Sailing Education Archives

Sailboat Running Rigging

October 18, 2023/by Grant Headifen

A sailboat’s running rigging consists of those items controlling the sails and helping the sails to capture the wind’s energy.

Alternating Current and Direct Current

October 18, 2023/by Grant Headifen

In your house, your wall outlets deliver alternating current (AC) electricity. The electricity provided to your house and your marina from the national electric grid is AC. Most of the devices…

Key Sailboat Instruments

October 18, 2023/by Grant Headifen

Sailboat Instrumentation can be very sophisticated and intelligent. Most electronic displays provide a wide range of menus of useful information…

Dock Line Release

October 17, 2023/by Grant Headifen

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…

Personal Flotation Devices

October 17, 2023/by Grant Headifen

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.

Weighing Anchor

October 17, 2023/by Grant Headifen

“Weighing the anchor” simply means raising it. If raising the anchor is to be done by hand…

Propeller Entanglement

October 17, 2023/by Grant Headifen

If there is a sudden slowing or stopping of the engine while motoring it is possible that you have picked up some floating line, hopefully not from your vessel.

Dinghy Safety!

October 17, 2023/by Grant Headifen

When it comes to dinghy operations, the following is a dangerous attitude: “It’s only a short distance ashore—jump in…

Dressing appropriately for weather conditions is an important but often overlooked topic. Weather in the marina may be considerably different from weather beyond the marina and conditions can drastically change during your venture.

Chart Symbols

October 17, 2023/by Grant Headifen

Studying a harbor layout does very little good without understanding the symbols and what they signify. It pays to