Subject: rec.boats Frequently Asked Questions (Part 3 of 5)
Date: 6 Oct 1995 19:30:12 GMT
References: <boats-faq-1-813007801@cs.brown.edu>

Posted-By: auto-faq 2.4

Electronic Equip.              210.48      348.78      225.19   -138.30
Engine maintenance             632.12      374.07     1194.97   +258.05
Sailing Hardware                           246.95      229.27   -246.95
General Maintenance on Hull+Eq 458.87      617.96               -159.09
Insurance                      881.00      825.00      750.00    +56.00
Interior systems, exc elec+eng  63.47      165.21      490.51   -101.74
Miscellaneous expenses         200.00      306.03               -106.03
Moor'g,Haul'g,Storage, Anchor  830.28     1110.26     1886.08   -279.98
Not Categorized                -73.73       75.73        9.56   -149.46
Operating expenses              77.17      546.49      498.31   -469.32
Boat-related phone calls        10.00       97.98      416.80    -87.98
Rigging Replacement            198.74                           +198.74
Safety Equipt.                             226.57       18.14   -226.57
Sail repair and purchase       111.56      447.40               -335.84
Monthly Bank Charge             30.50       37.00       52.00     -6.50
Tools for boat                 191.84      216.63       30.00    -24.79
Yard Labor and Tax                                     180.00  
                            ------------------------------------------
Total                         4333.98    6,314.61     8047.67  -1980.63

A few remarks: I've gotten  less diligent about recording which 
phone calls  are boat  related. The  large engine  expense this 
year is partly  due to having some  transmission work done. The 
``mooring, etc.'' costs went down  only because I failed to pay 
one bill before  the end of  1992. They'll go  up next year. So 
will rigging replacement. 

I now have further information about a couple of other boats: 

Medium-sized powerboat  (as I  recall), used  a good  deal. The 
``Access'' item may be ``accessories''---I cannot recall. 


       Payment    Fuel  Repair   Maint  Access    Moor   Insur  TOTALS

March      $284    $251     $10    $343    $470    $120     $25  $1,503
April      $284    $262    $882    $240  $1,687    $120     $25  $3,500
May        $284    $218  $3,905     $18     $71    $120     $25  $4,641
June       $284    $384      $0      $8    $126    $120     $25    $947
July       $284    $838     $34      $4    $106    $120     $25  $1,411
Aug        $284     $94    $119     $39    $232    $145     $25    $938
Sept       $284    $395      $0      $3     $19    $145     $25    $871
Oct        $284      $0      $0     $18      $0    $145     $25    $472
Nov        $284     $92     $17      $0      $0    $145     $25    $563
Dec        $284    $141      $0      $0      $0    $145     $25    $595
Jan        $284      $0      $0     $55    $359    $145     $25    $868
Feb        $284    $335      $9    $371     $13    $145     $25  $1,182
   ------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS   $3,408  $3,010  $4,976  $1,099  $3,083  $1,615    $300

                   ANNUAL TOTAL    $17,491         AVERAGE MONTHLY  $1,458
   ________________________________________________________________________

And for another sailboat: 

We're under 1,000 a  month for a 39'  sailboat at the Shilshole 
Bay Marina in Seattle. 

And one more: 

I don't  have monthly totals,  but the following  are my yearly 
totals for a 22' commercial dory with an 88 h.p. outboard ... 


Licensing fees:  Fish and Wildlife                      450.00
                NOAA Marine mammal exemption            30.00
                F.C.C. Operators license                35.00
                                                       _______
                total:                                 $550.00

Maintenance and upkeep:                                $2884.50

total fuel consumption:         534.6 gallons           $787.22

total tackle expenses                                   $825.32
                                                      _________
Grand total:                                           $5047.04 

I fished the boat  an average of three  days a week (some weeks 
more,  others  less)  and I  grossed  3372.06  last  year. That 
brought my total  expenditure for eight  months of fishing (and 
boating on the Pacific) to about  2700. That gives me a monthly 
average of about 225/month. 

My insurance (for an ocean going commercial fishing vessel) was 
236 for 1992. That will go up to 242 this year. 

