How To Care For Your Boat

The upkeep cost of a sailing boat can be kept exceptionally low if you are willing and able to do your own work. The most fragile part of your outfit is the suit of sails. How fragile it is depends upon the type of boat you have. If yours is a little general-purpose craft with a cat or knockabout rig, a good suit of sails should last you for 10 years, perhaps more. If, on the other hand, you are going in for parachute spinnakers, masthead-high Genoas, or even the regular sails in their light form, you may find the life of a suit of sails is not over a season or two before they have to be recut or repaired.

The most important rule of all is that sails must be perfectly dry before they are stowed. Dampness causes mildew and rot. Need it be said that stowed sails should always be covered? Light sails that are not left on the boat should be well dried and then stowed in canvas bags. Rats and mice abound around the waterfront and no better nest has ever been found for a mouse family than a bagged sail.

There seems to be but one easy way to avoid damage by the gray beasties. That is to bag the sail and hang the bag from a rafter on a length of fine copper wire. Even then, the bag should hang far enough from anything else to obviate the chance of a rodent making a flying leap. Mice can climb ropes and twine, but a smooth, fine wire licks that method of approach.

Hull upkeep during the season should be limited to painting and varnishing as required. In the case of a racing boat, she may have to be hauled several times during the season to smooth up her bottom and apply a new coat of racing composition. Many racing owners haul small sailboats out of water whenever they are not being sailed. The idea is to keep them from soaking up a few extra pounds of water. Such fussiness is silly unless your only aim in having a boat is to race her.

The big jobs of maintenance are supposed to face you in the spring. That idea is crackpot, for fully half the annual overhaul can be done during the late fall and winter with the result that you'll get overboard weeks ahead of the others who, like the Capistrano swallows, never show up at the boatyard until a specific spring day. If you lay your boat up properly, there will be little to do when the weather turns balmy again.

Unless you live in some section where there is no winter, you must haul in the fall. Strip the boat of everything movable. The sails and all running rigging should be dried, cleaned, and stowed in a damp-free, mouse-free place. Take out the mast if possible and have it stowed in a shed where it can be supported horizontally at frequent enough intervals so it cannot go out of shape. If the mast must stay in the boat, you may be up against it to remove the halyards.

One stunt, if you can make a neat long splice, is to substitute some old line for the rigging aloft. If the boat is big enough and has a good stout spar, you may have a gantline. This is a heavy line rigged through a substantial block at the masthead. Its object is to provide a means by which you can be hoisted up the spar in a boatswain s chair.

You can use the rig for reeving off all rigging, inspecting and oiling upper blocks, and varnishing the mast. Don't monkey around with this sort of thing unless you are sure the mast, the gantline block, and the gantline itself will hold your weight.

These are some of the jobs you need to complete to really care for your boat. If you do these carefully, you will be rewarded by a really sound boat which will last a lifetime.

Please Rate this Article

Source: http://www.fullofarticles.com/Article/How-To-Care-For-Your-Boat/325589
Travel Cruises Online

Build Your Own Boat - Use Free Boat Building Plans!

A perfect boat building plan is all about getting the most awesome boat one has ever owned. Whether you are a novice or an expert, the only aim in your mind is to design something that has all the utility you ever wished for. In addition to that, there are other things, for example - the brilliant design and quality. The wise selection of the best boat plan out there is a necessity, if you want people to drool over your new boat. The best part is that it is free of cost. There are various boat-building plans out there to let you choose the best from that too absolutely free.

There are millions of people world over who use the free boat plans. Most of them have not yet come up with a reason good enough to do otherwise. A beginner gets all the necessary details from these plans in a simple yet hassle-free manner. All the information, which a person needs to choose the right parts for his boat are taken care of. The big question of making the right decisions for your boat also has a reserved place in your free boat plan.

The task of modifying your boat to your needs is also a very crucial requirement. For instance an adorable nameplate on your lovely boat is the just the spice in your curry. In order to do just that, get a free of charge boat building plan from the net and add a little bit of your personal touch to your boat (which you will definitely know how to, once you are done with making your boat). The selection of a free and basic plan with a little bit of your taste here and there will get you a boat that personifies You.

