Subject: rec.boats Frequently Asked Questions (Part 2 of 5)
Date: 6 Oct 1995 19:30:10 GMT
References: <boats-faq-1-813007801@cs.brown.edu>

Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4


Here is Cheryl  Nolte's mini-FAQ on the  subject of learning to 
sail:  So  you  want  to  lean  to  sail?  Great!  Here's  some 
information to help make your choice of schools a little easier 
along with some answers to frequently asked questions. 

There are numerous sailing  "schools" out there. They generally 
fall   into   three  categories   1)  Established   Schools  2) 
Charter-to-learn courses and 3)Private "schools". A look in the 
back of any sailing  magazine will give you  a good idea of the 
variety  of  instructional  courses  available.  1) Established 
Schools There  are several  types of  'established' schools, by 
'established' I refer to  those schools which are  not run by a 
single person aboard his/her boat- these are private "schools", 
there are general  schools offering a  variety of instructional 
levels and there are specialized schools. There are specialized 
schools   for  racing,  for  women-only,  for  navigation,  for 
'bluewater', for  children, and a  host of other  topics. - ASA 
Certification, What  is it and  do I need  it? American Sailing 
Association (ASA) certified courses  cover a set curriculum and 
ASA      instructors   have    paid   a    fee   to    take   a 
certification-approval "checkout" course. Think of it as a sort 
of "quality  control". The  instructors must  possess a minimum 
skill level  and a  "basic keelboat"  course at  one ASA school 
should cover  the same general  material at  another school. Do 
you  need ASA  Certification in  order to  charter a  boat? The 
simple  answer  to  this  is NO!  In  fact,  possession  of ASA 
certification is no guarantee that  you will be able to charter 
a boat. Most reputable charter agencies will request a 'sailing 
resume' and will base their  decision partly on that. One never 
should be surprised to be asked to go on a 'test sail' (usually 
out of the marina and back in) and first time charterers with a 
weak  sailing resume  may even  be required  to take  a captain 
along  for  a  short  time. On  the  other  hand,  some charter 
agencies will  allow you  to take a  boat based  solely on your 
credit    rating.   Some   schools   really   push   their  ASA 
certification-- it simply  means they have  paid an association 
fee; in fact, the  two top sailing schools  in the US (as rated 
by  Practical Sailor  magazine)  J-World and  Womanship  do NOT 
offer ASA certification. 

2) Charter-to-learn cruises These seem  to be a popular way for 
couples and families to improve their sailing skills. Basically 
you  are  part of  a  flotilla  of boats,  all  members  of the 
flotilla having approximately the  same sailing experience, and 
you have a 'instruction' boat accompany you on your cruise. One 
of the  instructors will probably  join you  aboard your vessel 
druing one  or more days  of the cruise  offering some personal 
instruction. Biggest drawback of such  courses is that you kind 
of  just  bumble through,  not  knowing whether  you  are doing 
things  right  or  wrong and  as  long  as you  end  up  at the 
appointed destination in  one piece it  is deemed successful. I 
wouldn't  advise  this for  persons  just learning  to  sail or 
having little experience, there  simply isn't enough individual 
attention  and  too  much  relying  upon  figuring  things  out 
(without knowing the right or  wrong way). Better suited to the 
advancing sailor  who wants  a more  challenging situation with 
the support of an instructor. 

3) "Private" Schools  A quick peek  in the back  of any sailing 
mag   will  reveal   a  host  of   advertisements  for  sailing 
instruction  with  an individual  on  his/her boat.  A  word of 
caution here-- make sure the  instructor is a USCG licensed (or 
appropriate  equivalent  overseas) Captain.  It  is  illegal to 
accept   a  fee  unless  you   are  a  licensed  captain.  Some 
individuals  will post  ads such  as "get  bluewater experience 
with  experienced sailor  on  trip from  St.Thomas  to Norfolk; 
2000/week." Many such ads are  simply looking for people to PAY 
to  deliver someone's  boat under  the guise  of 'instruction'. 
Again, beware!  Check references and  licensure; ask questions. 
There are many _good_ private schools out there, ask around. 

Here's a list  of popular sailing  schools... Annapolis Sailing 
School  1-800-638-9192  All levels  of  instruction,  also have 
flotilla  courses. Locations  in  Annapolis MD  and  Florida. J 
World 1-800-343-2255, 1-800-666-1050,  1-800-966-2038. On board 
and  classroom  instruction.  Specializes  in  racing.  Various 
locations. Womanship 1-800-342-9295 The  original learn to sail 
school  for and  by women.  Now  offers customized  courses for 
couples  and families  too.  Locations: Maryland,  Florida, New 
England,  San  Juan  Islands,  BVI,  Nova  Scotia,  Greece, New 
Zealand,  Tahiti  Offshore  Sailing  School  (Steve  and  Doris 
Colgate) 1-800-221-4326, All  levels of instruction, Locations: 
Florida, Caribbean, New  York, New England.  Sea Safari Sailing 
1-800-497-2508   Specializes  in   multihulls  Women  For  Sail 
1-800-346-6404, all  levels of instuction,  women only. Sunsail 
1-800-327-2276   Flotilla   charter-to-learn  courses,  various 
levels   and   many  locations.   The  Moorings  1-800-535-7289 
"Friendly  Skipper"  program, puts  an  experiences  captain on 
board til you reach a level of competence. Locations worldwide. 

4)  I  didn't  mention  this  earlier  but  for  many  the best 
introduction  to  sailing  may  be  through  Community  Sailing 
programs.  US  SAILING  has put  together  a  Community Sailing 
National  Directory  which  lists  hundreds  of  local  sailing 
programs. Many of these are  offered though park and recreation 
departments, colleges, community centers, local yacht clubs and 
sailing  clubs. It  is a  wonderful  resource of  public access 
sailing courses. The directory  is available through US SAILING 
(401) 849-5200 and is also available on CompuServe (access word 
is Go Sailing). 


3.11   Formula  for  hull  speed   based  on  length,  and  its 
limitations 

A displacement-hull boat whose waterline has length L (in feet) 
will have a ``hull speed'' that  is K SQRT(L) knots, where K is 
a  number  between  about 1.2  and  1.4  for  most conventional 
cruising hulls.  Small planing  dinghies, large  planing sleds, 
scows, and  other designs  (including catamarans)  will not fit 
well into  this formula, so  you should ignore  it. The formula 
assumes a lot of things, but all in all it does pretty well for 
figuring whether your  Bristol 40 will keep  up with a Catalina 
30 in moderate winds (or vice versa). 

