Blog 2017

SUMMER BOATING BASICS

Okay, so now that Summer is here, and the holiday weekend is rapidly approaching, the waters tend to get busy so let’s remember some basics of having a safe summer boating season.

Below are some quick tips on boating responsibly in the great outdoors. 

TRAVEL RESPONSIBLY

Travel responsibly on designated waterways and launch your watercraft in designated areas.

• Travel only in areas open to your type of boat.
• Carry a Coast Guard approved life vest (PFD) for each person on board.
• Always operate your boat at a safe speed.
• Always have a designated lookout to keep an eye out for other boaters, objects and swimmers.
• Never jump a wake. If crossing a wake, cross at low speeds and keep a close lookout for skiers and towables.
• Comply with all signs and respect barriers. This includes speed limits, no-wake zones and underwater obstructions, etc.
• Make every effort to always go boating with a partner.
• Make certain your trailer is in proper working order and that your lights work and your boat is secure on the trailer before you travel to your destination.
• When trailering your boat, balance your load including items stowed inside your boat.
• Don’t mix boating with alcohol or drugs.

What About Your Boat's Wake?

You can save a lot of aggravation, some money and avoid being the recipient of some not so nice gestures from other boaters by using a little common sense and courtesy. This means coming completely off plane when you enter a no-wake zone or any area where your wake could compromise the safety of other boats. All too often the skippers react to a no-wake sign by slowing the boat slightly and then plowing through with the boat's bow up in the air and the stern dug down into the water. Instead of reducing the size of the boat's wake, this token reduction in speed — not quite on plane — increases the size of the wake.

No wake means NO WAKE. The first rule is to slow down so that the boat is level (without using trim tabs) and the size of the wake is negligible. Look back at the wake you're creating. You can help to reduce the size of your boat's wake by positioning passengers toward the center of the boat to keep it level. Too much weight aft lowers the stern and increases the size of the wake. Finally, keep an eye on your depth sounder; shallow water increases the impact of your boat's wake.

Damaging wakes can also be caused when a skipper waits too long to pull back on the throttle. A good example is the young skipper in New Jersey who was tying up at a marina gas dock when he encountered someone who was "cursing and accusing me of not having any respect." Words were exchanged, gestures were made. The young skipper's cruiser, it seems, had created a large wake that bashed several boats at the marina against pilings and finger piers. He had "slowed" just before reaching the gas dock, so he reasoned that the damage must have been caused by "some other boat's wake."

                                                                 Seasickness    

Seasickness can quickly turn a day on the water into a miserable experience. Seasickness occurs when your eyes, your inner ear, and your body  send conflicting messages to your brain. Imagine you are below deck, your eyes are telling you the room isn’t moving while your inner ear senses motion. This conflicting message may result in dizziness, light-headedness, and nausea.

Prevention is better than treatment,try these tips:

   Stay on deck in a shady spot and face forward, focusing on the horizon.

   Keep your head still, while resting against a seat back.

   Eat light; avoid spicy and greasy foods and alcohol.

 Antihistamines are commonly used to prevent sea sickness. Frequently recommended over-the-counter antihistamines include Antivert, Bonine, Dramamine, and Benadryl.

The adhesive patch, Scopolamine (Transderm Scop), is available by prescription. The patch is applied behind the ear a few hours before traveling and provides 72-hour protection.

 Or try this:

 Mix a half teaspoon of ginger powder in a glass of water and drink it 20

minutes before heading out to sea.

If you still find yourself becoming nauseated, try the following:

    Get some fresh air. If you’re below deck, go on the upper deck and sit toward the middle of the boat where you’ll feel less movement.      Eat a few dry crackers.   Sip a clear, carbonated beverage.

i can't tell you how many times I see and hear about wet phones.  It can be a very frustrating moment to see your phone drenched with water, but panicking and rushing to dry it with anything that you find is not the solution and may actually cause more harm.

According to Apple, in most cases, you can still save your iPhone after it has been exposed to water, but it’s important that you take the necessary precautions to limit the damage and avoid causing extra harm.

Here’s the process they recommend to deal with an iPhone that has been damaged by water.

Precautions to Take When an iPhone Is Exposed to Water

• If your iPhone is plugged in to a power source, unplug it immediately as it can cause short circuits. Also, disconnect USB cables, headphones, or any other accessories connected to it by a wire.
• Completely dry the external surface of the iPhone with a piece of cloth. Avoid using electronic devices for drying, such as a hair dryer.
• Hold your iPhone upside down and gently shake it to get liquid out of the ports and sockets.
• If the iPhone is still turned on, power it off by holding down the power button.
• If your iPhone is in a case, take it off to avoid any liquid being trapped inside.

Now that you’ve taken the necessary precautions to limit the water damage to your iPhone, you’re ready to dry the internals.

How to Dry a Wet iPhone

It’s a popular concept to stuff a wet device into a bag full of rice to dry the internals. Based on experience, this actually works and helps to absorb the moisture within the iPhone.

