Subject:
rec.boats Frequently Asked Questions (Part 2 of 5)
Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4
Archive-name: boats-faq/part2
Here is Cheryl Nolte's mini-FAQ on the subject of learning to
sail: So you want to lean to sail? Great! Here's some
information to help make your choice of schools a little easier
along with some answers to frequently asked questions.
There are numerous sailing "schools" out there. They generally
fall into three categories 1) Established Schools 2)
Charter-to-learn courses and 3)Private "schools". A look in the
back of any sailing magazine will give you a good idea of the
variety of instructional courses available. 1) Established
Schools There are several types of 'established' schools, by
'established' I refer to those schools which are not run by a
single person aboard his/her boat- these are private "schools",
there are general schools offering a variety of instructional
levels and there are specialized schools. There are specialized
schools for racing, for women-only, for navigation, for
'bluewater', for children, and a host of other topics. - ASA
Certification, What is it and do I need it? American Sailing
Association (ASA) certified courses cover a set curriculum and
ASA instructors have paid a fee to take a
certification-approval "checkout" course. Think of it as a sort
of "quality control". The instructors must possess a minimum
skill level and a "basic keelboat" course at one ASA school
should cover the same general material at another school. Do
you need ASA Certification in order to charter a boat? The
simple answer to this is NO! In fact, possession of ASA
certification is no guarantee that you will be able to charter
a boat. Most reputable charter agencies will request a 'sailing
resume' and will base their decision partly on that. One never
should be surprised to be asked to go on a 'test sail' (usually
out of the marina and back in) and first time charterers with a
weak sailing resume may even be required to take a captain
along for a short time. On the other hand, some charter
agencies will allow you to take a boat based solely on your
credit rating. Some schools really push their ASA
certification-- it simply means they have paid an association
fee; in fact, the two top sailing schools in the US (as rated
by Practical Sailor magazine) J-World and Womanship do NOT
offer ASA certification.
2) Charter-to-learn cruises These seem to be a popular way for
couples and families to improve their sailing skills. Basically
you are part of a flotilla of boats, all members of the
flotilla having approximately the same sailing experience, and
you have a 'instruction' boat accompany you on your cruise. One
of the instructors will probably join you aboard your vessel
druing one or more days of the cruise offering some personal
instruction. Biggest drawback of such courses is that you kind
of just bumble through, not knowing whether you are doing
things right or wrong and as long as you end up at the
appointed destination in one piece it is deemed successful. I
wouldn't advise this for persons just learning to sail or
having little experience, there simply isn't enough individual
attention and too much relying upon figuring things out
(without knowing the right or wrong way). Better suited to the
advancing sailor who wants a more challenging situation with
the support of an instructor.
3) "Private" Schools A quick peek in the back of any sailing
mag will reveal a host of advertisements for sailing
instruction with an individual on his/her boat. A word of
caution here-- make sure the instructor is a USCG licensed (or
appropriate equivalent overseas) Captain. It is illegal to
accept a fee unless you are a licensed captain. Some
individuals will post ads such as "get bluewater experience
with experienced sailor on trip from St.Thomas to Norfolk;
2000/week." Many such ads are simply looking for people to PAY
to deliver someone's boat under the guise of 'instruction'.
Again, beware! Check references and licensure; ask questions.
There are many _good_ private schools out there, ask around.
Here's a list of popular sailing schools... Annapolis Sailing
School 1-800-638-9192 All levels of instruction, also have
flotilla courses. Locations in Annapolis MD and Florida. J
World 1-800-343-2255, 1-800-666-1050, 1-800-966-2038. On board
and classroom instruction. Specializes in racing. Various
locations. Womanship 1-800-342-9295 The original learn to sail
school for and by women. Now offers customized courses for
couples and families too. Locations: Maryland, Florida, New
England, San Juan Islands, BVI, Nova Scotia, Greece, New
Zealand, Tahiti Offshore Sailing School (Steve and Doris
Colgate) 1-800-221-4326, All levels of instruction, Locations:
Florida, Caribbean, New York, New England. Sea Safari Sailing
1-800-497-2508 Specializes in multihulls Women For Sail
1-800-346-6404, all levels of instuction, women only. Sunsail
1-800-327-2276 Flotilla charter-to-learn courses, various
levels and many locations. The Moorings 1-800-535-7289
"Friendly Skipper" program, puts an experiences captain on
board til you reach a level of competence. Locations worldwide.
4) I didn't mention this earlier but for many the best
introduction to sailing may be through Community Sailing
programs. US SAILING has put together a Community Sailing
National Directory which lists hundreds of local sailing
programs. Many of these are offered though park and recreation
departments, colleges, community centers, local yacht clubs and
sailing clubs. It is a wonderful resource of public access
sailing courses. The directory is available through US SAILING
(401) 849-5200 and is also available on CompuServe (access word
is Go Sailing).
3.11 Formula for hull speed based on length, and its
limitations
A displacement-hull boat whose waterline has length L (in feet)
will have a ``hull speed'' that is K SQRT(L) knots, where K is
a number between about 1.2 and 1.4 for most conventional
cruising hulls. Small planing dinghies, large planing sleds,
scows, and other designs (including catamarans) will not fit
well into this formula, so you should ignore it. The formula
assumes a lot of things, but all in all it does pretty well for
figuring whether your Bristol 40 will keep up with a Catalina
30 in moderate winds (or vice versa).
The hull speed, by the way, can loosely be thought of as the
speed at which the boat, in order to go faster, has to start
``climbing up'' over its bow wave, which takes a lot more
power. (jfh)
3.12 Sailing in other countries
Some countries require a sailing license. Check with your
embassy. Many countries, like the US, do not.