The hull speed,  by the way,  can loosely be  thought of as the 
speed at which  the boat, in  order to go  faster, has to start 
``climbing  up'' over  its  bow wave,  which  takes a  lot more 
power. (jfh) 


3.12 Sailing in other countries 

Some  countries  require  a sailing  license.  Check  with your 
embassy. Many countries, like the US, do not. 

Various rec.boaters  have posted  saying ``I'm  going to  be in 
Country XXX for two  weeks and would love  to sail with someone 
on such-and-such  a date,''  and have  found themselves  with a 
ride. The group's  general attitude towards  this sort of thing 
seems to be ``supportive.'' 

In Australia, the Monash U. Sailing Club (or its president) can 
be reached at inu343w@aurora.cc.monash.edu.au. 

Peter Gustafsson  ( peter.gustafsson@gd.chalmers.se)  offers to 
tell folks about sailing in Sweden if they are interested. 


3.13 Sailing in Chicago 

This section courtesy of kakunz@amoco.com. 

Chicago Area Yacht Clubs 

This information on the various yacht clubs in the Chicago area 
has been  assembled from various  sources. Thanks  to all those 
who helped. 

It  is organized  by  geographical location,  running  north to 
south along the Lake Michigan  waterfront. I generally tried to 
get info about the name,  location, dues, active fleets (if any 
one-design), other racing activities, and a contact person. For 
several  of the  clubs all  I was  able to  obtain was  a name, 
location,  and contact.  If you  contact  that person  and s/he 
gives  you additional  info, please  contact  me via  e-mail at 
kakunz@amoco.com or at 708-420-3131 and I will put it into this 
document. 

Thanks to all the people who provided the information contained 
herein: Cedric  Churnick, Steph Bailey,  Steve Woodward, Dennis 
Bartley, Owen McCall, and probably  2-3 others I've missed. (If 
you don't see your name here and you gave me info, PLEASE write 
me, and accept my appologies!) 

--Kevin, aka Sailing Fool 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
* * * * * * 

NEWBIES: If you are a new-comer  to racing in the Chicago area, 
it  has  been  highly recommended  from  many  people  that you 
contact the MORF Crew List.  MORF racers are inter-fleet racers 
that race cruiser/racers  more or less  weekly. Contact Joe Des 
Jardins  at 708-677-8604  for this  crew list.  This is  a good 
place to get  started big-boat racing  and cuising. MORF stands 
for Midwest Open Racing Fleet. 

GILSON PARK YACHT CLUB: Located  in Wilmette, IL. Contact "Tim" 
at twise@merle.acns.nwu.edu. They race Hobie 16's. 

SHERIDAN  SHORES  YACHT  CLUB: Located  in  Wilmette,  North of 
Chicago on the border with  Wisconsin. This is a relatively new 
club and no additional  information is available. However, I've 
been there, 'tis very nice,  with reasonable dues, as I recall. 
Large   fleets  of  Solings,   J-24's,  Lightnings,  Stars  and 
Rainbows. 

WAUKEGAN  YACHT CLUB:  North of  Chicago  in Waukegan,  this YC 
offers several  one-design fleets including  J-24's and others. 
Contact Dan Darrow at 708-367-0913 or Gene Bach at 708-623-5680 
for  more  information. I've  been  here,  too, and  it  has an 
excellent water-front  bar in  its clubhouse,  which includes a 
full-service restaraunt. 

CHICAGO  CORINTHIAN  YACHT CLUB:  Located  in  Montrose Harbor. 
Contact them at 312-334-9100. They  are located at 600 Montrose 
Ave (Montrose and the lake front). 

CHICAGO  YACHT CLUB,  BELMONT  HARBOR: This  is  the one-design 
branch  of Chicago  Yacht Club  (see  below). They  have weekly 
racing and  occassional regattas for  Etchells, Stars, Solings, 
J/24's, Shields, 110's; and  pre- /post-season frostbiting with 
Lasers and 420s. Contact them at 312-447-7575. 

COLUMBIA YACHT  CLUB: Located  on a  big blue  freighter at the 
North end of Monroe  Harbor, this club is  a full service clubs 
with dues in the  1000 range (+ 75  monthly min. spending fee). 
They have  an active Penguin  fleet that  frostbites. They also 
own 420s. Contact Susan Bonner at 312-938-3625. 

CHICAGO YACHT CLUB: The main building  is located at the end of 
Monroe St. at Lake Shore Drive. This is the focal point of much 
of the off-shore racing in  Chicago; they host such prestigious 
events   as   the  NOOD,  Chicago/Macinack   Island  Race,  and 
Yachting's Verve  Cup. Contact  the yacht  club at 312-861-7777 
for more info. 

BURNHAM PARK  YACHT CLUB: Located  on the  eastern peninsula of 
Burnham   Harbor  across   the  street  from   Miegs  Field.  A 
full-service club with  slips, cans and  star-docks, their dues 
are in  line with Columbia's.  For information  contact BPYC at 
312-427-4664. 

JACKSON PARK YACHT CLUB: Located  at outer Jackson Park Harbor, 
this  club  is  a  "volunteer"  club  with  a  resident manager 
year-round. They frostbite club-owned Flying Juniors (which are 
used for the  Junior Race Program during  the summer). Dues are 
250/year, with a 25/month  minimum spending fee. Contact Cedric 
Churnick at 312-372-8321 for more info. 

HAMMOND YACHT CLUB: No further information available. 

EAST CHICAGO YACHT CLUB: No further information available. 

MICHGAN CITY YACHT CLUB: No further information available. 

NORTH SHORE  YACHT CLUB:  Located in  Highland Park,  this club 
races Buccaneer and Sunfish one-designs. Dues are 160/year. For 
more    info,   contact   Owen   McCall   at   708-937-7957  or 
mccall.owen@igate.pprod.abbott.com. 

DES PLAINES YACHT CLUB: Sailing on the Des Plaines river in Des 
Plaines Illinois. 

LAKE PISTAKEE YACHT CLUB: Racing scows on Lake Pistakee. 

ILLIANA YACHT  CLUB: Racing  several one-design  fleets on Wolf 
Lake in Hammond, IN. Contact Bill Thompson at 708-257-8052. 

AREA III  RACING: Five clubs  in Chicago  organize races called 
"Area III": Chicago  Yacht Club (CYC),  Chicago Corintian Yacht 
Club (CCYC), Columbia Yacht Club (Col), Burnham Park Yacht Club 
(BPYC), and  Jackson Park  Yacht Club  (JPYC). Each  club has a 
single vote  on how/when/where the  races are  held. Entry fees 
for the races are generally  around 25, and include bouy racing 
around  one  of  4 permanent  courses  4  miles  off-shore, and 
several port-to-port races. 

