Newsgroups: rec.boats,rec.answers,news.answers Path: bloom-beacon.mit.edu!nic.hookup.net!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!brunix!jfh From: jfh@cs.brown.edu (John F. Hughes) Subject: rec.boats Frequently Asked Questions (Part 2 of 4) Message-ID: Followup-To: rec.boats Originator: jfh@euclid Sender: news@cs.brown.edu Reply-To: jfh@cs.brown.edu (John F. Hughes) Organization: Brown University References: Date: Thu, 20 Jan 1994 21:23:41 GMT Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Expires: Fri, 20 May 1994 04:00:00 GMT Lines: 803 Xref: bloom-beacon.mit.edu rec.boats:19229 rec.answers:3809 news.answers:14365 Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4 Archive-name: boats-faq/part2 (wh) Address: US Sailing Box 209, Goat Island Marina Newport, RI 02840 (401) 849-5200 Fax: (401) 849-5208 3.7 Where can I find out about collegiate sailing? US Sailing publishes a college sailing directory, available for 7 from the address above. (sc) 3.8 What about keels? Courtesy of Matt Pedersen: (Definitions used in this discussion: length refers to the fore and aft length of the keel, depth refers to how far the keel sticks into the water, width is side/side width) General discussion of Keels: Keels help you sail in a straight line. They are also a great place to put a bilge, bilge pump, and tankage. What you want is a keel that is very narrow in width when going to weather, and a little fatter going downwind. I don't know how to make my keel do this, but when I do figure it out you'll be the first to know. Narrow width keels also stall out (lose their lifting ability) at lower speeds when compared to a fatter keel. This is a negative. Longer keels are harder to knock off course than shorter keels. Longer keels are harder to put back on course than shorter keels. Longer keels have more wetted surface than shorter keels, which hurts light air performance. Deeper keels go to windward better than shallow keels. Deeper keels get the ballast lower in the boat, which helps sail carrying ability. Deeper keels find the bottom sooner than shallow keels. About wing keels: Winged keels have a lot more weight down low which dramatically increases the stability they provide. The wings supposedly help hydrodynamics. I don't think it's all that great. They do increase draft a little going to weather (the wing hangs down lower as you heel). I'm not real convinced that a wing keel when heeled and slightly deeper, but with a right angle in it is more efficient at getting lift than a standard fin. Wing keels are good at catching kelp, or anything else floating in the water. They also stick in the mud better, if that's what you want. To be fair they are a way to get shoal draft and a little stiffness too. Bulb Keels: These are basically a keel with a big torpedo shaped blob of lead at the bottom. They are not more efficient than a straight fin. They do get more weight down low, which helps in sail carrying ability. Scheel keels: Scheel keels are kind of like bulbs at the bottom of the keel, but they look cooler. They may have some hydrodynamic improvement over a straight fin, I don't know. They get ballast way down low. It's interesting that many designers use a Scheel keel instead of a wing keel, even though they have to pay a royalty on it. That says something about how difficult it is to design a truly good wing keel. By the way Henry Scheel designs great looking boats. Recent history of keel design: Now if you look at the design of fin keels over the years, you will see a great deal of theory being applied to get you the fastest shape possible. Let's see, there was the swept back ``Sharks fin" of the early seventies. It looks fast, therefore it must be fast. They were ``proven" to be slow, so you don't see them much anymore. However, David Pedrick (who designed Dennis Conner's Stars and Stripes) has resurrected them for the latest Freedom boats. Gee, maybe they are fast after all. Then there was the ``Peterson" fin. Straight leading and trailing edges. High aspect ratio. Still pretty fast, but it doesn't put most of its weight down low, where it does the most good. But then the IOR rule really didn't care about that. Then there was the winged keel of the eighties. They are great on big tubby meter boats with draft limited by some rule, and you want a lot of weight down low (like 60+ % of the boat is ballast). You can do that by either increasing the size of the bulb/blob at the bottom of the keel, or you can spend thousands on tank testing your wings, get the weight down low with them instead, and psych out your competition at the same time. Today the latest theory has keels of the semi-elliptical form, where you have the leading edge straight, and the trailing edge gently curved. Except for some of Bruce Farr's designs, which have a gently curved leading edge and straight aft edge. Wait a minute, that doesn't fit the theory! Farr's boats don't seem to notice that they don't fit the latest theory though. They just leave everybody else behind them and go to the winners circle. They are using bulbs today instead of wings on the hottest racing boats, to get more stability with less total weight... 