And one more: 

OK, how's this for cheap: A friend  of mine and I bought a used 
DaySailer for  somewhat less than  3000 last  summer and during 
the  fall  sailing season,  we  spent  less than  300  total on 
maintenance,  which included  a  new battery  for  our trolling 
motor, various  rigging upgrades,  a new  trailer wheel, grease 
for  the  trailer wheels,  and  a  new anchor.  We've  spent 70 
pre-season  this  year for  a  reef  point and  other  than new 
bearings on the trailer, we're ready  to go. OK, so we don't do 
blue-water sailing,  but it  gets us  out on  the water  on the 
weekends. :-) 

And another detailed one from William Courington: 

I can hardly believe I'm doing  this in public, the numbers are 
so sobering. But here's the cost for Lively in 1993. She's is a 
modified  Olson30 sailboat  in San  Francisco, maintained  to a 
pretty   high  standard  by   an  owner  who  generally  values 
convenience/quality/time over cost. 

This   year's  major  optional  expense  was  revarnishing  the 
interior. (Eleven years  old, and quite  thin, it wasn't _that_ 
optional--especially  considering  that birch  ply  turns black 
when it gets  wet.) Unlike the three  previous years there were 
no new sails, no new engine,  no new rigging to speak of. Maybe 
a typical year in the life of a sailboat. 

Note how a few big items dominate each category. 


Grand Total                 $8700.62


Maintenance Total           $4823.61
   Major Items
   Engine Service            434.13    By pros
   Bottom Paint Job         1001.39    By yard
   Monthly Bottom Clean      261.20    By pro
   Interior Varnish Job     2473.41    By pros
   Ext. Varnish Supplies     380.23    Incl. heat gun, scrapers
   Of Total                      94%


Misc. Total                 $ 581.13    Books, etc. 
   Major Item
   Insurance                 448.00
   Of Total                      77%


Slip                        $2700.00


Upgrades Total              $ 595.88    Things not broken or required
   Major Items
   Vberth Covers             308.51
   Seacook Stove             213.12    (Great 1 burner gimballed stove!)
   Of Total                      87%



Let me also add  a remark from Mike  Hughes: People waste time, 
effort and money on  all kinds of things  that don't make sense 
when by owning a boat one can consolidate and waste them all on 
one thing. 

Think about that before  you ever consider owning  a boat as an 
investment. 

Two more interesting facts on this whole issue: 

Some   years  ago  I  plotted  (length,  price)  for  200  used 
fiberglass  sailboats (19-50ft)  on log-log  paper and  found a 
pretty good straight line  (scatter was about a  factor of 2 in 
price). The  plot indicated  that the  price varied  as the 3.6 
power of the overall  length. It implies that  a factor of 2 in 
length is about a factor of 10 in price. (pk). 

I'm surprised  nobody has  mentioned this,  but sailboats, like 
any other  precious commodity, are  sold per unit  of mass, not 
size. My rule of thumb is that new fiberglass sailboats cost 10 
per pound  displacement. This  holds (relatively)  true from 12 
feet to 90  feet. This does not  generate accurate numbers, but 
gets you in the ballpark. (tf) 


5.7 Who can tell me about boat X? 

Various people on the  net know about their  own boats and seem 
to be  willing to talk.  Here is  a list of  boat types, e-mail 
addresses, and names. 

