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.
Getting the General Feel of Maneuvering a Catamaran
Some have compared maneuvering a catamaran with driving a bulldozer. Well . . . perhaps!
Sailboat Balance
Below is an animation that shows the balance of forces: actually it is technically the balance of a concept called “moments.”
Mast Head and Fractional Rigging
There are two variations on the standing rigging set up: Masthead and Fractional. On masthead rigs, the attachment point for the sidestays (shrouds), forestay, and backstay (if they exist) is at the top of the mast.
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.
Advanced Catamaran Maneuvering – Using the Rudders
There are some other cool things you can do when you consider the propeller thrust over a Catamaran's rudders.
Key Sailboat Instruments
Sailboat Instrumentation can be very sophisticated and intelligent. Most electronic displays provide a wide range of menus of useful information...
Available Energy Stored in a Battery
You don’t actually run all of the electron charge out of a battery when it is considered empty.
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.
Basic Telltale Control continued
Controlling the telltales by making course adjustments - when making the woolies fly by making course adjustments the rule is...
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.
Sail TellTales
"Telltales" attached to the sail in strategic positions to "tell" us what the wind is doing at that exact location.
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...
Types of PFDs
Types of PDF's Here is a graphical explanation between a lifejacket and a buoyancy vest. PFD Type ratings are being phased out...
Sail Twist Basics
How can the wind direction be different between the top of the mast and the bottom?
How to Book a Sailing Charter
There are a few things you need to know about booking a charter.
Latitude and Longitude
The latitude and longitude coordinate system is the key navigational concept for sailing. It is the mariner’s coordinate system.
Types of Anchors
Anchor design has been the focus of much research over thousands of years, and as a result, there are
Heads on a Charter Boat
You don’t need trouble with the waste system, especially when on vacation.
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.
Dinghy Safety!
When it comes to dinghy operations, the following is a dangerous attitude: “It’s only a short distance ashore—jump in...
Propwalk – The Wash Lift effect
The wash-lift effect has been documented heavily by Dave Geer who is one of the worlds leading propeller engineers.
Anchoring Rode and Scope
To hold a sailboat, the anchor must naturally be attached to the vessel. This is accomplished by using “rode,” which is either all chain or a combination of rope (nylon line) and chain. Learn from this interactive animation.
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.
Aids To Navigation (ATONS)
Aids to Navigation include buoys, lights, lighthouses, and markers, among others...