CHI-MAC RACE: Every year  during either the 3rd  or 4th week of 
July  (alternates annually)  CYC hosts  the Chicago-to-Mackinac 
Island race.  Roughly 300  boats race  in several  PHRF and IMS 
divisions. Average  race time is  50-60 hours for  the 333 mile 
race, and the record  is just over 24  hours, set by Pied Piper 
(SC-70) in (I think) 1989. 

LMSRF:   The  Lake  Michigan  Sail  Racing  Federation  is  the 
governing   body  arm  of  USSAILING  on  Lake  Michigan.  They 
coordinate lake-wide  championships (ie Queen's  Cup, I think). 
They  are  also  responsible  for  PHRF  ratings  for  the Lake 
Michigan area,  and divide  the lake into  5 areas.  All of the 
above yacht clubs register with  LMSRF. Contact Joan Miracki at 
312-674-7223   for   more  info  for   LMSRF  or   any  of  the 
above-mentioned clubs. 

CHARTERING: There are several  outfits that offer chartering in 
the Chicago  area. Three are  listed here:  Sailboats Inc., ask 
for Trey Ritter at 312-943-220; Fair Wind Sailing Charters, ask 
for Denis McNamera at 312-890-4656; and Sailboat Sales, ask for 
Bruce Rosenzweig at 312-225-2046. 

OTHER   INFO:  Finally,  you  can  try  contacting  the  Marine 
Department at the Chicago Park  District at 294-2270. They also 
run a  physically impaired  sailing program  called the Rainbow 
Fleet. Contact them at 312-294-2270 for additional info. 

This information was last updated June 13, 1994. 

.

Chapter 4 

Powerboating stuff 


4.1 What is better? An I/O or an outboard? What's cheaper? 

[ Not yet written  ] Kevin Weber reports  that ``The May (1993) 
issue  of Boating  has  a very  good  article comparing  OBs to 
IOs.'' 


4.2 Are Doel Fins a good thing? 

A great many people  report improved time-to-plane. Some report 
slightly  reduced top-end  speeds. Everyone  seems to  say that 
installing one  may void  your warranty,  and you  should check 
this   out  for  your  particular  motor.  Many  people  report 
installing  and  then  removing  fins,  finding  that  handling 
suffered enough that they preferred the old way. (jfh) 

One person with marina experience writes: 

Doel Fins. The marina that  services our Evinrude said they had 
replaced several lower  units that had  cracked from the stress 
that overcame the  newly weakend area they  are mounted on. The 
maria I worked at had no complaints. 


4.3 What is a  Hole Shot? Will a Stainless  prop add to my high 
end speed? 

I am told that  a hole shot is the  time it takes to accelerate 
onto  a  plane,  and  that  a  stainless  prop,  although  more 
expensive, will in fact add a bit to top speed. (jfh) 

One  person with  experience working  in  a marina  offers this 
somewhat strongly worded opinion: 

SS  props.  The yahoos  always  use  them. I  believe  they are 
stronger and slighly thinner,  thus reducing the resistence and 
maybe  increaseing both  acceleration  and top  speed. However, 
they are 3X as expensive, harder to repair when you whack them, 
and  are  more  frequently  unrepairable.  I  suggest  having 2 
aluminums  at  different  sizes/pitches  (one  for high-tailing 
around with a light load,  one for skiing/heavy loads). This 1) 
gives you a spare  when you need it.  2) gives you incentive to 
clean  the  area  when  you  swap  them.  3)  gives  you better 
performance overall. 


4.4 Is VRO a good idea? 

VRO appears to be a fine  idea, but also seems to be risk-prone 
(if it fails, your engine is shot) and not yet robust---the net 
has  seen several  reports  of failures.  Several  netters have 
suggested disabling VRO and going  to standard mix in the fuel. 
(jfh) 


4.5 What's a good first powerboat? 

(Courtesy of Dave Kinzer) 

Powerboats  differ from  sailboats  in that  sailors  use their 
boats simply to sail, but  most powerboaters use their boats to 
do  something else  such as  waterskiing and  fishing ,  so the 
``best'' first boat could differ greatly from person to person. 
Therefore,  you  should feel  free  to disregard  any  piece of 
advice in this  section as it  might not be  applicable to your 
specific situation. 

To begin with, you  should look at the  types of boats that are 
popular in your area for the activities you plan. Boats that do 
not work well in  a region usually don't  sell in great number, 
so  you can  learn  by other  people's  mistakes here.  Talk to 
owners to find what they like  and dislike in their boats. This 
will help  you get  an eye  for details  that will  count after 
time. 

Second, think small. A smaller boat is easier to muscle around, 
and and less likely to  be damaged severely during the learning 
process. It will cost  less, and if for  some reason you end up 
not liking  the actuality  of ownership  (think of  burning 100 
dollar  bills  for  fun,)  the  loss  will  be  minimized. I'll 
contradict myself  here and  say get  one size  bigger than the 
smallest  suitable  boat. This  will  give you  some  more time 
before outgrowing it.  Keep in mind  your vehicle's capacity to 
trailer it. 

Third, buy used. There is a  lot of argument on this point, and 
I  respect the  other point  of  view, so  I will  present both 
sides. With a  new boat you  have a warranty  to protect you in 
the event something goes wrong. If  you have a good dealer, any 
problems will be resolved promptly, and you will be back on the 
water with little or  no out-of- pocket expense.  If you have a 
bad dealer, your boat will sit at the back of the queue for the 
boating season while the paying customers get their boats fixed 
(I know someone  this happened to.)  Buying a boat  a few years 
old  will  save you  a  bunch of  money  that can  be  used for 
repairs, if needed.  Have a mechanic check  out the boat before 
you buy to minimize  the chance of having  to use that money. A 
used boat will  probably have some  equipment already installed 
(like radios, depth  or fishfinders, etc.)  that you would have 
to buy for a new boat. Finally, when you scrape your boat while 
learning near a dock, you won't have to wince as hard. 

I have managed to get this  far without giving any specifics on 
what to buy. My OPINION follows, with some thoughts as to why I 
believe them. Start with a boat about 3 years old. A newer boat 
will depreciate  more, an older  one may have  problems that it 
takes an expert to find. This  is also about the time the first 
owner has discovered he either  doesn't like this enough, or it 
is time  to get a  3 foot longer  boat. A good  length would be 
16-18 feet. This is big enough to comfortably have some friends 
on,  yet  small enough  that  you  do not  need  a  special tow 
vehicle. I  recommend a single  outboard or  I/O (stern) drive. 
Two engines aren't  needed for this length,  and you don't want 
the expense  to begin  with. There  are arguments  all over the 
place  on I/O  vs.  outboard; I  suggest  you go  with  what is 
popular in your  area, for parts  and service availability. The 
important  thing is  that  they handle  the  same in  low speed 
maneuvering. Inboards,  V-Drives and  jet-drives do  some funny 
things (which  are predictable,  once you  know them)  that are 
better left for learning later.  If you are planning on skiing, 
get enough horsepower. For an I/O  drive, this means a V6. Your 
towing  vehicle  capacity  could decide  the  I/O  vs. outboard 
question. The outboard will  need slightly less horsepower, and 
will be considerably lighter. 

