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 3 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 21:24:40 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:19230 rec.answers:3810 news.answers:14366 Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4 Archive-name: boats-faq/part3 TOTALS $3,408 $3,010 $4,976 $1,099 $3,083 $1,615 $300 ANNUAL TOTAL $17,491 AVERAGE MONTHLY $1,458 ________________________________________________________________________ And for another sailboat: We're under 1,000 a month for a 39' sailboat at the Shilshole Bay Marina in Seattle. And one more: I don't have monthly totals, but the following are my yearly totals for a 22' commercial dory with an 88 h.p. outboard ... Licensing fees: Fish and Wildlife 450.00 NOAA Marine mammal exemption 30.00 F.C.C. Operators license 35.00 _______ total: $550.00 Maintenance and upkeep: $2884.50 total fuel consumption: 534.6 gallons $787.22 total tackle expenses $825.32 _________ Grand total: $5047.04 I fished the boat an average of three days a week (some weeks more, others less) and I grossed 3372.06 last year. That brought my total expenditure for eight months of fishing (and boating on the Pacific) to about 2700. That gives me a monthly average of about 225/month. My insurance (for an ocean going commercial fishing vessel) was 236 for 1992. That will go up to 242 this year. And one more: OK, how's this for cheap: A friend of mine and I bought a used DaySailer for somewhat less than 3000 last summer and during the fall sailing season, we spent less than 300 total on maintenance, which included a new battery for our trolling motor, various rigging upgrades, a new trailer wheel, grease for the trailer wheels, and a new anchor. We've spent 70 pre-season this year for a reef point and other than new bearings on the trailer, we're ready to go. OK, so we don't do blue-water sailing, but it gets us out on the water on the weekends. :-) Let me also add a remark from Mike Hughes: People waste time, effort and money on all kinds of things that don't make sense when by owning a boat one can consolidate and waste them all on one thing. Think about that before you ever consider owning a boat as an investment. 5.7 Who can tell me about boat X? Various people on the net know about their own boats and seem to be willing to talk. Here is a list of boat types, e-mail addresses, and names. Alberg 30 bobp@sandr.com Bob Parkinson Alberg 37 jfh@cs.brown.edu John Hughes Beneteau First 235 lastra@cs.unc.edu Anselmo Lastra C\&C 32 kell@mprgate.mpr.ca Dave Kell Cal 20 stefan@sunrise.stanford.edu Stefan Michalowski Catalina 27 wms@spin.ho.att.com Wayne Simpson Catalina 25 bobp@sandr.com Bob Parkinson Cotuit Skiff bobp@sandr.com Bob Parkinson Coronado 15 steve@test490.pac.sc.ti.com Steve Comen CSY-44 GERMAIN@CDHF2.GSFC.NASA.GOV Andy Germain DN Iceboat jfh@cs.brown.edu John Hughes Dovekie jfh@cs.brown.edu John Hughes Drascombe Coaster lastra@cs.unc.edu Anselmo Lastra Flying Dutchman guido@blink.att.com Guido Bertucci Gulfstar 37 larry@pdn.paradyne.com Larry Swift Herreschoff 12 jfh@cs.brown.edu John Hughes HinkleyIslander bobp@sandr.com Bob Parkinson J/24 roy@wombat.phri.nyu.edu Roy Smith MacGregor 25 kell@mprgate.mpr.ca Dave Kell Mercer 44 jfh@cs.brown.edu John Hughes Olson 25 stefan@sunrise.stanford.edu Stefan Michalowski Puddleduck pram bobp@sandr.com Bob Parkinson Stone Horse jfh@cs.brown.edu John Hughes Tornado jfh@cs.brown.edu John Hughes PearsonVanguard scfisher@oasys.dt.navy.mil Steve Fisher Sonar spencer@panix.com David Spencer Cal 20 hchan@well.sf.ca.us Hoover Chan Ericson 27 haggart@SSRL01.SLAC.STANFORD.EDU Craig Haggart 5.8 What are the laws about boats...? First and foremost, there is a US Coast Guard User Fee required for almost all vessels (being phased out during 1993/94). There's an 800 number you can call to find out whether your boat needs one, and to order one by credit card (1-800 848-2100). If you want to operate a VHF radio, you need a lense; failure to carry one can result in huge fines. The Coast Guard now checks for that license if they board you for any reason. You can learn about operating procedures for your VHF radio from Chapman's (see the bibliography). One essential rule: Channel 16 is for commercial hailing and distress calls. Hailing by recreational vessels is now supposed to happen on Channel 9. You are required to carry adequate saftey devices for your boat. What is deemed adequate varies by size. Most marine stores have a pretty good idea what's the minimum. Once again, Chapman's can give you details. There are no ``licenses'' for boating in