3.9 Sailing simulators? There are Posey simulators as well as nav packages, hardware and software in Dave and Judy Crane's Nautical Computing catalog, available from DF Crane Associates, 2535 Kettner Blvd; PO Box 87531, San Diego CA 92138-7531 Phone 619/233-0223. Dennis Posey also sells his collection of race and cruising simulators by direct mail from Posey Yacht Designs, 101 Parmelee Rd., Haddam, CT 06438 or 203/345-2685. He has a half dozen different versions for different levels and interests, PC and Mac. (rs2) 3.10 Chartering and learn-to-sail schools In the US, various people on the net have spoken highly of Womanship (and one of their instructors is a regular reader, I believe). In the Virgin Islands, the general summary of charter operations seems to be that you get what you pay for--the lower-budget operations have less-well-maintained boats. Can one become competent for a bareboat charter in two weeks? You may be able to do so (according to the Charter operation---i.e., they may let you charter a boat), but I would not count on it. (jfh) 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. 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 Is the Bayliner a good boat? The price is great... This is opinion only. The Bayliner is weakly constructed when compared to other boats of similar size and purpose. Despite this, they seem to get a lot of use. I would strongly advise you to ask youself the question ``If/when I slip and fall in this boat and hit something, will that thing break?'' If the answer is ``Yes,'' then you should be sure to operate the boat in a manner that ensures that you will never slip and fall, or you should replace/reinforce the thing. (jfh) 4.3 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) 4.4 What is a Hole Shot? Will a Stainless prop add to my high end speed? I am told that a hole shot is the speed with which one initially accelerates onto a plane, and that a stainless prop, although more expensive, will in fact add a bit to top speed. (jfh) 4.5 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) 4.6 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) 4.7 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. Chapter 5 General Information 5.1 Addresses and numbers for suppliers M & E Marine 800 541-6501: 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): on West St. about a 15 minute walk from City Dock. 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) 423-0300. 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), 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 ofr 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) 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. Though they are not manufacturing new products yet, they are servicing and supplying parts. They've been very helpful for me in servicing and parts for a Smart Pak system. (mt) You can contact them at: Signet Marine Service 505 Van Ness Ave. Torrance, CA 90501 (310) 320-4349 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) The Nautical Mind, (416) 869-3431. 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) 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). 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) 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 500. Since Loran units cost over 300 (typically), the 500 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). 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. 5.4 What other newsgroups discuss boating stuff? There is rec.boats and rec.boats.paddle. You might also want to look at rec.woodworking. 5.5 What's the 800 number for the User Fee Sticker? The 800 number for the Coast Guard User Fee Sticker is 1-800 848-2100; have your Visa or MasterCard number ready. 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 Electronic Equip. 210.48 348.78 225.19 -138.30 Engine maintenance 632.12 374.07 1194.97 +258.05 Sailing Hardware 246.95 229.27 -246.95 General Maintenance on Hull+Eq 458.87 617.96 -159.09 Insurance 881.00 825.00 750.00 +56.00 Interior systems, exc elec+eng 63.47 165.21 490.51 -101.74 Miscellaneous expenses 200.00 306.03 -106.03 Moor'g,Haul'g,Storage, Anchor 830.28 1110.26 1886.08 -279.98 Not Categorized -73.73 75.73 9.56 -149.46 Operating expenses 77.17 546.49 498.31 -469.32 Boat-related phone calls 10.00 97.98 416.80 -87.98 Rigging Replacement 198.74 +198.74 Safety Equipt. 226.57 18.14 -226.57 Sail repair and purchase 111.56 447.40 -335.84 Monthly Bank Charge 30.50 37.00 52.00 -6.50 Tools for boat 191.84 216.63 30.00 -24.79 Yard Labor and Tax 180.00 ------------------------------------------ Total 4333.98 6,314.61 8047.67 -1980.63 A few remarks: I've gotten less diligent about recording which phone calls are boat related. The large engine expense this year is partly due to having some transmission work done. The ``mooring, etc.'' costs went down only because I failed to pay one bill before the end of 1992. They'll go up next year. So will rigging replacement. I now have further information about a couple of other boats: Medium-sized powerboat (as I recall), used a good deal. The ``Access'' item may be ``accessories''---I cannot recall. Payment Fuel Repair Maint Access Moor Insur TOTALS March $284 $251 $10 $343 $470 $120 $25 $1,503 April $284 $262 $882 $240 $1,687 $120 $25 $3,500 May $284 $218 $3,905 $18 $71 $120 $25 $4,641 June $284 $384 $0 $8 $126 $120 $25 $947 July $284 $838 $34 $4 $106 $120 $25 $1,411 Aug $284 $94 $119 $39 $232 $145 $25 $938 Sept $284 $395 $0 $3 $19 $145 $25 $871 Oct $284 $0 $0 $18 $0 $145 $25 $472 Nov $284 $92 $17 $0 $0 $145 $25 $563 Dec $284 $141 $0 $0 $0 $145 $25 $595 Jan $284 $0 $0 $55 $359 $145 $25 $868 Feb $284 $335 $9 $371 $13 $145 $25 $1,182 ------------------------------------------------------------------------