1. To get started, grab a plastic zipper-lock bag or anything else that can be filled with rice.
2. Now fill it with rice and place the iPhone in it so that its entire body is covered by rice.
3. Leave it there for about 36 hours or more until all the moisture is absorbed by the rice. Be warned that some dust or rice grains may get into the ports.
4. An alternative option is to use silica gel which is more effective in drying a wet device, but you’ll need lots of them to cover the iPhone.

Once you’ve waited for at least 36 hours and feel confident that the iPhone has dried completely, take it out and try switching on. In most cases, the iPhone will turn on successfully.

If your iPhone doesn’t turn on, then you should take it to a nearby Apple Store and have it inspected. Keep in mind that iOS devices have a liquid contact indicator that shows whether the device was damaged by water, so make sure that you don’t claim that the iPhone stopped working without any apparent reason.

Protect Your iPhone from Water

Not all iPhones will survive a bath, so it’s best to play it safe from now on. You already use a case to protect your iPhone from accidental drops, but why not from water damage? To protect your iPhone from an early demise caused by water, use a waterproof case.

1. Visit a veterans' home. After the Civil War, the US found itself with a large number of indigent and disabled veterans who couldn't care for themselves or go back to work. The first veterans home was opened in 1864, and since dozens have sprung up to give back to our vets. It's the least the nation can do, but we as citizens can do more. Stop in, visit them! Chat with a vet for an hour or two, bring the kids to say hello, drop off a big plate of fresh baked cookies. Do something to let them know they are not forgotten.
2. Visit the local veterans cemetery. Some graves are well-maintained by family members, but when there are no living relatives, that chore falls on the shoulders of local veterans groups. Lend a hand by bringing some flowers and helping to beautify a few of the less cared for graves.
3. Attend a parade. This one's pretty easy, and a big hit with the kids, and it will give the veterans marching a big smile.
4. Attend a memorial service. Many veterans groups plan these events for the holiday, and they never say no to more participants.
5. Raise your flag. Some times showing your thanks can be as simple as flying Old Glory at your house. She should remain at half mast until noon, as per tradition.

Understanding the Waves        

The first rule of waves, especially in the open ocean, is that there are no rules. Kind of a hypocritical statement considering the intent of this, but it is a cold hard fact. There are simple physical factors that makeup the "normal" wave, but within the forces of nature, there a myriad of other factors that need be considered. Regardless, an understanding of what makes a wave can be of considerable benefit  to the everyday sailor.

There are three factors that make up waves:

• Wind speed Length of time the wind has blown
• Distance of open water that the wind blows over; called fetch

All of these factors have to work together to create waves. The greater each of the variables in the equation, the greater the waves. Waves are measured by:

• Height (from trough to crest) Length (from crest to crest) Steepness (angle between crest and trough)
• Period (length of time between crests)

Waves are never created in one uniform height. Waves fall into a systemic pattern of varying size. Therefore, in order to classify wave height we determine the significant wave height, which is the average of the highest 1/3 of the waves in a system. This is how weather reports will specify wave height. Once you have the significant height, it is simple to determine the theoretical average height, the highest 10% and the highest wave sizes in a given area. Mathematically speaking, it's simple arithmetic based on predetermined ratios:

TYPES OF WAVES

Waves take their time to develop; they don't spontaneously erupt from the ocean. It takes a certain speed of wind to blow over a certain distance for a considerable length of time to create lasting waves.

There are three different types of waves that develop over time:

• Ripples
• Seas
• Swells

Ripples appear on smooth water when the wind is light, but if the wind dies, so do the ripples. Seas are created when the wind has blown for a while at a given velocity. They tend to last much longer, even after the wind has died. Swells are waves that have moved away from their area of origin and are unrelated to the local wind conditions -- in other words, seas that have lasted long beyond the wind.

The definition of swells can be a bit confusing when you understand that waves never actually go anywhere. The water does not travel along with the waves, only along with the current -- two mutually exclusive elements of water animation. If two people stand at either end of a long rope and undulate their arms up and down in an equal rhythm, waves will develop along the length of the rope that appear to move from one end to the other. The rope fibers aren't actually moving at all, other than up and down. This is exactly what is happening with waves. The speed, or velocity of the wave is measured by how long it would take a wave to pass a given point crest to crest -- say a line drawn on the ground beneath the rope. There is a slight movement of the water particles within a wave, Waves can be further described as:

• Non-Breaking
• Breaking

A non-breaking wave, is a "normal" rolling wave. A breaking wave is one who's base can no longer support it's top and it collapses. Depending on the size, this can happen with considerable force behind it -- 5 to 10 tons per square yard. Enough force to crush the hull of a ship. When the ratio of steepness of a wave is too great, it must break. This happens when a wave runs into shallow water, or when two wave systems oppose and combine forces

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR!

Another class of students emerge into the cold reality of the world we live in.

It’s okay to be scared but don’t let it stop you

We all are scared. Even those of us who have been emerged in it for decades. But, trust me, you get used to it. Take Will Ferrell, describing his own career journey, Ferrell said he graduated in 1990 from USC with a degree in Sports Information, “a program so difficult, so arduous, that they discontinued the major eight years after I left.” Instead of going into sports broadcasting, Ferrell knew in his heart that he wanted to pursue his hobby of comedy as a full-time job.