the US---you can buy the biggest, fastest boat on earth and do whatever you want with it, as long as it's recreational and you do not carry passengers or freight for hire. For those, you need a license. Prudence dictates that you should learn how to operate your vessel before you start out. Note that many states have begun enforcing Boating While Intoxicated laws, and that some have begun enforcing speed limits. If you want to operate a marine radio from your boat, you need a station license. Generally a license application is packaged with each radio set, and all radio dealers carry applications. There is a 35 application fee. If you are licensing any marine radios, the first will be a VHF set for ``local'' communications ( <30 miles) with 2-25 watt output. Marine radios must be ``type accepted'' which means you can not build it yourself, or modify a CB, commercial, or ham set. Pleasure boaters do not need a radio operator's license. (wv) You are required to carry safety devices for your boat. What is required varies by size and state. Most marine stores have a pretty good idea what's the minimum. Once again, Chapman's, and every boating safety class, can give you details. (wv) In general, boat registration laws and fees vary from state to state. Usually a boat dealer or the local state police detachment is a good starting point for specifics. (wv) There are no general licenses for driving a pleasure boat in the US ---you can buy the biggest, fastest boat on earth and do whatever you want with it, as long as it's recreational and you do not carry passengers or freight for hire. On the other hand, some STATES now require persons under the age of 18(?) to complete a state certified boating safety course before operating a boat. (wv) To carry any passengers for hire you need a Coast Guard license. Before you can even take the required written exam(s) you need documentary evidence of a full year (365 days) of boating experience. Licenses come in several categories. To carry more than six passengers for hire, the boat must also be inspected by the Coast Guard. Fines for violations are quite high. (wv) 5.9 What's a formula for top speed? The answer, verbatim from mp, is: The formula yacht designers use is called Crouch's formula. It takes into account the weight and horsepower at the propeller, and assumes a 50\% to 60\% efficient prop. Most props fall into this range. Note that it doesn't take into account the boat length, as that doesn't matter with planing boats. Crouch's Formula V = C/((DISP/HP)**.5) Where V = boat speed in knots (1 knot=1.15 mph) C = Constant (depends on boat type) DISP = Displacement (pounds) Note that boat manufacturers usually give innacurate numbers for displacement, typically on the low side HP = Horsepower available at the propeller For comparison sake, here are some average values of C: 150 Typical lightweight, planing cruiser 180 High Speed Runabout 200-230 Race boats, hydroplanes etc. 5.10 Accurate time source for navigation The time of day is broadcast on radio stations WWV and WWVH, which transmit in the shortwave bands, on 2.5, 5, 10, 15, 20 MHz. The time is announced every minute, and at other times there is a steady beeping. Any shortwave receiver should be able to pick up these broadcasts - the particular frequency you can receive will vary with location and time of day. You can also hear the NIST's WWV broadcasts via the telephone. The number is (303) 499-7111. 5.11 Winter storage for batteries, and their state of charge There is a ritual debate on this topic each year. The concensus seems to be that (1) It's OK to store a battery on a cement floor, but if you stick it on an old piece of plywood, any drips or spills will be easier to clean up, so perhaps the old wives tale has some value, (2) storing a battery cold in the winter, provided it is fully charged, is an OK thing to do. The rate of discharge is reduced by the cold environment, so less frequent recharging is called for. Here is an article from Finn Stafsnes, which seems to have some hard data (fs): The content is taken from a booklet provided by norwegian battery manufacturer (Anker-Sonnak). I have done some linear interpolation between tabulated values. Therefore minor errors due to non-linear effects may be present. I can only hope that I have not done big errors in my calculations. State of charge Spec.gravity Freezing pt. Spec.gravity @ +25 C,77 F deg C, F @ freez.temp. kilograms/litre kilograms/litre Full 1.280 -68, -90 ? 