Various rec.boaters have posted saying ``I'm going to be in
Country XXX for two weeks and would love to sail with someone
on such-and-such a date,'' and have found themselves with a
ride. The group's general attitude towards this sort of thing
seems to be ``supportive.''
In Australia, the Monash U. Sailing Club (or its president) can
be reached at inu343w@aurora.cc.monash.edu.au.
Peter Gustafsson ( peter.gustafsson@gd.chalmers.se) offers to
tell folks about sailing in Sweden if they are interested.
3.13 Sailing in Chicago
This section courtesy of kakunz@amoco.com.
Chicago Area Yacht Clubs
This information on the various yacht clubs in the Chicago area
has been assembled from various sources. Thanks to all those
who helped.
It is organized by geographical location, running north to
south along the Lake Michigan waterfront. I generally tried to
get info about the name, location, dues, active fleets (if any
one-design), other racing activities, and a contact person. For
several of the clubs all I was able to obtain was a name,
location, and contact. If you contact that person and s/he
gives you additional info, please contact me via e-mail at
kakunz@amoco.com or at 708-420-3131 and I will put it into this
document.
Thanks to all the people who provided the information contained
herein: Cedric Churnick, Steph Bailey, Steve Woodward, Dennis
Bartley, Owen McCall, and probably 2-3 others I've missed. (If
you don't see your name here and you gave me info, PLEASE write
me, and accept my appologies!)
--Kevin, aka Sailing Fool
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* * * * * *
NEWBIES: If you are a new-comer to racing in the Chicago area,
it has been highly recommended from many people that you
contact the MORF Crew List. MORF racers are inter-fleet racers
that race cruiser/racers more or less weekly. Contact Joe Des
Jardins at 708-677-8604 for this crew list. This is a good
place to get started big-boat racing and cuising. MORF stands
for Midwest Open Racing Fleet.
GILSON PARK YACHT CLUB: Located in Wilmette, IL. Contact "Tim"
at twise@merle.acns.nwu.edu. They race Hobie 16's.
SHERIDAN SHORES YACHT CLUB: Located in Wilmette, North of
Chicago on the border with Wisconsin. This is a relatively new
club and no additional information is available. However, I've
been there, 'tis very nice, with reasonable dues, as I recall.
Large fleets of Solings, J-24's, Lightnings, Stars and
Rainbows.
WAUKEGAN YACHT CLUB: North of Chicago in Waukegan, this YC
offers several one-design fleets including J-24's and others.
Contact Dan Darrow at 708-367-0913 or Gene Bach at 708-623-5680
for more information. I've been here, too, and it has an
excellent water-front bar in its clubhouse, which includes a
full-service restaraunt.
CHICAGO CORINTHIAN YACHT CLUB: Located in Montrose Harbor.
Contact them at 312-334-9100. They are located at 600 Montrose
Ave (Montrose and the lake front).
CHICAGO YACHT CLUB, BELMONT HARBOR: This is the one-design
branch of Chicago Yacht Club (see below). They have weekly
racing and occassional regattas for Etchells, Stars, Solings,
J/24's, Shields, 110's; and pre- /post-season frostbiting with
Lasers and 420s. Contact them at 312-447-7575.
COLUMBIA YACHT CLUB: Located on a big blue freighter at the
North end of Monroe Harbor, this club is a full service clubs
with dues in the 1000 range (+ 75 monthly min. spending fee).
They have an active Penguin fleet that frostbites. They also
own 420s. Contact Susan Bonner at 312-938-3625.
CHICAGO YACHT CLUB: The main building is located at the end of
Monroe St. at Lake Shore Drive. This is the focal point of much
of the off-shore racing in Chicago; they host such prestigious
events as the NOOD, Chicago/Macinack Island Race, and
Yachting's Verve Cup. Contact the yacht club at 312-861-7777
for more info.
BURNHAM PARK YACHT CLUB: Located on the eastern peninsula of
Burnham Harbor across the street from Miegs Field. A
full-service club with slips, cans and star-docks, their dues
are in line with Columbia's. For information contact BPYC at
312-427-4664.
JACKSON PARK YACHT CLUB: Located at outer Jackson Park Harbor,
this club is a "volunteer" club with a resident manager
year-round. They frostbite club-owned Flying Juniors (which are
used for the Junior Race Program during the summer). Dues are
250/year, with a 25/month minimum spending fee. Contact Cedric
Churnick at 312-372-8321 for more info.
HAMMOND YACHT CLUB: No further information available.
EAST CHICAGO YACHT CLUB: No further information available.
MICHGAN CITY YACHT CLUB: No further information available.
NORTH SHORE YACHT CLUB: Located in Highland Park, this club
races Buccaneer and Sunfish one-designs. Dues are 160/year. For
more info, contact Owen McCall at 708-937-7957 or
mccall.owen@igate.pprod.abbott.com.
DES PLAINES YACHT CLUB: Sailing on the Des Plaines river in Des
Plaines Illinois.
LAKE PISTAKEE YACHT CLUB: Racing scows on Lake Pistakee.
ILLIANA YACHT CLUB: Racing several one-design fleets on Wolf
Lake in Hammond, IN. Contact Bill Thompson at 708-257-8052.
AREA III RACING: Five clubs in Chicago organize races called
"Area III": Chicago Yacht Club (CYC), Chicago Corintian Yacht
Club (CCYC), Columbia Yacht Club (Col), Burnham Park Yacht Club
(BPYC), and Jackson Park Yacht Club (JPYC). Each club has a
single vote on how/when/where the races are held. Entry fees
for the races are generally around 25, and include bouy racing
around one of 4 permanent courses 4 miles off-shore, and
several port-to-port races.
