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.
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.
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...
Safe Speed Nav Rule
The Rule Every vessel shall at all times proceed at a safe speed so that she can...
The Nautical Chart on a Charter
Even though most sailboat charters are within island groups where the next landfall is typically within sight, every boat should be equipped with complete large-scale charts of the area.
Sails
Sails are sophisticated objects. It is not only the materials they are made from that are important, but also, the way they are cut and sewn.
Water and Water Making on Bareboat Charter
Aboard, drinkable water is indeed a limited supply - very limited.
Kids on a Sailing Charter
If you're considering a charter and considering taking your kids - DO IT.
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...
Weather Warnings
Weather services will also provide weather warnings, such as small craft or gale warnings for a certain area, as well as fog predictions.
Basic Telltale Control continued
Controlling the telltales by making course adjustments - when making the woolies fly by making course adjustments the rule is...
Lights on ATONS
Lights are installed on some ATONS. The lights are usually alternating on and off on some consistent interval to distinguish one ATON from another.
Mediterranean Mooring Techniques
Mediterranean Mooring Techniques is where the rubber meets the road—or, in this case, where the gel coat does not touch the big bad hard concrete wall.
Head-on Nav Rules Situation
The Rule (a) Unless otherwise agreed when two power-driven vessels are meeting on reciprocal or nearly reciprocal...
Action to Avoid Collision
When you reach the section on who is responsible to give way to whom - in certain circumstances...
Basic Surface Geometry
Below is a brief summary of how locations are commonly expressed on different surfaces.
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.
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...
Sail Trim
While setting the sails to general rules of thumb will get you really close to a good sail set,
Sailboat Solar Power
Solar panels produce DC power and are used to charge the batteries. A relatively small solar panel such as 1 square foot (0.1 m2) can produce about 1½ amps at...
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...
Fairlead Control
The fairlead is the first control device that the jib sheet passes through on its way back to the cockpit. You can move the fair lead forward or backward.
Luffing and Backwinding Sails
Luffing is when the sail is flapping in the wind. Back winding happens usually right before luffing occurs.
Air Conditioning on a Sailboat
Air conditioning is an enormous energy drain.