Last, but not least, sign up for a boating safety course. There 
are enough  dimwits out there  already, you don't  need to make 
the situation worse. It is not  enough to say that you won't do 
anything stupid since you don't know what the stupid things are 
yet. (dk1) 


4.6 Can I put unleaded gas in an old outboard? 

Assumining the  outboard is a  two-stroke, Yes. In  fact, it is 
prefered. Lead  is in fuel  primarily to  lubricate the exhaust 
valve and valve seat  in a 4 stroke  engine. The two-stroke has 
no such valve or seat and  so requires no such lubrication. The 
lead   compound   also  served  to   prevent  pre-ignition,  or 
``knocking" or ``pinging''.  This has long  since been resolved 
in unleaded fuel and so is not an issue. 

Lead in  fuel causes  fouling of the  spark plugs.  No lead, no 
lead fouling. (Though oil fouling may still be a problem.) 

Leaded fuel is only available  in ``regular'' (at least here in 
the Northwest  USA). Higher compression  outboards that require 
higher octane fuel often have problems with the leaded fuel now 
available. Unleaded comes in ``super'', or high octane ratings. 
This is the recommended fuel. 

The above information was  obtained from a phone-interview with 
a long-time outboard mechanic  at Chic's Outboard Service; 2043 
SE 50th; Portland, OR;  (503)236-8970, and has been paraphrased 
by R.C. Faltersack. 


4.7 Are there any powerboat class associations? 

There  is the  Marine Traders  Owners Association  ( M.T.O.A.); 
their burgee  symbol is a  turtle (because they  go slow). They 
have  a  100+  page newsletter  quarterly  and  have "official" 
rendezvous twice a year; one in the south and one in the north. 

Information about, or joining, MTOA can be sent to: 

MTOA c/o Jim  Mattingly - Membership  Dir. 406 Ben  Oaks Dr. W. 
Severna Park, MD 21146 

The association has the following interesting tidbit: 

Through the MTOA we have discovered the person who designed the 
diesel engine used in  most all trawlers for  most of the 1960s 
thru the 1980s (  Lehman Diesel 120, 135  and 165). This person 
(Bob  Smith)  now has  his  own  company and  still  builds and 
supplies  parts for  the Lehman  Diesels.  Many people  are not 
aware of this and often have a difficult time finding the parts 
they need. Bob not  only can get any  part needed for us (used, 
new, or "redesigned  improved") but he will  spend all the time 
needed  on the  phone to  diagnose  and suggest  a fix  for any 
problem as "he  is the one  who designed the  engine, wrote the 
Users Manual, and made up all the part numbers". 

Bob's address is: 

American Diesel Corp.  Hillcrest Heights (Rt.  3 North) P.O.Box 
1838 Kilmarnock, VA. 22482 

Phone: 804-435-3107 FAX: 804-435-6420 

.

Chapter 5 

General Information 


5.1 Addresses and numbers for suppliers 

Where I  have them, I've  included the non-800  numbers so that 
non-US readers can  call these places.  Typically I've used the 
phone number of one of the  store showrooms, but they should be 
able to help with phone orders if you are lucky. 

M &  E Marine 800  541-6501; 609 858  1010: Inexpensive; recent 
reports  indicate  a  dedication  to  good  service,  and their 
sailing  hardware section  is  now excellent.  In-store service 
said to be  good, and a  good discount section  in at least one 
store. (jfh) 

Bacon's (Annapolis area):  116 Legion Ave,  Annapolis, MD. They 
have  everything,  new  and  used,  from  clothing  to winches, 
stoves, line,  you get  the picture.  They are  also a national 
sail  exchange. I  think they  maintain  an inventory  of about 
1,200 sails, again some newer than others. (cr) 

BOAT/US:   1-800-937-BOAT  (orders);  1-800-937-9307  (customer 
service).  Another user  says:  They offer  their  lowest price 
policy  on anything.  We  recently wanted  to  purchase rafting 
cushions. Our local E & B store didn't have the size we wanted. 
They did have the lowest  catalog price around. They would have 
special ordered  them but I  wanted to call  BOAT/US first even 
though they were 8.00 higher. I called BOAT/US, told them the E 
&  B price,  and they  gave us  that  price, less  10 %  of the 
difference. We didn't  have to pay sales  tax, and the shipping 
was much less.  The only ``catch''  is that the  prices must be 
the regular  catalog price,  not a  sale price.  The other good 
thing I have noticed about BOAT/US is that they really have low 
shipping weights.  For the same  cushions above,  BOAT/US had a 
shipping wt. of 6 lbs  each. E & B listed  the weight at 15 lbs 
each. A BIG  difference when you  have to pay  the shipping. If 
you order by 1pm  they ship out UPS that  same day. I called on 
Thursday  10  am  and  my  cushions  were  at  my  house Friday 
afternoon. 

Worton Creek Marina (upper  chesapeake) has an excellent Marine 
store and parts dept. Located  midway between the Annapolis Bay 
Bridge  and the  C &  D canel.  Great  if you  run out  of food 
(frozen or fresh) or  need a spare part  or have a breakdown of 
one sort of  another. Very accommodating  and prices are pretty 
good. 