Alberg 30       bobp@sandr.com               Bob Parkinson
Alberg 37       jfh@cs.brown.edu             John Hughes
Albin Vega 27   gucpe@gd.chalmers.se         Peter Gustafsson
Albin Vega 27   currier@ctron.com            Tom Currier
Beneteau First 235 lastra@cs.unc.edu         Anselmo Lastra
First 405 & 456     gucpe@gd.chalmers.se     Peter Gustafsson
C\&C 32         kell@mprgate.mpr.ca          Dave Kell
Cal 20          stefan@sunrise.stanford.edu  Stefan Michalowski
Cal 20          hchan@well.sf.ca.us          Hoover Chan 
Cascade 29      lgbarker@teleport.com        Larry Barker
Catalina 27     wms@spin.ho.att.com          Wayne Simpson
Catalina 25     bobp@sandr.com               Bob Parkinson
Cotuit Skiff    bobp@sandr.com               Bob Parkinson
Coronado 15     steve@test490.pac.sc.ti.com  Steve Comen
Crealock 37     marc@dwp.la.ca.us            Marc Hall
CS 33           dgm@jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca   David G. Macneil
CSY-44          GERMAIN@CDHF2.GSFC.NASA.GOV  Andy Germain
DN Iceboat      jfh@cs.brown.edu             John Hughes
Dovekie         jfh@cs.brown.edu             John Hughes
Drascombe Coaster lastra@cs.unc.edu          Anselmo Lastra
Ericson 27      haggart@SLAC.STANFORD.EDU    Craig Haggart
Etchells 22     ross@geac.com                Ross Morrissey
Flying Dutchman guido@blink.att.com          Guido Bertucci
Gulfstar 37     larry@pdn.paradyne.com       Larry Swift
Herreschoff 12  jfh@cs.brown.edu             John Hughes
HinkleyIslander bobp@sandr.com               Bob Parkinson
J/24            roy@wombat.phri.nyu.edu      Roy Smith        
J-30            jmruzzi@tasc.com             Joe Ruzzi
Jeanneau 31     crossle1@cc.swarthmore.edu   Cindy Rossley
Laser 28        JMHBC@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU        Jim Howell
MacGregor 19    WILCOX@LCC.STONEHILL.EDU     Russ Wilcox
MacGregor 25    kell@mprgate.mpr.ca          Dave Kell
MacGregor 26    lgbarker@teleport.com        Larry Barker
Mercer 44       jfh@cs.brown.edu             John Hughes
Olson 25        stefan@sunrise.stanford.edu  Stefan Michalowski
Puddleduck pram bobp@sandr.com               Bob Parkinson
R 2.4 (mini-12) gucpe@gd.chalmers.se         Peter Gustafsson

Swan 36         tpl@ces.cwru.edu             Tom Lightbody
Stone Horse     jfh@cs.brown.edu             John Hughes
Thunderbird     ross@geac.com                Ross Morrissey
Thistle         sblair@tivoli.com            Steve Blair
Tige' 2002 Fslm comp wwalker@qualcomm.com    Bill Walker
Tornado         jfh@cs.brown.edu             John Hughes
PearsonVanguard scfisher@oasys.dt.navy.mil   Steve Fisher
Shannon 43 KetchJMHBC@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU        Jim Howell
Sonar           spencer@panix.com            David Spencer
Westerly SealordJMHBC@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU        Jim Howell




5.8 What are the laws about boats...? 

The FCC form order answering machine is (202) 418 36766 and the 
human operated info line is  (202) 632 3337. Call these numbers 
to get info about getting a VHF license. (dk1) 

You can  learn about  operating procedures  for your  VHF radio 
from  Chapman's  (see the  bibliography).  One  essential rule: 
Channel  16  is  for  commercial  hailing  and  distress calls. 
Hailing by  recreational vessels is  now supposed  to happen on 
Channel 9. 

You  are required  to carry  adequate  saftey devices  for your 
boat.  What  is deemed  adequate  varies by  size.  Most marine 
stores have a pretty good  idea what's the minimum. Once again, 
Chapman's can give you details. 

There are no  ``licenses'' for boating in  the US---you can buy 
the biggest,  fastest boat  on earth  and do  whatever you want 
with it,  as long  as it's  recreational and  you do  not carry 
passengers or  freight for hire,  and you abide  by the various 
marine laws that apply. Prudence dictates that you should learn 
how to operate your vessel before you start out. Note that many 
states have begun enforcing Boating While Intoxicated laws, and 
that some have begun enforcing speed limits. See the additional 
material below. 