CHI-MAC RACE: Every year during either the 3rd or 4th week of
July (alternates annually) CYC hosts the Chicago-to-Mackinac
Island race. Roughly 300 boats race in several PHRF and IMS
divisions. Average race time is 50-60 hours for the 333 mile
race, and the record is just over 24 hours, set by Pied Piper
(SC-70) in (I think) 1989.
LMSRF: The Lake Michigan Sail Racing Federation is the
governing body arm of USSAILING on Lake Michigan. They
coordinate lake-wide championships (ie Queen's Cup, I think).
They are also responsible for PHRF ratings for the Lake
Michigan area, and divide the lake into 5 areas. All of the
above yacht clubs register with LMSRF. Contact Joan Miracki at
312-674-7223 for more info for LMSRF or any of the
above-mentioned clubs.
CHARTERING: There are several outfits that offer chartering in
the Chicago area. Three are listed here: Sailboats Inc., ask
for Trey Ritter at 312-943-220; Fair Wind Sailing Charters, ask
for Denis McNamera at 312-890-4656; and Sailboat Sales, ask for
Bruce Rosenzweig at 312-225-2046.
OTHER INFO: Finally, you can try contacting the Marine
Department at the Chicago Park District at 294-2270. They also
run a physically impaired sailing program called the Rainbow
Fleet. Contact them at 312-294-2270 for additional info.
This information was last updated June 13, 1994.
Chapter 4
Powerboating stuff
4.1 What is better? An I/O or an outboard? What's cheaper?
[ Not yet written ] Kevin Weber reports that ``The May (1993)
issue of Boating has a very good article comparing OBs to
IOs.''
4.2 Are Doel Fins a good thing?
A great many people report improved time-to-plane. Some report
slightly reduced top-end speeds. Everyone seems to say that
installing one may void your warranty, and you should check
this out for your particular motor. Many people report
installing and then removing fins, finding that handling
suffered enough that they preferred the old way. (jfh)
One person with marina experience writes:
Doel Fins. The marina that services our Evinrude said they had
replaced several lower units that had cracked from the stress
that overcame the newly weakend area they are mounted on. The
maria I worked at had no complaints.
4.3 What is a Hole Shot? Will a Stainless prop add to my high
end speed?
I am told that a hole shot is the time it takes to accelerate
onto a plane, and that a stainless prop, although more
expensive, will in fact add a bit to top speed. (jfh)
One person with experience working in a marina offers this
somewhat strongly worded opinion:
SS props. The yahoos always use them. I believe they are
stronger and slighly thinner, thus reducing the resistence and
maybe increaseing both acceleration and top speed. However,
they are 3X as expensive, harder to repair when you whack them,
and are more frequently unrepairable. I suggest having 2
aluminums at different sizes/pitches (one for high-tailing
around with a light load, one for skiing/heavy loads). This 1)
gives you a spare when you need it. 2) gives you incentive to
clean the area when you swap them. 3) gives you better
performance overall.
4.4 Is VRO a good idea?
VRO appears to be a fine idea, but also seems to be risk-prone
(if it fails, your engine is shot) and not yet robust---the net
has seen several reports of failures. Several netters have
suggested disabling VRO and going to standard mix in the fuel.
(jfh)
4.5 What's a good first powerboat?
(Courtesy of Dave Kinzer)
Powerboats differ from sailboats in that sailors use their
boats simply to sail, but most powerboaters use their boats to
do something else such as waterskiing and fishing , so the
``best'' first boat could differ greatly from person to person.
Therefore, you should feel free to disregard any piece of
advice in this section as it might not be applicable to your
specific situation.
To begin with, you should look at the types of boats that are
popular in your area for the activities you plan. Boats that do
not work well in a region usually don't sell in great number,
so you can learn by other people's mistakes here. Talk to
owners to find what they like and dislike in their boats. This
will help you get an eye for details that will count after
time.
Second, think small. A smaller boat is easier to muscle around,
and and less likely to be damaged severely during the learning
process. It will cost less, and if for some reason you end up
not liking the actuality of ownership (think of burning 100
dollar bills for fun,) the loss will be minimized. I'll
contradict myself here and say get one size bigger than the
smallest suitable boat. This will give you some more time
before outgrowing it. Keep in mind your vehicle's capacity to
trailer it.
Third, buy used. There is a lot of argument on this point, and
I respect the other point of view, so I will present both
sides. With a new boat you have a warranty to protect you in
the event something goes wrong. If you have a good dealer, any
problems will be resolved promptly, and you will be back on the
water with little or no out-of- pocket expense. If you have a
bad dealer, your boat will sit at the back of the queue for the
boating season while the paying customers get their boats fixed
(I know someone this happened to.) Buying a boat a few years
old will save you a bunch of money that can be used for
repairs, if needed. Have a mechanic check out the boat before
you buy to minimize the chance of having to use that money. A
used boat will probably have some equipment already installed
(like radios, depth or fishfinders, etc.) that you would have
to buy for a new boat. Finally, when you scrape your boat while
learning near a dock, you won't have to wince as hard.
I have managed to get this far without giving any specifics on
what to buy. My OPINION follows, with some thoughts as to why I
believe them. Start with a boat about 3 years old. A newer boat
will depreciate more, an older one may have problems that it
takes an expert to find. This is also about the time the first
owner has discovered he either doesn't like this enough, or it
is time to get a 3 foot longer boat. A good length would be
16-18 feet. This is big enough to comfortably have some friends
on, yet small enough that you do not need a special tow
vehicle. I recommend a single outboard or I/O (stern) drive.
Two engines aren't needed for this length, and you don't want
the expense to begin with. There are arguments all over the
place on I/O vs. outboard; I suggest you go with what is
popular in your area, for parts and service availability. The
important thing is that they handle the same in low speed
maneuvering. Inboards, V-Drives and jet-drives do some funny
things (which are predictable, once you know them) that are
better left for learning later. If you are planning on skiing,
get enough horsepower. For an I/O drive, this means a V6. Your
towing vehicle capacity could decide the I/O vs. outboard
question. The outboard will need slightly less horsepower, and
will be considerably lighter.