75 50 25 weak 1.160 -17, + 1 1.189 0 0 If it is impractical to measure the spec. gravity an approximate formula is given based upon voltage measurment: Spec.gravity (@ 25 C) = (Voltage of battery/no of cells) - 0.84 (kilogr./lit.) The voltage should be measured after the battery has been disconnected for at least 6 hours. A discharged battery will gradually be distroyed if stored in a low state of charge condition due to crystal growth of PbSO4, even if it does not freeze. Self discharge is halved for every 10 deg C (18 F) the storage temperature is reduced. Conclusion: Keep the battery well charged all the time. If you dont want to recharge during the winter, store the battery cold. And here is a mini-FAQ written by Alan Yelvington: The efficiency of batteries varies with time, temperature, and state of charge. Batteries self-discarge over time. Lead-calcium (die-hard) discharge faster that straight lead-acid. Their advantage is that they typically do not need to have the water replaced. Temperature will kill a battery over time. If a battery gets too hot, its self-discharge rate goes up. If the battery gets to cold, the reaction that produces electricity gets slowed down and the full capacity cannot be ``harvested.'' The state of charge limits efficiency because of the reactions in the battery. If a battery is left dead for too long (this means you), the internal plates will start to accumulate lead-sulphate on them. This insulates that portion of the plate so that in can no longer contribue to the output of the battery. It takes extra power in to remove the sulphation that cannot be recouped. (EDTA will chemically remove the sulphate....) A typical battery in good condition will return 90 to 95 put into it under these conditions: DO NOT recharge at a rate of more that one tenth its capacity. eg. A 220 amp-hour battery should not be recharged at more than 22 amps. The excess current will generate waste heat and form lead-sulphite. The lead-sulphite is worse than the sulphate because it cannot be removed. DO NOT discharge a battery beyond 50 DO NOT over charge the battery. (Lead Sulphite problem again.) DO NOT discharge the battery faster than one tenth of its capacity. That is, don't draw more than 22 amps from a 220 amp-hour battery. You'll just make waste heat that cannot do work. DO use the battery and not just leave it dormant all the time. If you must have a battery for infrequent use, NiCd or gelcells are much better and are another story altogether. (ay) Another reader pointed me towards a nice solar panel charge controller the November, 1993 issue of ``73'' magazine. It's used by a guy with 200 WATTS of solar panels on his roof. 5.12 Online information (This section courtesy of sb) You can FTP hourly surface analyses (one of the things you can recieve with a weather fax receiver), in the form of .GIF files from vmd.cs.uiuc.edu, in directory WX. There is also hourly raw visual and infrared satellite imagery, (from GEOS-7) which I don't know what to do with these. The files are SA*.GIF, CI*.GIF and CV*.GIF, where the * is the date and GMT hour of the picture. Then, if you are on a unix system, you can use xloadimage to display them. There are also .DOC files which describe many other sources of weather related information on the network. Also, finger weather@18.83.0.103 gets the Boston area forecast, and telnet madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000 gets you any forecast you like. If you enter the city ``BOSM,'' you get the forecast for Boston, PLUS the marine forecast. This may work for other cities as well. The racing rules updates can be found on the Ship-to-Shore BBS (the number is listed in the Max Ebb article). Here's a list that I got from the BBS: (hc) Ship to Shore OIS Marine Net for Sailors Alameda CA 510-523-8161 Arlington VA 703-525-1458 Chicago IL 708-670-7940 New York City NY 718-430-2410 Portland OR 503-297-9073 Redwood City CA 415-365-6384 Toronto ON 416-538-2496 Vancouver BC 604-540-9596 5.13 Should we split rec.boats? This topic arises about once a year. Each time the concensus, with a a growing number of dissenters, is that (a) much of what is discussed here would be crossposted to rec.boats.sail and rec.boats.power if they both existed, (b) many topics, like maintenance, moorings, coast guard regs, boat shows, the grounding of the QEII, large oil spills, etc., are of (passing) interest to almost anyone who goes out on the water, (c) we all learn something about the folks with whom we share the water by reading what they have to say, (d) the volume of postings although rapidly increasing, is not too large, and the rapidly increasing speeds of modems and newsreader makes simply skipping over