If you want to operate a  marine radio from your boat, you need 
a station license. Generally  a license application is packaged 
with each radio set, and  all radio dealers carry applications. 
If you are licensing any marine radios, the first will be a VHF 
set for  ``local'' communications (  <30 miles)  with 2-25 watt 
output. Marine radios must be ``type accepted'' which means you 
can not build it  yourself, or modify a  CB, commercial, or ham 
set. Pleasure boaters  do not need  a radio operator's license. 
(wv) 

In general, boat registration laws  and fees vary from state to 
state.  Usually  a  boat  dealer  or  the  local  state  police 
detachment is a good starting point for specifics. (wv) 

To  carry  any  passengers  for hire  you  need  a  Coast Guard 
license. Before you can even  take the required written exam(s) 
you  need documentary  evidence of  a full  year (365  days) of 
boating  experience. Licenses  come  in several  categories. To 
carry more than six passengers for  hire, the boat must also be 
inspected by  the Coast Guard.  Fines for  violations are quite 
high. (wv) 

Courtesy of  Terry Steinford,  we have  the following  long and 
thorough essay about carrying passengers, etc.: (tls@gate.net) 

Some of  the requirements  for carrying  passengers, chartering 
and licensing were changed about a year ago. 

Self-propelled vessels that  carry any passengers  for hire are 
required to be operated by  a Coast Guard licensed operator. If 
the  vessel carries  more than  6 passengers,  at least  one of 
which is  a passenger  for hire, the  vessel is  required to be 
inspected by the Coast Guard as a commercial passenger vessel. 

A  pure sail  vessel  under 100  gross  tons carrying  up  to 6 
passengers is  not required  to have  a licensed  operator. Way 
back in ancient history, pure sail vessels up to 700 gross tons 
carrying passengers were not required to be inspected, but that 
loophole was eliminated years ago. 

The minimum  license is  the Operator  of Uninspected Passenger 
Vessels  (OUPV), formerly  known as  the Motorboat  Operator or 
6-pack  license. Inspected  vessels  require a  licensed Master 
with the appropriate  tonnage and geographical  route. All OUPV 
licenses are valid for vessels up  to 100 gross tons. The "near 
coastal" route  is up to  100 miles offshore.  "Inland" is most 
waters that are a  lake, bay or sound  on a chart. The dividing 
line between near coastal and inland is based on geography, not 
the rules of the road. 

On December 20, 1993 the  President signed the Passenger Vessel 
Safety Act  of 1993  (public law  103-206), changing  the legal 
requirements  for  passenger and  charter  operations.  The act 
establishes for the first time  the definition of passenger for 
hire and requires many vessels operating under bareboat charter 
to  be inspected  by the  Coast  Guard as  commercial passenger 
vessels. The law  also changes the  inspection requirements for 
certain vessels over 100 gross tons. 

The   new  law  has  relaxed  the  prior  strict  treatment  of 
situations  were  a  guest  provided  food  or  chipped  in for 
expenses. Previous law treated  such such guests as passengers, 
requiring operator licenses and possibly vessel inspection. 

Under the new  law a passenger  for hire is  is a passenger for 
whom consideration is contributed as a condition of carriage on 
the  vessel,  whether  directly or  indirectly  flowing  to the 
owner, charterer, agent or any other persons having an interest 
in the vessel. 

Consideration  is  an economic  benefit,  inducement,  right or 
profit including  pecuniary payment accruing  to an individual, 
person, or entity, but not including a voluntary sharing of the 
actual  expenses  of  the voyage  by  monetary  contribution or 
donation of fuel, food, beverage or other supplies. 

Previously,  vessels  operating  under  legitimate  bareboat or 
demise  charters  were  not  required  to  meet  the commercial 
passenger   vessel  standards.  Some  vessels  operating  under 
charter  are carrying  hundreds of  persons  and are  in direct 
competition with commercial passenger vessels meeting the Coast 
Guard inspection and licensing requirements. Under a legitimate 
bareboat  charter  the  vessel  is  in  essence  "sold"  to the 
charterer for  the duration  of the  charter, hence  the people 
carried aboard were not passengers  for hire. In some cases the 
charterer  may not  have been  aware  of his  legal liabilities 
during the charter.  Unsuspecting passengers may  not have been 
aware that they were sailing on  a vessel that did not meet the 
same  safety  equipment  and  design  standards  as  a  regular 
passenger vessel. 

Congress  has acted  to  remove these  differences  for charter 
vessels carrying more than 12, or in some cases 6 passengers. 