Last, but not least, sign up for a boating safety course. There
are enough dimwits out there already, you don't need to make
the situation worse. It is not enough to say that you won't do
anything stupid since you don't know what the stupid things are
yet. (dk1)
4.6 Can I put unleaded gas in an old outboard?
Assumining the outboard is a two-stroke, Yes. In fact, it is
prefered. Lead is in fuel primarily to lubricate the exhaust
valve and valve seat in a 4 stroke engine. The two-stroke has
no such valve or seat and so requires no such lubrication. The
lead compound also served to prevent pre-ignition, or
``knocking" or ``pinging''. This has long since been resolved
in unleaded fuel and so is not an issue.
Lead in fuel causes fouling of the spark plugs. No lead, no
lead fouling. (Though oil fouling may still be a problem.)
Leaded fuel is only available in ``regular'' (at least here in
the Northwest USA). Higher compression outboards that require
higher octane fuel often have problems with the leaded fuel now
available. Unleaded comes in ``super'', or high octane ratings.
This is the recommended fuel.
The above information was obtained from a phone-interview with
a long-time outboard mechanic at Chic's Outboard Service; 2043
SE 50th; Portland, OR; (503)236-8970, and has been paraphrased
by R.C. Faltersack.
4.7 Are there any powerboat class associations?
There is the Marine Traders Owners Association ( M.T.O.A.);
their burgee symbol is a turtle (because they go slow). They
have a 100+ page newsletter quarterly and have "official"
rendezvous twice a year; one in the south and one in the north.
Information about, or joining, MTOA can be sent to:
MTOA c/o Jim Mattingly - Membership Dir. 406 Ben Oaks Dr. W.
Severna Park, MD 21146
The association has the following interesting tidbit:
Through the MTOA we have discovered the person who designed the
diesel engine used in most all trawlers for most of the 1960s
thru the 1980s ( Lehman Diesel 120, 135 and 165). This person
(Bob Smith) now has his own company and still builds and
supplies parts for the Lehman Diesels. Many people are not
aware of this and often have a difficult time finding the parts
they need. Bob not only can get any part needed for us (used,
new, or "redesigned improved") but he will spend all the time
needed on the phone to diagnose and suggest a fix for any
problem as "he is the one who designed the engine, wrote the
Users Manual, and made up all the part numbers".
Bob's address is:
American Diesel Corp. Hillcrest Heights (Rt. 3 North) P.O.Box
1838 Kilmarnock, VA. 22482
Phone: 804-435-3107 FAX: 804-435-6420
Chapter 5
General Information
5.1 Addresses and numbers for suppliers
Where I have them, I've included the non-800 numbers so that
non-US readers can call these places. Typically I've used the
phone number of one of the store showrooms, but they should be
able to help with phone orders if you are lucky.
M & E Marine 800 541-6501; 609 858 1010: Inexpensive; recent
reports indicate a dedication to good service, and their
sailing hardware section is now excellent. In-store service
said to be good, and a good discount section in at least one
store. (jfh)
Bacon's (Annapolis area): 116 Legion Ave, Annapolis, MD. They
have everything, new and used, from clothing to winches,
stoves, line, you get the picture. They are also a national
sail exchange. I think they maintain an inventory of about
1,200 sails, again some newer than others. (cr)
BOAT/US: 1-800-937-BOAT (orders); 1-800-937-9307 (customer
service). Another user says: They offer their lowest price
policy on anything. We recently wanted to purchase rafting
cushions. Our local E & B store didn't have the size we wanted.
They did have the lowest catalog price around. They would have
special ordered them but I wanted to call BOAT/US first even
though they were 8.00 higher. I called BOAT/US, told them the E
& B price, and they gave us that price, less 10 % of the
difference. We didn't have to pay sales tax, and the shipping
was much less. The only ``catch'' is that the prices must be
the regular catalog price, not a sale price. The other good
thing I have noticed about BOAT/US is that they really have low
shipping weights. For the same cushions above, BOAT/US had a
shipping wt. of 6 lbs each. E & B listed the weight at 15 lbs
each. A BIG difference when you have to pay the shipping. If
you order by 1pm they ship out UPS that same day. I called on
Thursday 10 am and my cushions were at my house Friday
afternoon.
Worton Creek Marina (upper chesapeake) has an excellent Marine
store and parts dept. Located midway between the Annapolis Bay
Bridge and the C & D canel. Great if you run out of food
(frozen or fresh) or need a spare part or have a breakdown of
one sort of another. Very accommodating and prices are pretty
good.
South Coast Marine Supply, Larchmont NY: Much like M & E.
Cheaper prices on a few things.(jfh)
Post Marine Supply (1-800-YACHTER); 111 Cedar St., New
Rochelle, NY 10801. Lowest price in the Larchmont/Rye/New
Rochelle area on bottom paint when I looked around, but I
wouldn't buy anything from them if I didn't have to. The sleazy
cover photo on their catalog might not be enough to put you
off, but the rotten customer relations reported by at least one
person suggest that you're better off going to West Marine (for
mail order), which will match prices, and which has the best
customer relations on earth, or Defender (if you're in the
area), which is nearby and treats its customers pretty well,
too, at least the walk-in variety.(jfh)
The Rigging Company in Portsmouth, RI, 1-800-322-1525: Unknown
to me, but recommended by Roy Smith. They do sailboat rigging.