articles of no interest a small burden, and (e) the annoyance of trying to indicate, in the header, which *sort* of boating your message might apply to outweighs the advantages of doing so. Of course, with regard to item ``c'', it is possible that what we learn reinforces the stereotypes, or that it leads to greater understanding. One can hope for the latter. Think carefully about what's been said above before posting a suggestion that we split rec.boats. Unless you have something truly novel to propose, you will almost certainly generate lots of postings with the same end result that I've seen five times now (I think): no split. I did, for a while, as an attempt at conciliation, begun to prefix my postings with ``S'' for sail, ``P'' for power, and ``A'' for all. No one else, even the advocates of splitting, did so, so I abandoned the effort. (jfh) Further information: for Unix users, the newsreaders ``rn'' and ``nn'' (and others, I'm sure) support the notion of killing all articles containing some phrase in the body or the title. I believe the same is true of gnus, and probably is the case with many other newsreaders on non-unix machines. Perhaps this is worth investigating. One more piece of information: I will record the recurrence of the should-we-split discussion. 10/15/93 is most recent. 5.14 What sextant should I buy to learn with? Good sextants are expensive (about 3000US is not unusual), and the inexpensive plastic ones (Davis make the best-known) are far cheaper. For learning, or even for real navigation, the Davis models are fine, but require more careful and frequent adjustment, and often seem to give less accurate results. They will give a result accurate to within about 2 minutes of arc, which should get your position right within about 3 miles or so. Errors made by beginners are usually computational or mistakes of understanding, and tend to be far greater than this. So a plastic sextant makes a fine tool for learning. Buy one, and if you like it, keep it as a spare when you go offshore. Hints: to keep the readings accurate, beware of temperature fluctuations, which warp the sextant (temporarily). In winter, wear gloves. In summer, watch out for having part of the sextant in sun and part in shade. And last but not least, always approach your reading from the same side (i.e., always increase the angle until the sun is on the horizon---don't increase and then decrease and then increase, etc.) This prevents backlash from screwing up your readings. (jfh) 5.15 Boat pictures, and ftp sites for boat info I (sb2) run the rec.boats FTP server(if you can use a listserv, you too can have them) for pictures. Some from my personal collection, some from the America's Cup, others from Whitbread, etc. dell1.dell.com in the anonymous FTP directory/donate/boats I believe that Steve also maintains an ftp-able version of the FAQ. So do I (jfh) on the machine wilma.cs.brown.edu, in the pub directory with the name rec.boats_FAQ.Z. The file POWER.UU that's there is also of interest to some rec.boaters---it's a PC program for something to do with surface-piercing drives, submitted by Paul Kamen. 5.16 Propellor selection GENERAL RULE OF PROP SELECTION: On a properly trimmed boat a prop of the correct pitch and diameter will permit the motor to attain it's maximum rated RPMs but NO MORE. HOW TO BUY THE CORRECT PROP: The best method of prop selection that I know of is to find a dealer that will let you try several props with the understanding that you will buy the one that performs as above. Of course it is also understood that if you ding a test prop you will buy it. Contributed by hl. 5.17 Binocular selection Contributed by (pe). The quality of binoculars shows up in several important areas. this is certainly one product area that the quality can range from junk to excellent, and you get what you pay for. The areas of prime concern are as follows: 1) Eye relief: This is the distance back from the eye piece that the image is formed. Most binoculars have a rubber eye piece that positions your eyes in the proper place. This rubber piece can then be folded out of the way for people who wear glasses. A longer eye relief is more forgiving to those who wear glasses. 2) EXIT PUPIL: Generally tied closely to eye relief, this is the diameter of the image comming out of the eye piece. The larger this is, the less sensitive it will be to having your eye is in the exact right spot. Generally speaking, larger is better. But to make it larger, the overall size of the binoculars increases. 