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.
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.
Sailing Personnel Emergencies
As the skipper of a vessel, you are expected to be able to handle situations thrust upon you at a moment’s notice. Many of these situations are boat-related issues, but there are also crew injury issues for which you should be prepared to assess and handle at least enough until professional assistance arrives.
Sailboat Mooring Procedures
The procedure for tying to a mooring is theoretically very easy. You simply motor up and using a boat hook, grab the float and attach to it to your boat. It sounds simple but you will see many dismal failures when watching others try it.
Sailboat Battery Usage
Batteries are a vessel’s major source of power for many essential functions both when in the slip and while sailing.
Propwalk factors – The p factor
There are two combined reasons that work in unison to create propwalk.
Sailboat Diesel Engine
Thanks go to Mr. Rudolf Diesel who years ago in Germany cleverly invented an engine that today bears his name (luckily, they chose to use his last name)—the sailboat diesel engine.
Navigation Units
Sailors are forever measuring stuff. This brings us to the subject of navigation units. As we all remember from the good ol’ school days, measurement is the process of comparing something with an established standard.
Boat and Equipment Emergencies
The character MacGyver in the TV show of the same name would have made a great sailor. Why? Because he could fix anything and a boat is a concoction of a kajillion gadgets busting to rot...
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...
Waves, Swells, and Depth
Since waves are primarily the result of surface wind action, they can be accurately predicted. Waves have troughs and crests.
The Fuel System – Getting Familiar with a Charter Boat
While it is reasonably rare to have a fuel problem on a charter it can certainly happen and you should be prepared to apply the (sometimes simple) solution below.
Sailboat Electrical Panels
The sailboat electrical panel, located at the navigation station, normally has two distinct and separately marked sections; one section is devoted to 110-volt or 220-volt AC power and...
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...
The Autopilot on a Charter
The autopilot is a great tool for those long hauls and it’s probably better at holding a straight line than most of us.
The Deck – Getting Familiar with a Charter Boat
Gaining knowledge about the boat, its systems, and its equipment is a great starting point for any sailing adventure.
Magnetism
We begin with a phenomenon called magnetism. This phenomenon was known thousands of years before electricity. Magnetism was discovered...
Sailboat Diesel Closed Water System
The second sailboat cooling system fluid is called the closed or coolant water system.
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...
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.
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.
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.
Sailboat Maneuvering Topics
With practice, wind direction and current direction are not too much of a problem. But what can get you into trouble is extremely high winds. Be prepared to change...