See below.(rs)
Boat/US 880 So. Pickett St., Alexandria, VA 22304 (800)
937-2628;(703) 823-9550; Will meet other's advertised prices on
anchors. I don't know about other things. It's where I bought
my 35 lb CQR (ouch!). Their cordage is not particularly good
quality, according to a friend who recently checked it out
while looking for anchor rode.(jfh)
E & B Marine: 800 533-5007 *Good* prices on electronics,
especially when they are on sale. Limited selection of sailboat
hardware, but their in-store supply of fasteners is pretty
good--if you need a 4" x 5/16" stainless bolt, and a nylock nut
to go on it, they probably have it. If you want cordage, their
pre-cut lengths are a pretty good deal. Their supply is
otherwise limited. Rapidly going out of the sailboat hardware
business, resulting in some incredible sale prices in the
Providence store at least. This is also the place to get those
mermaid-shaped fenders and signal-flag glasses, if you go for
that sort of stuff.(jfh)
Jamestown Distributors, (800) 423-0030. Excellent source for
marine hardware. Good place to look for stainless steel or
bronze fasteners. As one rec.boat-er said ``I can't imagine
starting a boatbuilding project without a call to Jamestown
Marine.''
West Marine (1-800-538-0775), 510 532 0766. 500 Westridge
Drive, PO Box 1020, Watsonville, CA, 95077, : Their normal
catalog is a pretty informative thing. Their master catalog is
something that every sailor should read. You know how you
sometimes say "Jeez, I really need the 6 1/2 foot oars, but
they only show 5' and 6' in the catalog."? In the Master
Catalog, they show it all. And the little ``West Advisor''
sections are in there as well. Prices: higher than other
discount places, but not full-price. I admit that I sometimes
use their catalog to decide what to get, then look for it
elsewhere. Usually not--I appreciate what they do so much that
I pay the slightly higher prices in hopes of keeping them in
business. When they say that they're shipping today, they are
telling the truth. News Flash: in April 1991 I spoke to someone
at West who told me they have a price-matching policy. Now
there's no reason to go anywhere else. They print their catalog
on glossy paper, which is environmentally bad, but they don't
use peanuts for shipping any more, which is good.(jfh)
Goldberg's Marine (1-800-BOATING): Identical to E & B Marine.
Overton's (800 334-6541): 111 Red Banks Rd. P.O.Box 8228
Greenville, N.C. 27835 for technical assitance ask for ext. 286
They carry Pleasurecraft and Indmar Engines, and a wide
selection of waterski gear. Lots of bathing suit ads in the
last 20 pages of the catalog.
Defender Marine (1-914-632-3001; 1-800-628-8225 New Rochelle
NY): Great prices, good selection, and reasonable warranty.
Badly organized catalog, printed on newsprint: nice for the
environment, but harder to read. Also, they tend to be a bit
slow. Several netters (jfh, gb1) have had horrible luck with
their mail-order business, having the wrong items of damaged
items shipped, and then being yelled at when we wanted to send
them back. Basically, I'll never mail order from them again.
They do have a rigging service, but they send stuff off to
Florida to be done (perhaps to Johnson Sails???).
Brewer's Hardware, 161 E Boston Post Rd, in Mamaranack,
914-698-3232. You can usually get things from Defender cheaper,
but Brewers has a remarkable selection of hardware (like
fasteners) and hardware (like Harken stuff). They're pricey,
but the stuff is there.(jfh)
Shoreway Marine, Highway 73, Berlin, NJ 08009. Call
1-800-543-5408 for ordering and product information
(609-768-8102 in NJ). This is what Larry and Irwin Goldberg did
after they sold out to E & B. Well organised and printed
catalog on recyclable newsprint type paper. Powerboat oriented
with little of interest specifically to sailboaters but great
prices on electronics and other common use items. (wms).
Marine Exchange, in Peabody, MA. According to one netter,
``They sell both new and used equipment and will also special
order items for you. They also have a complete rigging service.
The owner is Arlene and she is far and away the most
knowledgeable person I have ever met in the boat supply
business. She can help you figure out what you need for a
project and where to find it. She can get it for you at a
discount, and if she can't get it for you, she can tell you
where else to find it. Not only has she found us a number of
obscure items at substantial savings, but she's also told us
where to find netting (at fishing supply houses; it's cheapest
there); where to get the stern swim ladder welded; who in the
area makes custom size, rigid holding tanks, etc., etc. They
have hundreds of boating manufacturers catalogs and will look
up items, prices, specifications for you. They're a great
outfit to deal with.''
Hamilton Marine, Searsport, Maine. ``Good prices, mail order.''
(ph) Hamilton Marine in Searsport, Maine is (207) 548-2985 They
have a lot of good gear, a nice catalogue, and are strong on
many fishing/lobstering supplies (claw bands, freezer gloves)
that are missing from yacht chandleries. Plus they have a lot
of bronze fittings around. (db)
Marine Center, 1150 Fairview Ave North (retail outlet); PO Box
9968, Seattle WA 98109 (800 242 6357) ``They are a catalog
company in Seattle that I have dealt with a dozen or so times.
Prices lower than local retail; 180 page annual catalog + 2
sale catalogs per year. General marine supply: electronic, sail
and power equip. Outstanding selection of small specialty
stuff: switches, lamps, lifeline stantions to name items I have
bought.
Fawcett Boat Supplies, 110 Compromise Street. (410) 267 7547.
They have almost everything in stock, and can locate anything
else. Unfortunately, they are not cheap. Their self-proclaimed
nickname is "Tiffany's on the Severn.'' (ag)
Signet Marine: Several people have posted requests recently for
information on parts and service for Signet Marine instruments.
Signet Marine went out of business a few months ago. However,
Signet has been "reconstituted" under new ownership recently.