The steps to customize your sweety are very simple and involve just a little bit of imagination and creativity. For instance, paint your boat a different color scheme, dress it up uniquely as in - design it in just a little different way involving various artistic things at your disposal. The absolutely essential thing is that you need to use a free boat building plan to make sure that the overall functioning and structure of the boat matches the highest standards. Finally customize it in various other ways to ensure a high integrity of the boat and a fine structure along with making it your own.

Do make a little time for you to consider the free boat building plans available on the net. You will definitely be impressed with the varied choices and options you are left with at the end. One more thing, all these boat plans are free from any obligation whatsoever on your part. So don't worry and a little bit of research from your side will do wonders to your boat!

Please Rate this Article

Source: http://www.fullofarticles.com/Article/Build-Your-Own-Boat---Use-Free-Boat-Building-Plans-/326348
Air Travel

The Stour River Part II: Pea Soup

After a less than glamorous start we found the next hour or so a wonderful experience. It was a beautiful day and the Stour is a tranquil slow moving river deep in the English countryside. The vistas are magnificent as you make your way through the famous painter Constable's countryside. The Stour River twists and turns and meanders to its final destination at the port of Harwich one of the biggest ports in Europe.

One of the major problems paddling a river after there has been a long hot dry spell is the build up of weed and algae. This river weed is not dissimilar to pea soup and smells a whole lot worse! Upon rounding a bend in the river we were faced with a huge patch of 'pea soup' that spanned across the entire width of the river.

Nick, one of the paddlers in the group was not as athletic as the rest of us, and as a result was lagging some way behind. Whilst waiting for him to catch up we let the kayaks drift up to the 'pea soup' using it as an anchor. We took the opportunity to have a quick sandwich and a drink.

Not wanting to hold us up, Nick decided not to stop and to push on through the weed in order to make up some ground as the rest of us looked on.

The further he paddled into the duck weed the harder it became to paddle. The more he paddled the more the weed tangled up in his paddles and as he lifted the paddle to take a stroke the weed fell into his boat. We could not help but laugh at his plight.

He eventually became stuck in the middle of the weed. Unable to paddle any further due to the thickness of it. However his predicament soon became ours when we made our attempts to get him out. Upon seeing how difficult it was to paddle through the weed we decided to portage up the steep grassy bank.

At this point we realised one of the most important kayak accessories to have in your kit bag is nettle spray! As we climbed up the river bank in our shorts we all sustained many nettle stings which soon stopped us laughing.

Another important item in your kayak accessories should be a decent rope. Luckily I had brought a rope with me but unfortunately it was not a good quality one. We threw the rope to our fellow stranded paddler who in turn tied it to the front of his inflatable kayak. As we tried to pull the boat the rope snapped and kept snapping every time it was retied.

At one point Matt slipped down the bank and fell waist deep into the stagnant weed. By this time Nick had worked out that he could edge forward by bumping along but it was a slow process and was extremely tiring.

It took nearly half an hour for him to eventually get to the other side of the pea soup and he was shattered by the time he had done so.
His inflatable kayak was full of weed and absolutely stank of rotting vegetation.

Please Rate this Article

Source: http://www.fullofarticles.com/Article/The-Stour-River-Part-II--Pea-Soup/326514
Camping Tips

Smart Planning On Boat Sales Insurance - Salvage Boat Ownership Deals!

Learn how to plan out a fixed amount of boat sales insurance salvage boat ownership for yourself and make the ultimate affordable deal for yourself as the boat owner, with tips from experts who have been there, done that. Yes, we are talking about using otherwise damaged vessels that can be turned around to give them a new lease on life with adequate repairs and servicing contracts undertaken by buyers smart enough to judge the true value of a good quality salvage boat. These boats come in the category of damaged, second-hand, stolen and detained vessels or those that have been abandoned by their owners yet are still good buys if they have their insurance paid in full up to date.

This means the potential buyer only needs to invest in basic boat repairs and for someone with a working knowledge of using tools necessary to replace boat parts, do a cleaning up and scouring job on a salvaged boat, the DIY skills will be an added bonus in saving servicing costs of hiring professionals to do the same. Since many a time, the salvaged boats are in pretty good condition all they need is a dab hand at replacing old parts and a paint job to refresh the exteriors.