South  Coast Marine  Supply,  Larchmont NY:  Much  like M  & E. 
Cheaper prices on a few things.(jfh) 

Post   Marine  Supply  (1-800-YACHTER);   111  Cedar  St.,  New 
Rochelle,  NY  10801.  Lowest  price  in  the Larchmont/Rye/New 
Rochelle  area on  bottom  paint when  I  looked around,  but I 
wouldn't buy anything from them if I didn't have to. The sleazy 
cover photo  on their  catalog might not  be enough  to put you 
off, but the rotten customer relations reported by at least one 
person suggest that you're better off going to West Marine (for 
mail order),  which will match  prices, and which  has the best 
customer  relations on  earth, or  Defender  (if you're  in the 
area), which  is nearby and  treats its  customers pretty well, 
too, at least the walk-in variety.(jfh) 

The Rigging Company in  Portsmouth, RI, 1-800-322-1525: Unknown 
to me, but recommended by  Roy Smith. They do sailboat rigging. 
See below.(rs) 

Boat/US  880  So.  Pickett  St.,  Alexandria,  VA  22304  (800) 
937-2628;(703) 823-9550; Will meet other's advertised prices on 
anchors. I don't  know about other things.  It's where I bought 
my 35  lb CQR (ouch!).  Their cordage is  not particularly good 
quality,  according to  a friend  who  recently checked  it out 
while looking for anchor rode.(jfh) 

E  &  B  Marine: 800  533-5007  *Good*  prices  on electronics, 
especially when they are on sale. Limited selection of sailboat 
hardware,  but their  in-store  supply of  fasteners  is pretty 
good--if you need a 4" x 5/16" stainless bolt, and a nylock nut 
to go on it, they probably  have it. If you want cordage, their 
pre-cut  lengths  are  a  pretty  good  deal.  Their  supply is 
otherwise limited. Rapidly  going out of  the sailboat hardware 
business,  resulting  in  some incredible  sale  prices  in the 
Providence store at least. This is  also the place to get those 
mermaid-shaped fenders and  signal-flag glasses, if  you go for 
that sort of stuff.(jfh) 

Jamestown  Distributors, (800)  423-0030. Excellent  source for 
marine  hardware. Good  place to  look  for stainless  steel or 
bronze  fasteners. As  one rec.boat-er  said ``I  can't imagine 
starting  a boatbuilding  project without  a call  to Jamestown 
Marine.'' 

West  Marine  (1-800-538-0775),  510  532  0766.  500 Westridge 
Drive,  PO Box  1020, Watsonville,  CA,  95077, :  Their normal 
catalog is a pretty informative  thing. Their master catalog is 
something  that  every sailor  should  read. You  know  how you 
sometimes say  "Jeez, I  really need the  6 1/2  foot oars, but 
they  only show  5'  and 6'  in  the catalog."?  In  the Master 
Catalog,  they show  it all.  And  the little  ``West Advisor'' 
sections  are  in  there as  well.  Prices:  higher  than other 
discount places, but  not full-price. I  admit that I sometimes 
use  their catalog  to decide  what  to get,  then look  for it 
elsewhere. Usually not--I appreciate what  they do so much that 
I pay the  slightly higher prices  in hopes of  keeping them in 
business. When they  say that they're  shipping today, they are 
telling the truth. News Flash: in April 1991 I spoke to someone 
at  West who  told me  they have  a price-matching  policy. Now 
there's no reason to go anywhere else. They print their catalog 
on glossy paper,  which is environmentally  bad, but they don't 
use peanuts for shipping any more, which is good.(jfh) 

Goldberg's Marine (1-800-BOATING): Identical to E & B Marine. 

Overton's  (800  334-6541):  111  Red  Banks  Rd.  P.O.Box 8228 
Greenville, N.C. 27835 for technical assitance ask for ext. 286 

They  carry  Pleasurecraft  and  Indmar  Engines,  and  a  wide 
selection of  waterski gear.  Lots of  bathing suit  ads in the 
last 20 pages of the catalog. 

Defender  Marine (1-914-632-3001;  1-800-628-8225  New Rochelle 
NY):  Great prices,  good  selection, and  reasonable warranty. 
Badly  organized catalog,  printed on  newsprint: nice  for the 
environment, but harder  to read. Also,  they tend to  be a bit 
slow. Several  netters (jfh, gb1)  have had  horrible luck with 
their mail-order  business, having  the wrong  items of damaged 
items shipped, and then being yelled  at when we wanted to send 
them back.  Basically, I'll never  mail order  from them again. 
They do  have a  rigging service,  but they  send stuff  off to 
Florida to be done (perhaps to Johnson Sails???). 

Brewer's  Hardware,  161  E  Boston  Post  Rd,  in  Mamaranack, 
914-698-3232. You can usually get things from Defender cheaper, 
but  Brewers  has  a  remarkable  selection  of  hardware (like 
fasteners) and  hardware (like  Harken stuff).  They're pricey, 
but the stuff is there.(jfh) 

Shoreway    Marine,  Highway   73,   Berlin,  NJ   08009.  Call 
1-800-543-5408     for   ordering   and   product   information 
(609-768-8102 in NJ). This is what Larry and Irwin Goldberg did 
after  they sold  out  to E  &  B. Well  organised  and printed 
catalog on recyclable newsprint  type paper. Powerboat oriented 
with little of  interest specifically to  sailboaters but great 
prices on electronics and other common use items. (wms). 

Marine  Exchange,  in  Peabody, MA.  According  to  one netter, 
``They sell both  new and used equipment  and will also special 
order items for you. They also have a complete rigging service. 
The  owner  is  Arlene  and  she  is  far  and  away  the  most 
knowledgeable  person  I  have  ever  met  in  the  boat supply 
business.  She can  help you  figure  out what  you need  for a 
project and  where to  find it.  She can  get it  for you  at a 
discount, and  if she can't  get it  for you, she  can tell you 
where else to  find it. Not only  has she found  us a number of 
obscure items  at substantial savings,  but she's  also told us 
where to find netting (at  fishing supply houses; it's cheapest 
there); where to get  the stern swim ladder  welded; who in the 
area makes  custom size, rigid  holding tanks,  etc., etc. They 
have hundreds of  boating manufacturers catalogs  and will look 
up  items,  prices,  specifications for  you.  They're  a great 
outfit to deal with.'' 

Hamilton Marine, Searsport, Maine. ``Good prices, mail order.'' 
(ph) Hamilton Marine in Searsport, Maine is (207) 548-2985 They 
have a lot  of good gear,  a nice catalogue,  and are strong on 
many fishing/lobstering  supplies (claw  bands, freezer gloves) 
that are missing  from yacht chandleries. Plus  they have a lot 
of bronze fittings around. (db) 

Marine Center, 1150 Fairview Ave  North (retail outlet); PO Box 
9968,  Seattle WA  98109 (800  242 6357)  ``They are  a catalog 
company in Seattle that I have  dealt with a dozen or so times. 
Prices lower  than local  retail; 180  page annual  catalog + 2 
sale catalogs per year. General marine supply: electronic, sail 
and  power  equip.  Outstanding  selection  of  small specialty 
stuff: switches, lamps, lifeline stantions to name items I have 
bought. 