(mt)
You can contact them at:
Signet Marine Service 505 Van Ness Ave. Torrance, CA 90501
(310) 320-4349
Sailrite Kits, 305 W. VanBuren St.,PO Box 987,Columbia City, IN
46725. 1-800-348-2769, FAX 219-244-4184. They can sell you
precut kits, custom stuff and even a line of heavy duty sewing
machines, some of which are built to run on 12V. Lots of help
for the nervous rookie as well. Good people (no, I don't work
there). (sm2)
Nilcoptra 3 Marine Road; Hoylake, Wirral; Cheshire L47 2AS;
United Kingdom; tel. 051 632 5365 (eb)
G.L. Green; 104 Pitshanger Lane; Ealing, London W5 1QX; United
Kingdom (eb)
Department B; Chevet Books; 157 Dickson Road; Blackpool FY1
2EU; United Kingdom (eb)
Mr. Reginald H. Stone; Red Duster Books; 26 Acorn Avenue; Bar
Hill; Cambridge CB3 8DT; United Kingdom (eb)
Gerald Lee Martin Books; 73 Clayhall Avenue; Ilford, Essex IG5
0PN; United Kingdom (eb)
McLaren Books; 91 West Clyde Street; Helensburgh;
Dunbartonshire G84 8BB; United Kingdom (eb)
Seafarer Books and Crafts; 18 Market Courtyard; Riverside,
Haverfordwest; Pembrokeshire; United Kingdom (eb)
Companies specializing in used and out-of-print books:
W. Weigand and Co.; PO Box 563; Glastonbury CT O6033; [
Smaller, general list, periodic mailings. ] (eb)
Fisher Nautical; Huntswood House; St. Helena Lane; Streat,
Hassocks; Sussex BN6 8SD; United Kingdom; [ Huge list, periodic
mailings. You can ask to be placed on the ``Yachting Only''
list. General list has the most amazing stuff on it: Admiralty
reports, old ships logs, sailor's diaries, shipwreck reports,
and on and on. Occasional curmudgeonly newsletter from the
proprietor. Very good at searching for specific books. ] (eb)
Columbia Trading Co.; 504 Main St.; W. Barnstable MA 02668; [
Mid-sized list, periodic mailings. Seems more attuned to the
serious bibliophile, e.g., pricey first editions. ] (eb)
Safe Navigation in Long Beach, CA is a VERY complete book/chart
store. You can get Admiralty, Canadian and US sailing
directions, courtesy flags for many many nations, lots of books
for the yachting crowd, plus fascinating tomes like "How to
store cargo", "Sailing Distances Between World Ports" and
"Self-Study Guide for the Merchant Marine Ableseaman Exam".
They try to stock a complete set of NOS and DMA charts and also
have (so they say, I did not check -- yet) Canadian and British
charts, perhaps others as well. They do mail order. (db)
The Nautical Mind, (416) 203-1163. Bookstore in Toronto. They
seem to have an extensive set of titles in stock. Good source
for obtaining European cruising guides on this side of the
Atlantic. The only bookstore I could find which carried any
British canal guides.(al)
International Marine - A Division of McGraw-Hill Blue Ridge
Summit, PA 17294-0840 US 800-822-8158 FAX 717-794-2080 Foreign
orders 717-794-2191 8:30-5:00 EST or FAX, use credit card IM is
both a major international publisher and a mail order vendor.
They put out a flyer about once a month which covers about 300
boating titles, with descriptions. They offer discounts on new
releases and on close-outs. They have extensive listings on
design, building, maintenance, navigation, cruising guides,
fiction, etc., etc. Typical shipping is 3 to 6 in US, 5 to 8
foreign per order. Great catalog, good service (wv)
J. Tuttle Maritime Books; 1806 Laurel Crest; Madison WI 53705;
[ Smaller list, periodic mailings. ] (eb)
Diesel Engines: Info about Perkins deisels is available from
Perkins Group of Companies, Eastfield, Frank Perkins Way,
Peterborough, PE1 5NA, England, Phone: 44 733 67474
5.1.1 NMEA Specification for inter-electronic communication
The NMEA will sell you the specs or I will loan my copy to you.
(``I'' in this remark is ben@cv.hp.com) NMEA phone number is
(205) 473 1793. (dk1)
5.1.2 Anchor Chain And Rode, Other Hardware
For the best prices on anchor chain and anchor rode (e.g. 100'
1/2'' PC = 188.00) try SEA SPIKE ANCHORS, FARMINGDALE, NY (516)
249 2241
The Rigging Company, in Portsmouth RI. 401 683 1525 They have
the best prices I've seen on rope and wire rigging, better than
the big discount houses. (em)
5.1.3 Navigation and Simulation Software and Equipment
Celestaire sells a few types of software. Their address is
Celestaire, 416 S Pershing, Wichita, KS 67218, (316) 686-9785.
They also sell aviation and marine navigation eqpt.; their
catalog is the most complete I've seen in this area. High
prices, though.
Davis Instruments, 3465 Diablo Ave, Hayward, CA 94545, USA
sells PC Astro Navigator. They also sell sextants and a few
other useful devices.
I (jfh@cs.brown.edu) have a C subroutine package that
implements (let the user beware) the programs that used to be
used in the HP41 Nav Pac. These include a nautical almanac
program and a basic sight-reduction software. This is the only
free software I know of. I also have a variation of the
``stars'' program that uses the Yale Star Catalog to print a
start chart, customized to any day of the year, from any
geographical position, at any time. It comes with no
documentation, though...
I have one which helps brush up on the tactics of racing. It's
available from
Criteria instruments
7318 N. Leavitt Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97203-4840
phone 503-289-1225 fax 503-286-5896
John P. Laurin
bbs 503-297-9073 1200/2400 baun 8,n,1.