If buyers want to make a smart investment in purchasing a salvaged boat that needs minimum repairs and want to limit costs, they need to check out certain points from a professional boat inspector's point of view as to the amateur handyman even the biggest repair job may appear small, and therefore salvage boats are not meant for purchase by newbie DIY enthusiasts with little knowledge of the efforts and cost of the tasks.

As the fact remains, the majority of insurance companies auction off wrecked or stolen boats and these opportunities allow buyers to get a closer look at defects contained in the vessel of their choice besides a chance to determine what areas need fixing up; so minor scratches can be overlooked but bigger repair jobs do need to be considered in the total sale price of the salvaged boat. Thus, experts recommend taking along a boating professional with you for the boat sales insurance salvage boat public sale occasion so as to get the right estimate of labor and total cost of the work required on the vessel, to bring it to good working condition, if you are the highest bidder there!

In certain metros, the seized boats that have been used in carrying out a criminal offense are often kept in a closed storage space till the time they can be auctioned off publicly to benefit the city's department and prove beneficial for budget boat buyers as well. These are typically in better working order and usually confiscated by the city police and at times, go under the hammer along with whatever content is on board at the time of the auction; so there are good chances of a smart buyer being able to buy a $25,000 boat at fifty percent off!

Please Rate this Article

Source: http://www.fullofarticles.com/Article/Smart-Planning-On-Boat-Sales-Insurance---Salvage-Boat-Ownership-Deals-/312937
Camping gear

The Stour River Part I: A False Start

Kayaking along a river for me, ticks all the right boxes.
It is a great sport that everyone can do. You are in the great outdoors keeping healthy and fit. You can power paddle and have a great workout or take your time with leisurely paddles stopping as and when for a cup of tea or a beer. For me there is nothing better.

The river Stour is a sedate river in Essex England and stretches for some forty six miles. This was the river for one of my first kayaking adventures which threw up some unexpected events.

On this particular paddle I was accompanied by four friends and we each had an inflatable kayak for the journey. Four of us had Sevylor Rangers and one had a Sterns Cordova

Due to a very hot summer the river was low and the rise had practically dried out so we started from a place called Henny Street which is about three miles further down river.

As this was one of my very first river runs and the first time I had ever paddled an inflatable kayak my friends and I had little experience and had not planned our journey as well as we might have.

As any experienced kayaker will tell you what is detailed in a map can look very different from what the river is actually like. It certainly does not provide information on river heights, conditions and the effects of the weather.

After spending a few minutes pumping up my inflatable kayak and loading up all of the kayak accessories, my friends and I were ready to go. It was early morning around 8am on a beautiful sunny Sunday. We began our journey near the Swan public house, much to the amusement of its patrons.

Within seconds of being afloat we were faced with our first dilemma. The river immediately forked into two separate paths, one blocked by an over hanging tree and the other by a weir.

One of my fellow paddlers decided to try and tackle the weir which was a daunting prospect especially as he had never shot a weir on an inflatable kayak before.

Needless to say he got stuck half way down due to the rubber skegs on the bottom of the inflatable kayak and the weir only having a few inches of water running over it. Luckily he was still high enough on the weir to get out and drag the kayak back up to the top much to the increasing amusement and ever growing crowed at the pub.

We then decided to take the route blocked by the tree which we did manage to negotiate but not before getting covered in leaves and pieces of bark. Thankfully all of the inflatable kayaks made it through this first obstacle without sustaining any punctures.

No sooner had we made it past the tree we came to a dead end and found ourselves in a small pond with nowhere else to go.

Confused about what to do next a local man appeared on the riverbank that seemed to be unhappy with regard to our presence in his garden pond. To our total embarrassment it now became clear to us that we were not in fact in the River Stour but in some ones back garden hence the reason the people at the pub found us so amusing.

Fortunately the pond owner quickly realised that we were hapless and inexperienced kayakers and pointed over to where the river was, a couple of hundred yards away.

Red faced and full of apologies we dragged our inflatable kayaks into the river proper and began our journey.

Please Rate this Article

Source: http://www.fullofarticles.com/Article/The-Stour-River-Part-I--A-False-Start/313123
Hiking adventures