The following vessels are required to be inspected by the Coast 
Guard: 

 (1) if under 100 gross tons:
     (a) carrying more than 6 passengers, including at least 1 for 
         hire, or
     (b) chartered with crew provided or specified by owner and 
         carrying more than 6 passengers, or
     (c) chartered and carrying more than 12 passengers, or
     (d) submersible vessels carrying 1 or more passengers for hire

 (2) if 100 gross tons or over:
     (a) carrying more than 12 passengers, including at least 1 for 
         hire, or
     (b) chartered and carrying more than 12 passengers, or
     (c) submersible vessels carrying 1 or more passengers for hire


An uninspected  vessel that carries  not more  than 6 passenger 
for   hire  is  required  to  carry  the  safety  equipment  in 
Subchapter C of Tile 46 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The 
requirements  are  generally  the same  as  for  a recreational 
vessel of the same length, except that all life jackets must be 
Type I commercial style. 

There  are  no  federal requirements  for  insurance  for these 
vessels.  Local  government agencies  may  require  business or 
occupational licenses, including insurance or bonds. 


5.9 What's a formula for top speed? 

The answer, verbatim from mp, is: 

The formula yacht designers use is called Crouch's formula.
It takes into account the weight and horsepower at the
propeller, and assumes a 50\% to 60\% efficient prop.
Most props fall into this range.  Note that it doesn't take 
into account the boat length, as that doesn't matter with
planing boats.

Crouch's Formula

   V = C/((DISP/HP)**.5)

Where V    = boat speed in knots  (1 knot=1.15 mph)
     C    = Constant (depends on boat type)
     DISP = Displacement (pounds)
              Note that boat manufacturers usually give
              innacurate numbers for displacement, 
              typically on the low side
     HP   = Horsepower available at the propeller

For comparison sake, here are some average values of C:
    150       Typical lightweight, planing cruiser
    180       High Speed Runabout
    200-230   Race boats, hydroplanes etc.





5.10 Accurate time source for navigation 

The time of  day is broadcast  on radio stations  WWV and WWVH, 
which transmit in  the shortwave bands,  on 2.5, 5,  10, 15, 20 
MHz. The  time is  announced every  minute, and  at other times 
there is  a steady  beeping. Any  shortwave receiver  should be 
able to pick up these broadcasts - the particular frequency you 
can receive will vary with location and time of day. 

You can also hear the  NIST's WWV broadcasts via the telephone. 
The number is (303) 499-7111. 


5.11 Winter storage for batteries, and their state of charge 

There is a ritual debate on this topic each year. The concensus 
seems to  be that (1)  It's OK to  store a battery  on a cement 
floor, but  if you  stick it  on an  old piece  of plywood, any 
drips or spills will be easier  to clean up, so perhaps the old 
wives' tale has some  value, (2) storing a  battery cold in the 
winter, provided it is fully charged, is an OK thing to do. The 
rate of discharge  is reduced by the  cold environment, so less 
frequent recharging is called for. 

Here is an article from Finn Stafsnes, which seems to have some 
hard data (fs): 

The  content  is taken  from  a booklet  provided  by norwegian 
battery manufacturer (Anker-Sonnak). 

I have done some linear interpolation between tabulated values. 
Therefore  minor  errors  due  to  non-linear  effects  may  be 
present. I can only hope that I  have not done big errors in my 
calculations. 

State............Spec.gravity.......Freezing.......Spec.gravity 
of...............@ 25 C, 77 F........point.........@ freez.temp 
charge..........kilograms/litre.....deg C, F....kilograms/litre 

Full (100 .75  .50 .25 weak.................1.160..........-17, 
+ 1..........1.189 0 0 

If   it  is  impractical  to   measure  the  spec.  gravity  an 
approximate formula is given based upon voltage measurment: 

Spec.gravity (@ 25 C) =  ((Voltage of battery)/(no of cells)) - 
0.84 (kilogr./lit.) 

The  voltage  should be  measured  after the  battery  has been 
disconnected (left to rest) for at least 6 hours. 

A discharged battery will gradually be distroyed if stored in a 
low state of  charge condition due to  crystal growth of PbSO4, 
even if it don't freeze. 

Self discharge  rate is halved  for every  10 deg C  (18 F) the 
storage temperature is reduced. 

Conclusion: Keep the battery well  charged all the time. If you 
don't want  to recharge  during the  winter, store  the battery 
cold. 

And here is a mini-FAQ written by Alan Yelvington: 

The efficiency of batteries  varies with time, temperature, and 
state of charge. 

