Nautical Passion » Boating General

Catamaran Sailing

aldean — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:10:55 +0000

What could be more exciting than taking to the open seas for destinations far and away? For many taking to the seas in a catamaran sailboat would definitely top the list. Catamaran sailing offers the perfect vacation. Tortola catamaran sailing packages offer captained charters or bare boat charters. Tortola is a don’t miss sailing destination. The Catamaran is the vessel for many adventures who have braved the sea and ocean for a moment’s glory. Taking the waves with its dynamic frame, traveling in the two catamaran sailboat has recently evolved into the sailing experience that it is today. The design concept behind the catamaran sailboat came into its own with a structure comprise of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas.

Catamaran sailing differs from monohull sailing in several ways. Whether you are sailing a fully crewed catamaran or on your own, it is a great experience. Over the decades, the theory of the catamaran has been proven by the greater performance experienced by the catamaran due to a gamut of reasons. The stability of the catamaran sailing over the monohull is the most prominent advantage of sailing the catamaran vs the monhull. The ability to carry out daily functions such as cooking, eating and sleeping are better achieved on a catamaran. The level of the cockpit to the salon area is another reason why so many prefer the catamaran instead of the monohull.

Buying either a catamaran or the monohull requires careful planning and consideration. When it comes to catamaran sailing and conducting tasks such like reading, cooking, navigating on your journey, the monohull is at a greater disadvantage. The catamaran offers comfort to allow you to get around the catamaran and enjoy the basic functions of daily life. Greater convenience and comfort has many opting for the catamaran over the monohull every time. Life for a live aboard sailor can be that much more challenging when sailing a monohull. The ample space provided by the catamaran allows you to sail with three or more guests aboard. The spacious two hulls also offers a greater degree of privacy with sufficient distance between the suites and heads.

Nautical Charts

aldean — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 18:37:23 +0000

Nautical charts are a graphical representation of any and all features in a particular waterway. These may include landforms, sunken vessels, bridges, coastline data and tidal patterns. There is a plethora of information on the documents, making them essential for safe navigation on the water. In the past, they have always been printed out on paper for easy access by a boat’s navigator or captain. However, due to changing conditions, this have not been proven to be totally reliable. Nowadays, most countries require the charts to be on board at all times. But recent advancements in technology allow this information to be updated on a nightly basis, so the data contained is 100% accurate for the day’s sailing. Most of the time, a hydrographic survey is used to measure the different depths of water and various data in a particular body of water. However, since these are quite expensive and labor intensive, they don’t get updated very often. Of course, this leads to outdated information that is not always reliable. That is another reason why the electronic versions of these maps have been relied on the fill the void between surveys. A fresh set of data can be printed out for the days voyage in most areas of water. There are a great many varieties of nautical charts for seafarers to use, including commercial and free types. NOAA (National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration) offers a free version that can be downloaded and printed from a home computer. Their service includes the entire U.S. coastline and are continuously updated. They do not however, offer as much detail as the full size type does. OpenSeaMap is another free chart that is part of the open source wiki project and offers mariners worldwide the chance to update the offerings with new information. It covers waterways worldwide and has details regarding buoy placement, harbor lights and other assorted data that is useful to seagoing men. MarineGeoGarage is a free web-based application that links up the various hydrographic surveys in one place. The official nautical chart is issued by the hydrographic office in most countries. Many offer weekly or monthly updates via their distribution agents. These are highly detailed, graphical representations of the surrounding body of water. They can also publish a national or international document of this type if needed. Government offices offer their own version of the nautical chart. There are 3 separate agencies that publish this information, however, all of them offer a slightly different type. NOAA, as mentioned previously is U.S. based and used information to map domestic charts for American citizens. NIMA (National Imagery and Mapping Agency ) offers the international type for ocean going vessels. OceanGrafix uses the information from the NOAA charts to supply charts on demand. These can be printed out as needed. The right type of chart is based upon the area currently being navigated. It is up to the captain to obtain this information before sailing to ensure a safe passage for all crew members.

Canal Day Chesapeake City 2010

aldean — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 01:04:46 +0000

Be sure to check Canal Day out this year and post your photos here.