getting Familiar with a Charter Boat
Many modern sailboats are equipped with integrated engine throttle and transmission shift systems; called the push-pull cabling system.
Kids on a Sailing Charter
If you're considering a charter and considering taking your kids - DO IT.
Sailboats vs Sailboats Nav Rules
Sailboats On The Same Tack The Rule 12 a(ii) when both have the wind on the same...
Using Spring Lines for Docking
A spring line is just a dockline that is placed strategically from the boat to the dock to help maneuver and turn the boat in place - get it safely into the dock or safely away.
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.
Risk of Collision when Sailing
The Rule of Risk of Collision is that every vessel shall use all available means appropriate to the prevailing circumstances...
Crossing Situations Nav Rules
The Rule 15 (a) when two power-driven vessels are crossing so as to involve risk of collision, the vessel...
Electronic Communications
Nowadays, gigabytes of data can be sent in a second as a digital signal. It is all a complete Wow!
Winged Sail Vector Diagrams
Sail and Winged Sail Wind Force Vector Diagrams. And it's highly relevant right now because of the America's Cup AC45 catamarans using winged sails.
Understanding Energy and Power
Energy: The concept of energy is likened to water for the easiest understanding. A bucket of water holds a specific amount of water which is measured in a quantity of gallons or liters. It is finite; when it is all drained out, it is gone. To gain more, it must be replaced from a source.
Why Anchor?
There are many reasons for anchoring your boat...
Personal Flotation Devices
The terms “life jacket” and “PFD” are interchangeable, with the latter used in the USA and the former used in most of the rest of the world.
How to Book a Sailing Charter
There are a few things you need to know about booking a charter.
Starting the Engine – Getting Familiar with a Charter Boat
Regarding the starting procedure, we’re assuming that since you’re actually commanding a sailboat you pretty much know how to turn the key and all the other safety precautions.
