When to reef a sailboat

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While all sailboat designs are different and will sail optimally at different heel angles and reef points, there are a few generalities that we’ll cover in this sailing blog. General reefing point number 1 through infinity: Don’t scare the beegeebees out of those on board by heeling the boat over too much. While you may […]

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How to dock a sailboat in heavy wind

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Docking a boat on to an end-tie or tee head with a strong wind blowing you off requires some knowledge on how to do it and it’s one of those things that you SHOULD practice for WHEN the time comes. Trying to just sidle up along side like you might do in a no wind […]

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Simplistic Explanation of Latitude and Longitude Determination

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The posting here is not a course in celestial navigation by any means. However it’s meant to simplify a few principles for you so that you’ll at least have some sort of celestial orientation. And… perhaps it’ll inspire you to learn the aging art. This was written by Grant Headifen, Educational Director of NauticEd. NauticEd […]

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Docking a Sailboat using Spring Lines

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Here’s a question from a student regarding docking a sailboat after they took the Maneuvering Under Power Sailing Course >>>>>>> Hello Grant, I have a question in reference to the maneuvering under power: Under the excersice end ties #3, wind from behind, once you have backed the boat to the dock and secured the stern spring […]

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Reefing a Catamaran

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Here’s a question from a student. >>>>>>> Grant, I would like some clarification on the steps taken to reef a main sail on a cat.  I’m going out on a 48ft cat and prob want to reef the sail before i go out…. Do i reef it while at the dock or in the water […]

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More about Heaving-to in a sailboat

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This is an add on to the last post we did on heaving to. I was looking over our Storm Tactics online sailing course and found this image we created which best shows a boat in a heave-to situation in a storm. They say a pic is worth a thousand words so with this blog […]

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How to Sail with a Jockey Pole

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Last weekend we were out racing and one of the legs was very similar to a race we’d done a few weeks back with the same wind condition. On that previous race we’d lost huge ground over the other boats solely because the sail configuration and hull design etc on this boat doesn’t allow the […]

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Earn your USCG Captain’s License with NauticEd

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NauticEd announces some pretty exciting news today regarding gaining your USCG Captain’s Licence. We have made a partnership alliance with Mariners Learning System to allow NauticEd Students gain a United States Coast Guard Commercial Captain’s License. Why would you want a USCG Captains License? Simply stated: If you are ever planning on receiving remuneration for operating […]

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