In order to secure the boat to a dock or secure a line to the boat you will probably use the cleat hitch.
While our glossary page provides a comprehensive list of boating terms, we’ve also compiled this short list of 10 beginner sailing terms that everyone should know. If you’re just learning how to sail, these handy terms can provide a helpful overview of sailing basics you need to become familiar with.
When turning with a skier on the back you must remember less experienced skiers or boarders cannot control where they are going and can easily reach speeds twice that of what the boat is going. This is commonly known as the “whip”, which can be great fun to watch for those in the boat, but can be terrifying and off-putting for the new skier out the back.
As a driver you can slow down so the boat is not going as fast (even to the extent that you are off the plain). Also if you have enough room you can widen your turning radius. Both these techniques will grub speed off the poor joker out the back dropping nuggets out his boardies!
Again, if the skier is caught on the inside of the turn he will be sinking, so again widen your turn so you don’t put them further inside you causing them to sink further. Secondly speed up to get them “out of the hole” so to speak. Just remember, not too much gas that you end up sending them at sonic speed across onto the outside of the turn because that never ends pretty.
Safety isn’t the only good reason to slow down. Your wallet will appreciate it, too. According to the EPA, tests designed to imitate highway driving reveal that 54 percent of a tow vehicle’s engine power is used to overcome aerodynamic drag. If you drive faster, the engine has to work even harder to push through the air, and it consumes more fuel doing so. A good example of how drag affects fuel economy is a truck that has an 18-mpg highway EPA number, which is based roughly on 65-mph speeds. Drive 70 and drag causes that fuel economy to fall about 1.5 mpg. Run at 75 and your mileage could drop another 1.5 mpg.
Put a trailer on the hitch ball and now fuel economy and drag play a bigger role. When the gross weight of the trailer is more than half the weight of the tow vehicle, the added weight and surface area moving through the wind can easily reduce your tow vehicle’s fuel economy by 40 percent. As trailer weight goes up, fuel economy drops even further. If your tow vehicle gets 17 mpg at 70 mph in everyday use, it may get only 12 mpg with a small travel trailer or tow hauler in tow. Slow down to 60 mph and that mileage could easily jump two mpg.
IF A STORM IS NEAR…
The Anchor Hitch is a great knot for conditions that alternate between loaded and unloaded such as an anchor rode or where the end of a line might be flapping around.
The Anchor Hitch is a bit more difficult to tie and remember than the old standby the Round Turn and Two Half Hitches. However the Anchor Hitch is more secure.
The end of the line passing under the Round Turn makes the knot very secure since the harder the knot is loaded the tighter the end is held.
Some climbers are using the Anchor Hitch in place of the Buntline Hitch, they found they were not tying the Buntline Hitch correctly when in odd twisted positions.
Scraping paint or caulking? Use a file to round the corners of a putty knife “scraper” so it won’t gouge; you can sharpen its edge too!
Cascade Marine Service, LLC 