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.
Using a Marine Radio
Knowledge of use of a VHF is not only mandatory for safety but some governments require a VHF knowledge certification before you can charter a boat in their waters.
Raising the Alarm in Emergencies
A comprehensive list of how and the equipment used to raise the alarm in sailing emergencies
Docking Force Alignment and Moment Balance
When you are docking, if your boat pulls on a line attached to the dock, the line pulls back on your boat. If the forces are aligned, then nothing really happens.
Good Captainship
Being a good captain on a bareboat charter is a real skill. It is very unlike being a good captain on a military or commercial ship or even a captain in a local yacht race.
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.
Sailing Vessel Preparation
Sometimes it is a good idea to get nasty stuff out of the way first as well as prepare your boat and crew.
Air Flow over the Sails
Similar to steady flight, we've got to keep the air flowing over the sails smoothly...
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...
Running Aground
In the information age, running aground is usually caused by an amateur mistake, and besides the potential damage, it is also highly embarrassing.
Crew Briefing Video
It is important to know how much experience your crew has before you embark on any sailing adventure. For our boat, we created a video walkaround introduction to the boat covering safety items and also just general items on how we want our boat looked after.
Sailboat Gear and Throttle Controls
Sailboats, and boats in general, use their gears and throttle to control momentum. It’s unlike driving a car in that you have no brake! Instead, you use your forward and reverse gears and throttle to both increase and decrease speed...
Heave To
Heave To in sailing is a way to stop the boat with full sails still up. You might do
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...
Sails – Getting Familiar with a Charter Boat
We’re pretty certain here that you know how to operate sails on a sailboat, however – chances are that you’re chartering a boat much bigger than you’re normally used to.
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.
Narrow Channels and Traffic Separation Schemes
Rules 9 and 10 deal with narrow channels and traffic separation schemes, and mainly refer to larger commercial traffic...
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.
Charter Local Area Familiarization
Once you’ve arrived at the charter base, the company will give you an extensive briefing on the local area, where to sail, where not to sail, and they’ll also give you a recommended route to take for the time that you have allotted.
NED Sailing Simulator
Before you play with NED, the sailing simulator, read this first. The graphic below is representative of a real wind meter on...
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.
Keeping the Telltales Flying Steady
As a sailor we are doing one of two things when it comes to sail trim, either holding a course or trimming to our sails...
Vessels in Restricted Visibility
What is the safe speed at night, in fog? As safe as it needs to be under good seamanship.
Names of Thingys in Sailing
There's a lot of terminology in sailing, and to get started with sail trim we recommend beginning with some key sailing "thingy" terms.
Sail TellTales
"Telltales" attached to the sail in strategic positions to "tell" us what the wind is doing at that exact location.