Fawcett Boat Supplies,  110 Compromise Street.  (410) 267 7547. 
They have almost  everything in stock,  and can locate anything 
else. Unfortunately, they are  not cheap. Their self-proclaimed 
nickname is "Tiffany's on the Severn.'' (ag) 

Signet Marine: Several people have posted requests recently for 
information on parts and service for Signet Marine instruments. 
Signet Marine went  out of business a  few months ago. However, 
Signet has  been "reconstituted" under  new ownership recently. 
(mt) 

You can contact them at: 

Signet  Marine Service  505 Van  Ness  Ave. Torrance,  CA 90501 
(310) 320-4349 

Sailrite Kits, 305 W. VanBuren St.,PO Box 987,Columbia City, IN 
46725.  1-800-348-2769,  FAX 219-244-4184.  They  can  sell you 
precut kits, custom stuff and even  a line of heavy duty sewing 
machines, some of which  are built to run  on 12V. Lots of help 
for the nervous rookie  as well. Good people  (no, I don't work 
there). (sm2) 

Nilcoptra  3 Marine  Road; Hoylake,  Wirral; Cheshire  L47 2AS; 
United Kingdom; tel. 051 632 5365 (eb) 

G.L. Green; 104 Pitshanger Lane;  Ealing, London W5 1QX; United 
Kingdom (eb) 

Department  B; Chevet  Books; 157  Dickson Road;  Blackpool FY1 
2EU; United Kingdom (eb) 

Mr. Reginald H.  Stone; Red Duster Books;  26 Acorn Avenue; Bar 
Hill; Cambridge CB3 8DT; United Kingdom (eb) 

Gerald Lee Martin Books; 73  Clayhall Avenue; Ilford, Essex IG5 
0PN; United Kingdom (eb) 

McLaren     Books;   91   West   Clyde   Street;   Helensburgh; 
Dunbartonshire G84 8BB; United Kingdom (eb) 

Seafarer  Books  and Crafts;  18  Market  Courtyard; Riverside, 
Haverfordwest; Pembrokeshire; United Kingdom (eb) 

Companies specializing in used and out-of-print books: 

W.  Weigand  and  Co.;  PO Box  563;  Glastonbury  CT  O6033; [ 
Smaller, general list, periodic mailings. ] (eb) 

Fisher  Nautical;  Huntswood House;  St.  Helena  Lane; Streat, 
Hassocks; Sussex BN6 8SD; United Kingdom; [ Huge list, periodic 
mailings. You  can ask  to be  placed on  the ``Yachting Only'' 
list. General list has the  most amazing stuff on it: Admiralty 
reports, old  ships logs, sailor's  diaries, shipwreck reports, 
and  on and  on.  Occasional curmudgeonly  newsletter  from the 
proprietor. Very good at searching for specific books. ] (eb) 

Columbia Trading Co.;  504 Main St.; W.  Barnstable MA 02668; [ 
Mid-sized list,  periodic mailings.  Seems more  attuned to the 
serious bibliophile, e.g., pricey first editions. ] (eb) 

Safe Navigation in Long Beach, CA is a VERY complete book/chart 
store.   You  can  get   Admiralty,  Canadian  and  US  sailing 
directions, courtesy flags for many many nations, lots of books 
for the  yachting crowd,  plus fascinating  tomes like  "How to 
store  cargo",  "Sailing  Distances  Between  World  Ports" and 
"Self-Study  Guide for  the  Merchant Marine  Ableseaman Exam". 
They try to stock a complete set of NOS and DMA charts and also 
have (so they say, I did not check -- yet) Canadian and British 
charts, perhaps others as well. They do mail order. (db) 

The Nautical Mind,  (416) 203-1163. Bookstore  in Toronto. They 
seem to have an  extensive set of titles  in stock. Good source 
for  obtaining European  cruising guides  on  this side  of the 
Atlantic. The  only bookstore  I could  find which  carried any 
British canal guides.(al) 

International  Marine -  A Division  of McGraw-Hill  Blue Ridge 
Summit, PA 17294-0840 US  800-822-8158 FAX 717-794-2080 Foreign 
orders 717-794-2191 8:30-5:00 EST or FAX, use credit card IM is 
both a major  international publisher and  a mail order vendor. 
They put out a flyer about  once a month which covers about 300 
boating titles, with descriptions.  They offer discounts on new 
releases  and on  close-outs. They  have extensive  listings on 
design,  building,  maintenance,  navigation,  cruising guides, 
fiction, etc., etc.  Typical shipping is 3  to 6 in  US, 5 to 8 
foreign per order. Great catalog, good service (wv) 

J. Tuttle Maritime Books; 1806  Laurel Crest; Madison WI 53705; 
[ Smaller list, periodic mailings. ] (eb) 

Diesel Engines:  Info about  Perkins deisels  is available from 
Perkins  Group  of  Companies,  Eastfield,  Frank  Perkins Way, 
Peterborough, PE1 5NA, England, Phone: 44 733 67474 


5.1.1 NMEA Specification for inter-electronic communication 

The NMEA will sell you the specs or I will loan my copy to you. 
(``I'' in  this remark is  ben@cv.hp.com) NMEA  phone number is 
(205) 473 1793. (dk1) 


5.1.2 Anchor Chain And Rode, Other Hardware 

For the best prices on anchor  chain and anchor rode (e.g. 100' 
1/2'' PC = 188.00) try SEA SPIKE ANCHORS, FARMINGDALE, NY (516) 
249 2241 

The Rigging Company,  in Portsmouth RI. 401  683 1525 They have 
the best prices I've seen on rope and wire rigging, better than 
the big discount houses. (em) 


5.1.3 Navigation and Simulation Software and Equipment 

Celestaire  sells a  few types  of  software. Their  address is 
Celestaire, 416 S Pershing, Wichita, KS 67218, (316) 686-9785. 

They  also sell  aviation  and marine  navigation  eqpt.; their 
catalog  is the  most  complete I've  seen  in this  area. High 
prices, though. 

Davis  Instruments, 3465  Diablo  Ave, Hayward,  CA  94545, USA 
sells PC  Astro Navigator.  They also  sell sextants  and a few 
other useful devices. 

I   (jfh@cs.brown.edu)   have  a  C   subroutine  package  that 
implements (let the  user beware) the programs  that used to be 
used  in the  HP41 Nav  Pac. These  include a  nautical almanac 
program and a basic sight-reduction  software. This is the only 
free  software  I know  of.  I  also have  a  variation  of the 
``stars'' program  that uses the  Yale Star Catalog  to print a 
start  chart,  customized to  any  day  of the  year,  from any 
geographical   position,  at   any  time.  It   comes  with  no 
documentation, though... 

I have one which helps brush  up on the tactics of racing. It's 
available from 

Criteria instruments
7318 N. Leavitt Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97203-4840
phone 503-289-1225 fax 503-286-5896
John P. Laurin
bbs 503-297-9073  1200/2400 baun 8,n,1.