3) Light Transmission: The percentage of light that enters the front lens that makes it out the eye piece. For daylight use, this is not too critical. For nightime use, a few percent improvement in the amount of light making it through can make a hugh difference. The type of optics (glass versus plastic), the coatings on the lens elements, and the overall quality of teh lenses make the difference. Large, GLASS, coated optics give much better performance than plastic, uncoated optics. Of course, large glass elements start to get heavy. 4) Depth of Field: As a side effect of the above three items is an improved depth of field. This is the distance that an object remains in focus. The really good units don't even have a focus knob, as the depth of feild is so large that it isn't necessary. 5) GAS FILLED: The better units are sealed, and purged with dry nitrogen. This keeps moisture out, keeps the lenses from fogging, and helps improve the overall optical qualities. 6) THE CASE: A rubber armored, rugged case will help prevent damage. Lens caps that stay with the unit keep them from getting lost, and make it much more likely that you will put them back on to protect the lenses. You may want to check out the West Marine catalog. They have a chart listing all the important characteristics of the binoculars that they sell. Compare it against the specs of a unit you are considering. Decide if you might ever need to read the number on a channel marker at night. My advice is to go with the best that you can afford. Properly treated, they will last forever and you will not be sorry. Chapter 6 List of Contributors Here is a list of the people who contributed to the information above. The list is widly incomplete, because I started collecting the information (for myself) long before I planned to make the FAQ, and didn't attach names to lots of things people told me. My apologizes to those whose names I've omitted. I'll gladly add them if you tell me to. ab bowers@tifosi.dfrf.nasa.gov Al Bowers ag GERMAIN@CDHF2.GSFC.NASA.GOV Andy Germain al lastra@cs.unc.edu Anselmo Lastra ay alany@tekig5.pen.tek.com Alan Yelvington bj wtjones@sr.hp.com Bill Jones bp billp@voyager.chm.clarkson.edu Bill Plunkett bm cfwpm@ux1.cts.eiu.edu Bill McGown bs bsmith@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM Brian Smith cr crossle1@cc.swarthmore.edu Cindy Rossley da davea@hpscit.sc.hp.com Dave Angelini dk1 kinzer@prcamfg.sps.mot.com Dave Kinzer dk2 kell@mprgate.mpr.ca Dave Kell dz zielke@fozzie.nrl.navy.mil David Zielke eb boebert@SCTC.COM Earl Boebert em murphy@phri.nyu.edu Ellen Murphy fm francis@oas.Stanford.EDU Francis Muir fs Finn.Stafsnes@tf.tele.no Finn Stafsnes gb1 Greg Bullough gb2 Gerard Bras gf gregf@ptidsun18.pen.tek.com Greg (Fox?) hc hchan@well.sf.ca.us Hoover Chan hl Hal@cache.declab.usu.edu Hal Lynch jb bloxham@geophysics.harvard.edu Jeremy Bloxham jfh jfh@cs.brown.edu John Hughes jz zeeff@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us Jon Zeeff la lance@lancea.actrix.gen.nz Lance Andrewes mb burati@APOLLO.HP.COM Mike Burati mp phred!mattp@data-io.com Matt Pedersen mt markt@tekig1.PEN.COM Mark Tilden pe Peter_Engels@star9gate.mitre.org Peter Engels ph lotus!lotatg. lotus.com!phil@uunet.UU.NET Phil Somebody pk fishmeal@netcom.com Paul Kamen ps Paul.Saltzman@f764.n153.z1.ship.wimsey.bc.ca Paul Salzman rs roy@wombat.phri.nyu.edu Roy Smith rs2 rstepno@eagle.wesleyan.edu Bob Stepno rs3 spady@bcstec.ca.boeing.com Robyn Spady sb steph@candide.uchicago.edu Stephen Bailey sb2 sblair@upurbmw.dell.com Steve Blair sc steve@test490.pac.sc.ti.com Steve Comen sm stefan@sunrise.stanford.edu Stefan Michalowski srb Scott.Richard.Berg@p4910.f349.n109.z1.fidonet.org Scott Richard Berg tc chatzi@beauty.asd.sgi.com Tony Chatzigianis wh whoward@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu Will Howard wms wms@spin.att.com Wayne Simpson wo woodruff@s34.es.llnl.gov Someone Woodruff wv VENABLE@faculty.coe.wvu.wvnet.edu Wallace Venable Chapter 7 Bibliography 7.1 Magazines AMERICAN SAILOR, none, This one is for members of USYRU. Almost exclusively for racing. Dave Perry has a short but interesting ``rules corner''. ASH BREEZE, none, P. O. Box 350, Mystic, CT 06355, 15/year (4 issues). The journal of the Traditional Small Craft Association. Member-contributed articles about design, construction, and history of traditional boats. Members also receive discounts on books published by International Marine.(al). BOAT DESIGN QUARTERLY, none, P.O. Box 98, Brooklin, ME, 24/year (only 4 issues). Each issue contains six to eight reviews of boat designs. This magazine is mostly the effort of Mike O'Brien (who also writes for WoodenBoat magazine). Only worth it for those truly obsessed with boat designs.