(ps)
Software/hardware for getting weather faxes: Crane in San
Diego. For 119 you get the software, manual shortwave headphone
adapter, modulator for IBM compatible. 619 233 0223 (da)
OFS WeathFAX, 6404 Lakerest Court, Raleigh, NC 27612, USA
(phone 1-919-847-4545) sell a card with software. It's 355 for
the kit, 495 assembled. Foreign orders add 14. Animation
software is ``free''. The half-length card goes in your PC,
accepting audio from your receiver. It demodulates/displays HF
marine fax, along with satellite transmissions. Visa/Mastercard
accepted.(la)
Software Systems Consulting, 615 S. El Camino Real, San
Clemente, CA 92672, USA (phone 1-714-498-5784) sell a
demodulator with software for 250. The (external) demodulator
plugs into your PC serial port.(la)
MFJ Enterprises Inc, Box 494, Miss. State, MS 39762, USA (phone
1-323-5869, fax 1-601-323-6551) have the MFJ-1278 ``Multi Mode
Data Controller''. It (with software) supports RTTY, CW, SSTV
and some other modes, along with fax of course. It is an
external unit and connects to your PC serial port. Last price I
saw was about 280. Software around 60.(la)
Ed Wallner's TIDES program is one of the simplest and best, and
it's shareware! Valid for as long as 200 years from now (albeit
with some loss of accuracy). TIDES can be downloaded from many
bbs's, or: Edwin P. Wallner; 32 Barney Hill Road; Wayland, MA
01778-3602; 508-358-7938 (pk).
Also you can get TIDES 3.02 by ftp to sunsite.unc.edu (pk).
Other Tides programs: tides202.zip is available for awhile on
ftp.ais.org in pub/jon. I haven't checked the accuracy yet, but
it appears to do what I want. (jz)
More Software: More prorams are available on the ship to shore
bbs. (jz)
Vancouver BC 1-604-540-9596
Portland OR 1-503-297-9073
Alameda CA 1-510-365-8161
Redwood City CA 1-415-365-6384
Chicago IL 1-708-670-7940
Arlington VA 1-703-525-1458
NYC NY 1-718-430-2410
5.2 Safe boating courses and organizations
The short answer is: The US Power Squadron and The US Coast
Guard Auxilliary. Here's how to find more:
You can find out about the safe boating courses in your area by
calling the nearest Coast Guard station and asking. It's best
to do this in late Fall, since many of the courses take place
during the winter and early Spring.
A beginning handbook 'Start Sailing Right' by US Sailing and
the American Red Cross is available from US Sailing. US Sailing
also manages many community sailing programs and can probably
provide information about courses available in various parts of
the US. (sc)
BOAT/U.S. Courseline (800) 226-BOAT in Virginia (800) 245-BOAT
Has information about upcoming Safety Courses in your area.
(dk1)
Coast Guard Boating Safety Hotline (800) 368-5647 Has
information on boat recalls and defects. Also you can report
your safety problems here. (dk1)
Canadian Power and Sail Squadrons 26 Golden Gate Court
Scarborough, Ont. Canada, M1P 3A5 (416)293-2438 or
1-800-268-3579 (pb)
5.3 Should I get GPS or Loran?
GPS appears to be the wave of the future in electronic
navigation. Prices are falling fast, and there are now GPS
units for under 400. Since Loran units cost over 300
(typically), the 400 GPS sounds like a pretty good deal. Loran
has excellent repeatability (i.e., you can get back to the same
spot, within about 100 yards), but GPS has greater accuracy
(the LAT/LON reading is likely to be closer to where you are
than that of a LORAN). (jh)
As an example, an Apelco DXL6350 ( I have a 6300) is available
regularly at under 250. It functions very well but lacks route
capability. It is not like the reallly low priced units that
lack ASF and other needed features. No other apologies needed.
I believe I saw it on sale for 224 from E B. (1994 prices) (cp)
If my Loran gave out on me, I would, at this point, probably
replace it with a GPS. If I were looking for a cheap way to
navigate electronically, I'd look for some folks who just got
GPS and offer to buy their Loran unit cheap. It's worked fine
for a very long time, and there's nothing wrong with it. (jh)
Here's a summary of how GPS works, contrinuted by Craig
Haggart:
HOW GPS WORKS: AN INTRODUCTION
Amazingly precise satellite navigation receivers are now widely
available and reasonably priced, thanks to the Global
Positioning System (GPS). How do these little wonders figure
out exactly where you are?
The basic principle behind GPS is simple, and it's one that you
may have used many times while doing coastal navigation: if you
know where a landmark is located, and you know how far you are
from it, you can plot a line of position. (In reality, it's a
circle or sphere of position, but it can be treated as a line
if the circle is very large.) If you can plot two or more lines
of position, you know that you are at the point where the lines
cross. With GPS, the landmarks are a couple of dozen satellites
flying about 12,000 miles above the earth. Although they are
moving very rapidly, their positions and orbits are known with
great precision at all times.
Part of every GPS receiver is a radio listening for the signals
being broadcast by these satellites. Each spacecraft
continuously sends a data stream that contains orbit
information, equipment status, and the exact time. All of the
information is useful, but the exact time is crucial. GPS
receivers have computers that can calculate the difference
between the time a satellite sends a signal and the time it is
received. The computer multiplies this time of signal travel by
the speed of travel (almost a billion feet per second!) to get
the distance between the GPS receiver and the satellite (TIME x
SPEED = DISTANCE); it then works out a line of position based
on the satellite's known location in space.
Even with two lines of position, though, the resulting fix may
not be very good due to receiver clock error. The orbiting
satellites have extremely accurate (and expensive!) clocks that
use the vibrations of an atom as the fundamental unit of time,
but it would cost far too much to put similar atomic clocks in
GPS receivers as well. Since precise measurement of time is
critical to the system - a clock error of only one thousandth
of a second would create a position error of almost 200 miles -
the system designers were faced with a dilemma.
