Boating Knowledge Base
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Sail Trim
While setting the sails to general rules of thumb will get you really close to a good sail set,
Boat Safety Sound Signals
Sound signals are defined and prescribed in the Navigation Rules for International and Inland Waters. Sound has an advantage over light signals, in that it can be used when vision fails.
Weather Predictions
While we have touched on weather concepts in this Module, no one can expect you to be a meteorologist (unless you are one) and do a good enough job at predicting the weather with enough quality to guarantee your safety.
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.
Terms Port – Starboard – Forward – Aft
In discussing sail trim, certain terminologies must be understood and so we are presenting a few basics to get you started
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 Wind Power Generators
Wind-power generators are typically installed only on ocean-crossing vessels, where the vessel is away from the marina for extended periods of time and where there is a need for conserving onboard fuel.
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.
Helpful Hints about Wind
Since the existence of wind is the primary reason we can sail, it is prudent to know all we can about it.
Key Sailboat Instruments
Sailboat Instrumentation can be very sophisticated and intelligent. Most electronic displays provide a wide range of menus of useful information...
Kids on a Sailing Charter
If you're considering a charter and considering taking your kids - DO IT.
Air Conditioning on a Sailboat
Air conditioning is an enormous energy drain.
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.
Sailing to a Mooring Ball
Sailing up to a mooring ball is an advanced skill. It will definitely prove your finesse for handling the boat and managing the crew.
Overtaking Vessels
When overtaking another vessel, we quote the rules exactly because they are incredibly clear...
Mast Head pull heeling versus wind heeling
Takeaways: Standing rigging isn’t the place to economize—it’s a load-management system. Use stretchy docklines for masthead pulls, avoid shock loads, and apply smooth, steady pressure. Snatch loads break rigs.
Crew Overboard
Crew ("Man") Overboard (MOB) is fortunately relatively rare, but chances are that in your sailing career it will happen.
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...
Springing a sailboat On and In
Coming up to a Tee-head is more the situation where you need to spring on. The need for accuracy in your maneuver is heightened when the space is tight.
Sailing Wind Velocity & Direction
The faster the boat sails into the wind, the more the apparent wind speed increases and the more it feels like it is coming from the front of the boat. They say "The apparent wind is forward of the true wind". This means the apparent wind feels like it comes from a more forward direction than the true wind.
Heave To
Heave To in sailing is a way to stop the boat with full sails still up. You might do
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 Directions
Directions are super important because while sailing, you will always be in communication with others regarding directions of obstacles, wind changes, your destination, water current, and other boat traffic.
Responsibility between Vessels Nav Rules
Every vessel has a definition of being one and only one of the below at all times. And each vessel has the ability to morph from one to the other.