And that came with being open to failure. Ferrell said he “didn’t utter a word” the first time he participated in the comedian-training ground of Groundings, an improv and sketch group. “Even in this moment of abject fear and total failure I found it to be thrilling to be on that stage. I then knew I wanted to be a comedic actor.” He would perform at Groundings for years until he got his first big break after being selected to join Saturday Night Live in 1995.

“And yes, I was afraid. You’re never not afraid. I’m still afraid. I was afraid to write this speech. And now, I’m just realizing how many people are watching me right now, and it’s scary. Can you please look away while I deliver the rest of the speech?” Ferrell said. “But my fear of failure never approached in magnitude my fear of what if. What if I never tried at all?”

Think about that a bit.

GOOD LUCK

A boater has a lot of choices when it comes to visual distress signals, But how does the boater who needs to make a decision proceed?

If performance is secondary to staying in the good graces of your local boating safety patrol, the Sirius Signal SOS light and a distress flag will cover the basics. If you're headed offshore, certainly add more and better flares to your list, and maybe a laser or automatic SOS light for good measure. And if you're somewhere in the middle, sticking with the tried-and-true might work for you.

None of the options is perfect and it's important to have additional  other means of signaling aboard, be it a VHF, cellphone, or satellite-based device, depending on your needs. No matter which you choose, make sure you keep them up-to-date, easily accessible aboard, and know how to use them.

There are pros and cons to each type. The effectiveness of a distress signal comes down to whether or not an observer — who may be tired, careless, or untrained — can see and understand that the light is a signal. A distress signal must be big enough and bright enough for someone who may be miles away to positively identify and locate the source. So it's no surprise that the brightest and most intense flares, the SOLAS-approved or their equivalents, did so well. They're around 30 times brighter than a standard Coast Guard-approved flare. If this was simply a question of the best flares money could buy, it'd be simple. But what if you don't need that level of performance? 

Pyrotechnic Devices

Flares have been around for more than 100 years, largely because they just plain work as a distress signal. Observers commented that they subconsciously recognized fire as a danger, especially when it appears where we know it isn't supposed to be. We know there's a problem when we see fire on the water.

Pros

• Easy to recognize as a distress signal.
• Easy to use.
• Very bright, SOLAS flares and their equivalents ranked in the top three spots at each distance tested.

Cons

• All the flares emitted sparks, which can damage your boat or burn you. Our testers used welding gloves to hold the flares, and even with that, the heat from the flares made them almost too hot to hold.
• Flares expire 42 months after manufacture, for good reason; flares become unstable over time and aren't as reliable.
• The legal requirement calls for three flares, totaling no more than a few minutes of signaling (60 seconds minimum per flare, though some burn for two minutes or so)
• The chemicals in flares are hazardous waste.

LED Devices

Light Emitting Diode devices are relatively new to the scene, and as the technology continues to evolve, prices are dropping rapidly. LEDs are durable and long-lasting, so more devices are expected to come on the market in the next few years.

Pros

• Highest effective intensity of any electronic light available.
• Easy to set a particular color, length of flash, or flash pattern.
• With appropriate power, can work for days, rather than minutes.
• Far safer to handle than pyrotechnic flares.

Cons

• Can be hard to distinguish from background lights.
• Not as bright as pyrotechnic flares. The best-performing light consistently ranked as less visible than the control, a USCG-approved, red Orion handheld flare.
• With no expiration date, batteries need to be checked regularly.
• People might not know a signal from an LED device is a call for help.
• Doesn't have the range of visibility that pyrotechnic devices have. At five miles, the performance dropped off considerably.

Lasers

Lasers have been on the scene longer than LED lights but haven't caught on as an alternative to flares. These devices are not like "light sabers" you'd see in the movies. Although under the right conditions, you can see the beam of light, especially with a green laser. The green Greatland flare was very popular with observers, especially at longer distances. Unlike laser pointers, which should never be aimed at aircraft (or other boats, for that matter) as they temporarily blind the operator, the flares tested emit light in a fan pattern, so the greater the distance from the viewer, the wider the fan. This pattern also protects the eyes of your potential rescuer, as the light isn't a focused beam that could burn your retina. The observer simply sees a green flashing light.

Pros

• Green laser is very visible at night, and the farther away it is, the wider its beam becomes. Always ranked in the top three by our observers, it led the field at three miles and practically tied for the top spot at five miles.
• Far safer than pyrotechnic flares.
• Compact, and designed to last for five hours of continuous use.

Cons

• Lasers are directional, so you must aim them at a potential rescuer, which means you need some idea where help might be coming from before they can be of much use.
• The green color is more expensive than the red, but it was also easier to see. The red version ranked just under the USCG-approved red Orion handheld in all tests.
• While legal for use in rescue situations and deemed "eye safe," pilots are taught to fly away from lasers.