(ps) 

Software/hardware  for  getting  weather  faxes:  Crane  in San 
Diego. For 119 you get the software, manual shortwave headphone 
adapter, modulator for IBM compatible. 619 233 0223 (da) 

OFS  WeathFAX,  6404  Lakerest Court,  Raleigh,  NC  27612, USA 
(phone 1-919-847-4545) sell a card  with software. It's 355 for 
the  kit,  495  assembled.  Foreign  orders  add  14. Animation 
software is  ``free''. The  half-length card  goes in  your PC, 
accepting audio from your  receiver. It demodulates/displays HF 
marine fax, along with satellite transmissions. Visa/Mastercard 
accepted.(la) 

Software  Systems  Consulting,  615  S.  El  Camino  Real,  San 
Clemente,   CA   92672,  USA  (phone   1-714-498-5784)  sell  a 
demodulator with  software for 250.  The (external) demodulator 
plugs into your PC serial port.(la) 

MFJ Enterprises Inc, Box 494, Miss. State, MS 39762, USA (phone 
1-323-5869, fax 1-601-323-6551) have  the MFJ-1278 ``Multi Mode 
Data Controller''. It  (with software) supports  RTTY, CW, SSTV 
and  some other  modes,  along with  fax  of course.  It  is an 
external unit and connects to your PC serial port. Last price I 
saw was about 280. Software around 60.(la) 

Ed Wallner's TIDES program is one of the simplest and best, and 
it's shareware! Valid for as long as 200 years from now (albeit 
with some loss of accuracy).  TIDES can be downloaded from many 
bbs's, or: Edwin  P. Wallner; 32 Barney  Hill Road; Wayland, MA 
01778-3602; 508-358-7938 (pk). 

Also you can get TIDES 3.02 by ftp to sunsite.unc.edu (pk). 

Other Tides programs:  tides202.zip is available  for awhile on 
ftp.ais.org in pub/jon. I haven't checked the accuracy yet, but 
it appears to do what I want. (jz) 

More Software: More prorams are  available on the ship to shore 
bbs. (jz) 

Vancouver    BC 1-604-540-9596
Portland     OR 1-503-297-9073
Alameda      CA 1-510-365-8161
Redwood City CA 1-415-365-6384
Chicago      IL 1-708-670-7940
Arlington    VA 1-703-525-1458
NYC          NY 1-718-430-2410



5.2 Safe boating courses and organizations 

The short  answer is:  The US Power  Squadron and  The US Coast 
Guard Auxilliary. Here's how to find more: 

You can find out about the safe boating courses in your area by 
calling the nearest  Coast Guard station  and asking. It's best 
to do this in  late Fall, since many  of the courses take place 
during the winter and early Spring. 

A beginning  handbook 'Start Sailing  Right' by  US Sailing and 
the American Red Cross is available from US Sailing. US Sailing 
also manages many  community sailing programs  and can probably 
provide information about courses available in various parts of 
the US. (sc) 

BOAT/U.S. Courseline (800) 226-BOAT  in Virginia (800) 245-BOAT 
Has  information about  upcoming Safety  Courses in  your area. 
(dk1) 

Coast   Guard   Boating  Safety  Hotline   (800)  368-5647  Has 
information on  boat recalls and  defects. Also  you can report 
your safety problems here. (dk1) 

Canadian   Power  and  Sail  Squadrons  26  Golden  Gate  Court 
Scarborough,    Ont.   Canada,   M1P   3A5   (416)293-2438   or 
1-800-268-3579 (pb) 


5.3 Should I get GPS or Loran? 

GPS  appears  to  be  the  wave  of  the  future  in electronic 
navigation.  Prices are  falling fast,  and  there are  now GPS 
units   for  under  400.  Since   Loran  units  cost  over  300 
(typically), the 400 GPS sounds  like a pretty good deal. Loran 
has excellent repeatability (i.e., you can get back to the same 
spot, within  about 100  yards), but  GPS has  greater accuracy 
(the LAT/LON reading  is likely to  be closer to  where you are 
than that of a LORAN). (jh) 

As an example, an Apelco DXL6350  ( I have a 6300) is available 
regularly at under 250. It  functions very well but lacks route 
capability. It  is not like  the reallly low  priced units that 
lack ASF and other needed  features. No other apologies needed. 
I believe I saw it on sale for 224 from E B. (1994 prices) (cp) 

If my Loran  gave out on  me, I would,  at this point, probably 
replace it  with a GPS.  If I were  looking for a  cheap way to 
navigate electronically, I'd  look for some  folks who just got 
GPS and offer to  buy their Loran unit  cheap. It's worked fine 
for a very long time, and there's nothing wrong with it. (jh) 

Here's  a  summary  of  how  GPS  works,  contrinuted  by Craig 
Haggart: 

HOW GPS WORKS: AN INTRODUCTION 

Amazingly precise satellite navigation receivers are now widely 
available   and   reasonably  priced,  thanks   to  the  Global 
Positioning System  (GPS). How  do these  little wonders figure 
out exactly where you are? 

The basic principle behind GPS is simple, and it's one that you 
may have used many times while doing coastal navigation: if you 
know where a landmark is located,  and you know how far you are 
from it, you can  plot a line of  position. (In reality, it's a 
circle or sphere of  position, but it can  be treated as a line 
if the circle is very large.) If you can plot two or more lines 
of position, you know that you are at the point where the lines 
cross. With GPS, the landmarks are a couple of dozen satellites 
flying about  12,000 miles above  the earth.  Although they are 
moving very rapidly, their positions  and orbits are known with 
great precision at all times. 

Part of every GPS receiver is a radio listening for the signals 
being    broadcast   by  these   satellites.   Each  spacecraft 
continuously   sends   a  data   stream  that   contains  orbit 
information, equipment status,  and the exact  time. All of the 
information  is  useful, but  the  exact time  is  crucial. GPS 
receivers  have  computers that  can  calculate  the difference 
between the time a satellite sends  a signal and the time it is 
received. The computer multiplies this time of signal travel by 
the speed of travel (almost a  billion feet per second!) to get 
the distance between the GPS receiver and the satellite (TIME x 
SPEED = DISTANCE); it  then works out a  line of position based 
on the satellite's known location in space. 

Even with two lines of  position, though, the resulting fix may 
not  be very  good due  to receiver  clock error.  The orbiting 
satellites have extremely accurate (and expensive!) clocks that 
use the vibrations of an atom  as the fundamental unit of time, 
but it would cost far too  much to put similar atomic clocks in 
GPS receivers  as well.  Since precise  measurement of  time is 
critical to the system  - a clock error  of only one thousandth 
of a second would create a position error of almost 200 miles - 
the system designers were faced with a dilemma. 

