Sailing Education Archives

Wind

October 22, 2023/by Grant Headifen

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.

Heave To

October 22, 2023/by Grant Headifen

Heave To in sailing is a way to stop the boat with full sails still up. You might do

Shore Power Connection

October 22, 2023/by Grant Headifen

One of the more common sources of fire on a boat is a loose connection of the shore power to the receptacle plug on the stern of the boat.

Sailboat Diesel Engine Fluids

October 22, 2023/by Grant Headifen

Diesel engines make use of a variety of fluids, including raw and coolant water, diesel fuel, and lubricating oil. A problem in the flow of any one of these fluids can cause problems…

Sailboat Diesel Water Systems

October 22, 2023/by Grant Headifen

Diesel engines run hot because of high compression and therefore need to be cooled. Fortunately, ample cooling is readily available from the water the vessel is sailing in.

Electronic Communications

October 22, 2023/by Grant Headifen

Nowadays, gigabytes of data can be sent in a second as a digital signal. It is all a complete Wow!

Raising the Alarm in Emergencies

October 22, 2023/by Grant Headifen

A comprehensive list of how and the equipment used to raise the alarm in sailing emergencies

Crew Overboard

October 21, 2023/by Grant Headifen

Crew (“Man”) Overboard (MOB) is fortunately relatively rare, but chances are that in your sailing career it will happen.

Fire on a Sailboat

October 21, 2023/by Grant Headifen

Putting out fires quickly is essential. The sooner you find the source the quicker the fire can be extinguished.

Sailboat Diesel Engine

October 21, 2023/by Grant Headifen

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.