Articles on Sailing

How to Prepare a Keelboat for Sailing

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Make short work of preparing to sail with this systematic approach... more »

How to Raise a Mainsail

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Being able to raise and lower your sails is fundamental in sailing. The basic technique is the same for dinghies or yachts (only the equipment is much larger on yachts). Here's how to raise a mainsail... more »

How to Signal for Help From a Boat

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Learn what you need to know to survive a boating emergency. Practice safe and effective signaling... more »

How to Start a Keelboat Outboard Motor

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Sailors often need to get the boat away from shore before beginning to sail... more »

How to Steer a Sailboat With a Wheel

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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One of the first skills you need to master once your sails are rigged and you're on the water is the art of steering, which is a bit different in a sailboat with a wheel. In a tiller system, the tiller is connected directly to the rudder that ... more »

How to Tie a Square Knot for Sailboat Rigging

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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A square knot is also commonly known as a reef knot amongst sailors. A square knot is one of the easiest knots to learn how to tie... more »

How to Buy a Gear Bag for Sailing

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Every sport has its share of gear and equipment. Sailors have plenty of stuff they need to bring along so they all need a bag... more »

How to Buy a Rigging Knife for Sailing

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Rigging knives help sailors work with lines and other rigging. Every sailor needs a knife, but not all knives fit all sailors... more »

How to Buy a Sextant

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Celestial navigators can pinpoint their location anywhere on earth using the sun, moon and stars - if they have a sextant... more »

How to convert compass bearing to true bearing

By tdettmann

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Compass bearings are affected by the magnetic field of the earth and by magnetic objects in the vicinity. The effect of magnetic objects in the vicinity of called 'Deviation'. The effect of the earth's magnetic field is called 'Variation'. ... more »

How to Do a Man Overboard Drill on a Sailboat

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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A man overboard is one of the most common causes of injury and death in sailing. Unlike a powerboat, a sailboat can't just whirl around to pick the man up. The crew must follow a choreographed set of steps to control the boat and get the victim. ... more »

How to Launch a Dinghy From a Car Top

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Getting a sailing dinghy from your car to the water doesn't have to be a big chore... more »

How to Plan a Sailboat Cruise

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Do you dream of chucking it all and setting off in a sailboat? For most people, it remains a dream. Enough folks manage it, however, to prove that it can be done, even with children along. The key is to have sufficient experience and knowledge to ... more »

How to Sail a Catamaran

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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A catamaran is an exciting but complex boat. Its 2 hulls reduce drag on the water, giving the boat more velocity bang for its power buck. However, with the benefits of speed come the difficulties of maneuvering and turning. If you're looking to ... more »

How to Sail a Sloop

By Paul M. J. Suchecki

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You can drive a car without understanding how an internal combustion engine works, but sailing requires a bit more knowledge of how to make the wind power a boat. This short posting will get you started. For our example, we’ll be referring to a ... more »

How to Sail Small Boats for Free

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Trading work for sailing time might get you out on the water - without paying a dime... more »

How to Sail Upwind

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Sailing upwind requires a careful balance between maintaining speed without veering to far from your course. The rush of apparent wind, the pitch of the boat as it rolls over waves and the constant tacking all make upwind sailing a thrilling ... more »

How to Wear a Life Jacket

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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"Boat Smart from the Start - Wear Your Life Jacket" is the motto of the National Safe Boating Council, and it's good advice. Having a life jacket on while you are boating could very well save your life... more »

How to Choose a Life Jacket

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Almost 80 percent of all boating-related deaths occur by drowning. Wearing a life jacket - also called a personal flotation device, or PFD - when out on the water could keep you from becoming a statistic... more »

How to create a Fix from 3 lines of position taken at the same time

By tdettmann

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Many people navigate by simply reading a position off a GPS system, or better yet having the GPS position plotted directly on a chart. That's great, but sometimes you have to make do with less. The batteries on your GPS have run out, it's fallen ... more »

How to Find the North Star

By chippreid

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Celestial navigation is an ancient art, one that may seem anachronistic in this modern era, yet it remains a valuable tool. The North Star appears in the same place, all the time. It always points the way north, at least in the Northern ... more »

How to Gauge Wind Speed When Sailing

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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Those sailors lucky enough (or wealthy enough, for that matter) to have electronic wind instruments have no need of guessing the wind speed. But every sailor should know how to gauge wind speed just by looking at the surrounding waters... more »

How to Get RYA Coastal Skipper Certification

By eHow Sports & Fitness Editor

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The RYA Coastal Skipper certification is an almost universal sailing credential that gives you all the knowledge and skill you need to skipper a boat along a coast. The certificate also shows potential employers and charter companies that you ... more »

How to Identify Parts of a Sailboat

By WXDUNNE

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Parts of a sailboat have very specific names for one very good reason and that has nothing to do with putting on the "nautical" dog. For example: If the captain tells you to pull on the rope or the ship goes down you won't know if he ... more »

How to Make Rub Rails for a Sailboat

By WXDUNNE

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There's an easy way and a hard way to make and install rub rails on a sail boat... more »

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