Geometry to the rescue! It turns out that GPS receivers can use 
inexpensive quartz clocks (like  the ones used in wristwatches) 
and still  come up  with extremely  accurate position  fixes as 
long as one extra line of position is calculated. How does this 
work?  First,  imagine  two  earthbound  landmarks  with  known 
positions  -  for  example, Honolulu  and  Los  Angeles.  If we 
measure  the travel  time  of radio  waves  from each  of these 
cities to  San Francisco,  we can  use the  known speed  of the 
radio waves to compute two lines of position that cross. If our 
clock is a little  fast, our position lines  will show us to be 
closer to both cities than we really are; the lines will cross, 
but that  crossing point  might be  somewhere out  in the ocean 
southwest of San Francisco. On the  other hand, if our clock is 
too slow,  we will  appear to be  farther away  from the chosen 
landmarks  than we  really are,  and  our position  lines might 
cross to the northeast of us, near Sacramento. 

Now, if  we get  just one  more position  line -  from Seattle, 
let's say  - the  three lines  would form  a triangle,  and the 
center of the area  in this triangle is  our REAL position. The 
clock error is the same for  all three lines, just in different 
directions, so  moving them together  until they  converge on a 
point  eliminates  the error.  Therefore,  it's OK  if  our GPS 
receiver's clock is a little off,  as long as the clocks on the 
satellites are keeping  exact time and we  have a computer that 
can pinpoint the center of a triangular area. 

For accurate two-dimensional  (latitude and longitude) position 
fixes, then, we always need to  get signals from at least three 
satellites. There  are now  enough GPS  satellites orbiting the 
earth  to allow  even three-dimensional  position determination 
(latitude, longitude, and altitude, which requires signals from 
at least FOUR satellites) anytime,  from anywhere in the world. 
The more  satellites your receiver  can "see" at  one time, the 
more accurate  your position  fix will  be, up  to the system's 
standard accuracy limit of a few hundred feet. 

The  U.S.  Department of  Defense  is responsible  for  the GPS 
system, and they reserve increased accuracy for military users. 
For  this  reason,  the  satellites  broadcast  a  coded signal 
("encrypted P-code")  that only special  military receivers can 
use, providing positions that are about ten times more accurate 
than  those  available with  standard  receivers.  In addition, 
random errors are put into the satellite clock signals that the 
civilian GPS  receivers use. Not  everybody is  happy with this 
intentional degradation of accuracy, though, including the U.S. 
Coast Guard. 

To get  around the  DoD-imposed accuracy  limitation, the Coast 
Guard is  setting up "differential  beacons" around  the U.S. A 
differential beacon picks up  GPS satellite signals, determines 
the difference between the computed position from the satellite 
and the  beacon's own  exactly-known location,  then broadcasts 
the  error  information over  a  radio channel  for  all nearby 
differential-equipped  receivers  to  use.  With  this  method, 
inexpensive  GPS  receivers  can  produce  position information 
accurate to  within a  few inches  using the  standard, uncoded 
civilian signal. GPS receivers that  can take advantage of this 
differential broadcast  are becoming  quite common,  although a 
separate    differential  beacon   receiver  usually   must  be 
purchased. 

The way GPS  receivers pick up the  satellite signals is pretty 
interesting: all of the  satellites broadcast their messages on 
the    same  frequency,   but  they   each  include   a  unique 
identification number. The receiver determines which message is 
from which satellite by matching the identification number with 
the ones stored in its memory. This is sort of like standing in 
a room  with many people  speaking at  the same time  - you can 
listen  to what  just one  person  is saying  among all  of the 
conversations taking place simultaneously, and you can identify 
a person's voice  by its particular  sound. In the  same way, a 
GPS receiver  picks up  signals from  all of  the satellites in 
view and matches them with  patterns in memory until it figures 
out which  ones are  "talking" and  what they  are saying. This 
technique  allows  GPS  receivers  without  backyard-sized dish 
antennas to  reliably use the  extremely weak  signals that the 
satellites transmit towards the earth. 

Ten years  ago, it  would have  been hard  to believe  that you 
could buy a  device capable of  providing your precise location 
anywhere on the globe, much less  that it would be smaller than 
a frozen waffle and  cost less than a new  winch. In just a few 
years, I suspect that these  technological marvels will be just 
about  everywhere,  and much  cheaper  - at  this  writing (May 
1994),  there are  terrific  handheld units  with  basic course 
plotters selling for under 500, and the prices keep going down. 


5.4 What other newsgroups discuss boating stuff? 

There is rec.boats  and rec.boats.paddle, rec.boats.racing, and 
rec.boats.building.    There  is   also   alt.sport.jetski  and 
rec.sports.waterski.    You  might   also   want  to   look  at 
rec.woodworking. There are also some sailing-related WWW pages; 
pointers      to   some    can    apparently   be    found   at 
http://pdsmacii.as.utexas.edu, and some  laser-related stuff to 
be found at ftp://ftp.law.indiana.edu/pub/laser  and a WWW site 
at  http://www.law.indiana.edu/misc/laser.html;  further online 
sources are listed below. 


5.5 What's the 800 number for the User Fee Sticker? 

There is no longer a User-Fee sticker required! 


5.6 What's it cost to own a boat? 

Here is what I have posted previously about the costs of owning 
Sarah, by 1970 Alberg 37  sloop. The items labelled ``startup'' 
are things  that I  knew I'd  need to  do when  I purchased the 
boat, or that were  consequences of pre-existing problems (e.g. 
a couple of substantial engine  repairs). There are a couple of 
charges that others  may want to  rule out: the  bank charge is 
for  an account  I  maintain just  for  Sarah, and  ``books and 
magazines'' are  not directly related  to owning  the boat. The 
list  also  includes a  bunch  of ``one  time''  expenses, like 
repairing  the  injector  pump on  the  engine.  It  turns out, 
though,  that there  are  *always* one-time  charges,  and it's 
worth learning to expect them. 

Note that  the list  below does  *not* include  the opportunity 
cost  on the  investement in  the boat,  which was  34,000, and 
hence could be  earning (at 6 percent  interest) about 2000 per 
year.  Since  it's not  earning  that,  it's a  hidden  cost of 
ownership. (jfh) 


                               1992         1991       1990   change(91/92)
Startup (i.e. pre-existing probs)
ENGINE WORK-startup             30.77       73.77     1431.79    -43.00
Interior systems-startup                               365.86   
Safety Equip-startup           105.69                   95.14   +105.69

Books and magazines            260.47       64.83               +195.64
DINGHY                         114.75      533.95      174.05   -419.20 
