Untitled Document
Great Tips for All Boaters
Flying Flags
We all love flying flags on our boats and rightly so.
It is a beautiful sight to see the multi-colored flags, ensigns, pennants and burgees flying
from masts, antennas, and superstructures. These are referred to as a vessel's "Colors." And here is what some of them are for.
While there is no regulation, you may fly the Ensign, which is the flag denoting the nationality of the boat or her owner. It is normally flown from the stern. If you are visiting another country, it is a matter of courtesy to fly their ensign or flag. It is normally flown from the starboard side of the boat. Country's customs differ in how to display, so be sure to ask or follow what others are doing.
Regatta trophy flags are sight to behold. As a tradition many regattas award flags as trophies. Normally blue flags are given for 1st place, red for 2nd and gold for 3rd place. While at the dock these competitors fly their trophies from their masts making for a very colorful display. This sure beats having "bowling trophies" collecting dust on a shelf.
There are some mandatory flags, including the "Diver Down" flag, but for the most part it is just fun to put a flag on a boat. You all have certainly seen the skull and crossbones displayed everywhere and on many boats. Not to mention the tipped **** glass indicating it is "happy hour."
So, enjoy your flags.
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For 20 years the Rick
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They also had nearly 50 World Class sailors come in as guest experts. Rick
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Consequently, there is wealth of racing/sailing knowledge
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List
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and Finishes; 3. How to have Great Mark Roundings; 5. Get Fast Downwind.
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You are Approaching the Leeward Mark
(6th in a Series about Mark Roundings)
From the last several issues remember there are Five Musts to anticipate when entering the leeward mark rounding. They are:
1) Prepare
2) Remember the Inside Overlap Mark Rounding Rule
3) Watch for the Pinwheel Effect
4) Slow Down to Win
5) Enter Wide, Exit Close.
Last month we continued talking about the Inside Overlap Rounding Rule, and
now we want to continue our discussion about that rule.
There is still another
little tidbit about this rule that you need to know. There is also the right-of-way
boat
and its privileges. If you are the right-of-way boat, you are allowed to make
a “tactical mark rounding.” If you are not the right-of-way boat, you may be forced to do a “seamanship-like
mark rounding.”
A
tactical mark rounding is best described as entering the mark wide and exiting
very close. While the seamanship rounding is simply getting around the mark
the best you can. Tactical mark roundings are far superior as they put you
in a position where no one can sail over you and you are in a position with
lots of options – go straight or tack off at your convenience.
In Diagram 1 the white boat is approaching on starboard tack (and has right-of-way).
The gray boat is on port tack. The gray boat therefore not only must allow
the starboard boat inside room at the mark, but also has to allow him to do
a tactical mark rounding.
In Diagram 2, the gray boat is the right-of-way boat (leeward boats have
right-of-way). So, the gray boat does not have to leave enough room for the
white boat to do a tactical mark rounding, rather just enough room to do a
seamanship rounding.
Don’t be confused though. Even thought the gray boat is the right-of-way boat, he still must allow the white boat room at the mark.., just not a lot of it.
Stay tuned in the next issue when we will move on to “Watch for the Pinwheel Effect.”
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We all love our multihulls.
However, one of the problems is the designs have to use Trampolines for
the most part to keep the weight down -- that is why they are faster than our
monohull friends. But, tramps deteriorate
in the sun and replacement or repair is normally done quite often.
CAUTION: Do not wait until late winter or early spring . OnLineMarineStore.com has
a good number of trampoline
manufacturers,
but at that time of the year they are swamped. Remember the old Adage: Poor
planning and procrastination on your part do not make an Emergency on my part.
At OnLineMarineStore we
can make tramps for
all beach
catamarans/multihulls and
almost all cruising
catamarans/multihulls. -
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Dear Capt Noah,
My crew is a really strong minded girl who is always yelling at me on the race
course. I can’t believe it. Most guys say their crews reprimand them for yelling.
In our case it is she that keeps yelling. I swear I feel like flipping her
off the boat sometimes. Or maybe just flipping her off!
Flipper
Dear Flipper,
I was very lucky to have been taught Math in
my many years of schooling. Regarding tha,t I would like to tell you a little
story that accentuates why you need to be good at math. I was riding to work
yesterday when I observed a female driver cut right in front of a pickup truck,
causing him to have to drive on to the shoulder to avoid hitting her. This
evidently angered the driver enough that he hung his arm out his window and "flipped" the
woman off.
"Man, that guy is stupid," I thought to myself.
I ALWAYS smile nicely and wave in a sheepish manner whenever a female does
anything to me in traffic, and here's why:
* I drive 48 miles each way every
day to work.
* That's 96 miles each day.
* Of these, 16 miles each way is bumper-to-bumper.
* Most of the bumper-to-bumper is on an 8 lane highway.
* There are 7 cars every 40 feet for 32 miles.
* That works out to be 982 cars every mile, or 31,424 cars.
* Even though the rest of the 32 miles is not bumper-to-bumper, I figure I
pass at least another 4000 cars.
* That brings the number to something like
36,000 cars that I pass every day.
* Statistically, females drive half of these.
* That's 18,000 women drivers!
* In any given group of females, 1 in 28 has PMS.
* That's 642.
* According to Cosmopolitan, 70% describe their love life as dissatisfying
or unrewarding.
* That's 449.
* According to the National Institute of Health, 22% of all females have seriously
considered suicide or homicide.
* That's 98.
* And 34% describe men as their biggest problem.
* That's 33.
* According to the National Rifle Association, 5% of all females carry weapons,
and this number is increasing.
* Ergo! That means that EVERY SINGLE DAY, I
drive past at least one female that has a lousy love life, thinks men are her
biggest problem, has seriously considered suicide or homicide, has PMS, and
is armed. Flip one off? ....... I think not!
Captain Noah
Thought for the Month: A little bit of love goes a long way
in our lives. It can provide us with higher highs and lower lows. But, if it
comes with persistent burning sensation, see your physician.
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Having been in cat sailing since 1965 I have seen all sorts of inventions
on ways to get your boat off land and into the water. Of all the ideas, almost
always was a way to put small wheels under the hulls. Consequently, a few folks
decided to get into the business of manufacturing wheels to
make life easier, particularly when cat sailing moved mainly to beaches.
At one time there were four different manufacturers of beach
wheels, but we are now down to only two:
- Cat Trax, who also make Tiger Trax (less money, but don't work well and don't hold up)
- Wheeleez, who actually make beach wheels for almost everything except cats.
These wheels sets
are not cheap, but by the time you "reinvent the wheel," you
will spend more money than the cost of these back-saving devices.
So, bite the bullet and you will be thankful for many years to come.
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