Geometry to the rescue! It turns out that GPS receivers can use
inexpensive quartz clocks (like the ones used in wristwatches)
and still come up with extremely accurate position fixes as
long as one extra line of position is calculated. How does this
work? First, imagine two earthbound landmarks with known
positions - for example, Honolulu and Los Angeles. If we
measure the travel time of radio waves from each of these
cities to San Francisco, we can use the known speed of the
radio waves to compute two lines of position that cross. If our
clock is a little fast, our position lines will show us to be
closer to both cities than we really are; the lines will cross,
but that crossing point might be somewhere out in the ocean
southwest of San Francisco. On the other hand, if our clock is
too slow, we will appear to be farther away from the chosen
landmarks than we really are, and our position lines might
cross to the northeast of us, near Sacramento.
Now, if we get just one more position line - from Seattle,
let's say - the three lines would form a triangle, and the
center of the area in this triangle is our REAL position. The
clock error is the same for all three lines, just in different
directions, so moving them together until they converge on a
point eliminates the error. Therefore, it's OK if our GPS
receiver's clock is a little off, as long as the clocks on the
satellites are keeping exact time and we have a computer that
can pinpoint the center of a triangular area.
For accurate two-dimensional (latitude and longitude) position
fixes, then, we always need to get signals from at least three
satellites. There are now enough GPS satellites orbiting the
earth to allow even three-dimensional position determination
(latitude, longitude, and altitude, which requires signals from
at least FOUR satellites) anytime, from anywhere in the world.
The more satellites your receiver can "see" at one time, the
more accurate your position fix will be, up to the system's
standard accuracy limit of a few hundred feet.
The U.S. Department of Defense is responsible for the GPS
system, and they reserve increased accuracy for military users.
For this reason, the satellites broadcast a coded signal
("encrypted P-code") that only special military receivers can
use, providing positions that are about ten times more accurate
than those available with standard receivers. In addition,
random errors are put into the satellite clock signals that the
civilian GPS receivers use. Not everybody is happy with this
intentional degradation of accuracy, though, including the U.S.
Coast Guard.
To get around the DoD-imposed accuracy limitation, the Coast
Guard is setting up "differential beacons" around the U.S. A
differential beacon picks up GPS satellite signals, determines
the difference between the computed position from the satellite
and the beacon's own exactly-known location, then broadcasts
the error information over a radio channel for all nearby
differential-equipped receivers to use. With this method,
inexpensive GPS receivers can produce position information
accurate to within a few inches using the standard, uncoded
civilian signal. GPS receivers that can take advantage of this
differential broadcast are becoming quite common, although a
separate differential beacon receiver usually must be
purchased.
The way GPS receivers pick up the satellite signals is pretty
interesting: all of the satellites broadcast their messages on
the same frequency, but they each include a unique
identification number. The receiver determines which message is
from which satellite by matching the identification number with
the ones stored in its memory. This is sort of like standing in
a room with many people speaking at the same time - you can
listen to what just one person is saying among all of the
conversations taking place simultaneously, and you can identify
a person's voice by its particular sound. In the same way, a
GPS receiver picks up signals from all of the satellites in
view and matches them with patterns in memory until it figures
out which ones are "talking" and what they are saying. This
technique allows GPS receivers without backyard-sized dish
antennas to reliably use the extremely weak signals that the
satellites transmit towards the earth.
Ten years ago, it would have been hard to believe that you
could buy a device capable of providing your precise location
anywhere on the globe, much less that it would be smaller than
a frozen waffle and cost less than a new winch. In just a few
years, I suspect that these technological marvels will be just
about everywhere, and much cheaper - at this writing (May
1994), there are terrific handheld units with basic course
plotters selling for under 500, and the prices keep going down.
5.4 What other newsgroups discuss boating stuff?
There is rec.boats and rec.boats.paddle, rec.boats.racing, and
rec.boats.building. There is also alt.sport.jetski and
rec.sports.waterski. You might also want to look at
rec.woodworking. There are also some sailing-related WWW pages;
pointers to some can apparently be found at
http://pdsmacii.as.utexas.edu, and some laser-related stuff to
be found at ftp://ftp.law.indiana.edu/pub/laser and a WWW site
at http://www.law.indiana.edu/misc/laser.html; further online
sources are listed below.
5.5 What's the 800 number for the User Fee Sticker?
There is no longer a User-Fee sticker required!
5.6 What's it cost to own a boat?
Here is what I have posted previously about the costs of owning
Sarah, by 1970 Alberg 37 sloop. The items labelled ``startup''
are things that I knew I'd need to do when I purchased the
boat, or that were consequences of pre-existing problems (e.g.
a couple of substantial engine repairs). There are a couple of
charges that others may want to rule out: the bank charge is
for an account I maintain just for Sarah, and ``books and
magazines'' are not directly related to owning the boat. The
list also includes a bunch of ``one time'' expenses, like
repairing the injector pump on the engine. It turns out,
though, that there are *always* one-time charges, and it's
worth learning to expect them.
Note that the list below does *not* include the opportunity
cost on the investement in the boat, which was 34,000, and
hence could be earning (at 6 percent interest) about 2000 per
year. Since it's not earning that, it's a hidden cost of
ownership. (jfh)
1992 1991 1990 change(91/92)
Startup (i.e. pre-existing probs)
ENGINE WORK-startup 30.77 73.77 1431.79 -43.00
Interior systems-startup 365.86
Safety Equip-startup 105.69 95.14 +105.69
Books and magazines 260.47 64.83 +195.64
DINGHY 114.75 533.95 174.05 -419.20