(al). BOATBUILDER, none, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235 800-786-3459. Primarily amatuer construction. Monthly articles by notable Dave Gerr (lots of his latest book "The Nature of Boats" was first published in Boatbuilder). Includes instant boat construction, origami steel boats, etc.(mp). COASTAL CRUISING, none, The Magazine of Achievable Dreams. This rag was formerly called "Carolina Cruising" and probably still should be. Concentrates on the ICW around and about its Beufort, NC home base. A harbor profile in each issue with a color arial photograch as a centerspread. Quirky columns written by people who are really into bringing the spoken accent to the written page. Printed on cheap newsprint paper and comes out 6 times a year. Unless you live or cruise in the Carolinas, save your money. (wms). CRUISING WORLD, none, Good articles, wonderful reader service called ``Another Opinion'', which will tell you about other readers who own the same boat that you do (or that you are thinking of buying), and who might be interested in telling you about it, Extensive brokerage and charter listing. -jfh-. GREAT LAKES SAILOR, none, Tends to focus on the sailing scene in the midwest. LATITUDE 38, none, The SF Bay sailing rag. Cheap paper, irreverant staff. Far more honest than any other sailing rag. Latitude 38,P.O. Box 1678,Sausalito CA 94966,USA. Phone: 415 383 8200 ; 415 383 5816 (fax). First class postage subscription: 45/year. Third class postage subscription: 20/year. ``We regret that we cannot accept foreign subscriptions, nor do we bill for subscriptions. Check or money order must accompany subscription orders.'' (However, Canadians may order the First Class subscription.). MESSING ABOUT IN BOATS, none, Appears to fill the niche left by Small Boat Journal when they changed. Costs 20 buck per year. 29 Burley St., Wenham, MA 01984. ``This is a great little magazine filled with reader-contributed articles and good classifieds (especially for readers in New England). Very entertaining, and you can't beat the price.'' (al). MULTIHULLS, none, 421 Hancock St., N. Quincy, MA 02171, (800) 333-6858, 21/year (6 issues). As the name states, this magazine deals exclusively with multihulls. Coverage is divided about evenly between cruising, design, building, and racing. They also sell books, videos, and posters.(al). NATIONAL FISHERMAN, none, The working seaman's magazine. Printed on newsprint, filled with editorials about why the fisherman cannot make it in the modern USA, and articles about how well EPIRBs *really* work, etc. A *great* mag. Wonderful classifieds. OCEAN NAVIGATOR, none, Informative article; passagemaking information, info on nav hardware and tools. The letters are worth the price of admission. Nav problems at the end of each issue that include piloting and offshore celestial problems, with answers. Only magainze that I read cover to cover. Some articles about electrics tend to be slightly screwy--Nigel Calder can't distinguish amps from amp-hours. OFFSHORE, none, Covers the Northeast coast from New Jersey to Maine. Good coverage of the area with plenty of local interest stories, marina profiles, safe boating, navigation and area history. Slightly skewed toward powerboats but plenty of interest to sailboaters, too. Regular columns on local boating news and Coast Guard Search and Rescue summary. Series by Dave Gerr on understanding Yacht Design contains many of the articles on which his book "The Nature of Boats" is based. Excellent classified section with a unique "renewable guarantee" that will keep your ad in until sold for a one time fee of 25.00 (wms). PRACTICAL BOAT OWNER, none, published in Poole, Dorset, England. Practical Boat Owner Subscription, Quadrant Subscription Services, Perrymount Road, Hayward Heath, W. Sussex, RH16 3DH, United Kingdom. Another reader notes that ``The current Practical Boat Owner gives the following address for overseas subscriptions: Practical Boat Owner, PO Box 272, Haywards Heath, W Sussex, RH16 3FS, UK. Tel: 0444 44555.'' P.B.O. is great for boat tests (yachts any size, motor boats mostly small) and simply excellent for how-to-do-its. Editorials reflect the British scene since it's a British magazine. The editor, George Taylor, answers queries in person by return of post. PRACTICAL SAILOR, none, These folks test out products and do sailboat reviews and compare products made by different people. They also answer questions. They have no adverts, so that their information is nominally unbiased.