Batteries  self-discarge  over  time.  Lead-calcium  (die-hard) 
discharge faster  that straight  lead-acid. Their  advantage is 
that they typically do not need to have the water replaced. 

Temperature will  kill a battery  over time. If  a battery gets 
too hot, its  self-discharge rate goes up.  If the battery gets 
to  cold, the  reaction that  produces electricity  gets slowed 
down and the full capacity cannot be ``harvested.'' 

The state of charge limits  efficiency because of the reactions 
in the battery.  If a battery  is left dead  for too long (this 
means  you),  the  internal  plates  will  start  to accumulate 
lead-sulphate on them. This insulates that portion of the plate 
so  that  in can  no  longer  contribue to  the  output  of the 
battery. It takes extra power  in to remove the sulphation that 
cannot   be   recouped.  (EDTA   will  chemically   remove  the 
sulphate....) 

A typical battery  in good condition  will return 90  to 95 put 
into it under these conditions: 

DO NOT recharge at a rate  of more that one tenth its capacity. 
eg. A 220 amp-hour battery should not be recharged at more than 
22 amps. The  excess current will generate  waste heat and form 
lead-sulphite.  The lead-sulphite  is  worse than  the sulphate 
because it cannot be removed. 

DO NOT discharge a battery beyond 50 

DO NOT over charge the battery. (Lead Sulphite problem again.) 

DO  NOT discharge  the  battery faster  than  one tenth  of its 
capacity. That  is, don't  draw more  than 22  amps from  a 220 
amp-hour battery.  You'll just make  waste heat  that cannot do 
work. 

DO use the battery and not  just leave it dormant all the time. 
If you must have a battery for infrequent use, NiCd or gelcells 
are much better and are another story altogether. (ay) 

Another reader  pointed me  towards a  nice solar  panel charge 
controller the  November, 1993  issue of  ``73'' magazine. It's 
used by a guy with 200 WATTS of solar panels on his roof. 


5.12 Online information 

First of  all, Mosaic/Web  pages about  boats are  sprouting up 
like weeds, and there's no way I can keep track of all of them. 
I can,  however, give a  pointer to  a page that  seems to keep 
track of a lot: 

http://www-engr.uvic.ca/ jlsmith/ 

This page is maintained by Jeremy Smith. 

Second,  there's the  Live-Aboard mailing  list: To  join, send 
E-mail  to:  majordomo@centaur.astro.utoronto.ca;  the  subject 
line is not critical but in the BODY of your e-mail write: 

SUBSCRIBE LIVE-ABOARD 

Stefan  (the  maintainer  of the  list)  provided  me  with the 
following information: 

Previous contributions are available by anonymous ftp. Just ftp 
to centaur.astro.utoronto.ca, login as "anonymous" and use your 
e-mail   address   as  the   password.  Go   to  the  directory 
pub/archive. The  directory pub/digests  contains earlier posts 
filed into folders. The material in both directories is updated 
periodically. 

(The following section courtesy of sb) 

You can FTP hourly surface analyses  (one of the things you can 
recieve with a weather fax receiver), in the form of .GIF files 
from vmd.cs.uiuc.edu, in directory WX. 

There is also hourly raw visual and infrared satellite imagery, 
(from GEOS-7) which I don't know what to do with these. 

The files are SA*.GIF, CI*.GIF and  CV*.GIF, where the * is the 
date and GMT hour of the picture. 

Then, if you  are on a  unix system, you  can use xloadimage to 
display them. 

There are also .DOC files  which describe many other sources of 
weather related information on the network. 

Also, 

telnet madlab.sprl.umich.edu 3000 

gets you any forecast you like. If you enter the city ``BOSM,'' 
you get the forecast for Boston, PLUS the marine forecast. This 
may work for other cities as well. 

You can  also try  telnetting to  duats.gtefsd.com. This  is an 
aviation weather service  funded by the  FAA. It's really meant 
for pilots  to get  weather briefings,  but they  don't seem to 
mind non-pilots  using it (in  fact, the  particular hostname I 
mentioned is specifically for non-pilots; there is another host 
with the identical service for pilots which requires an account 
and allows use of some additional functions). 

When you get to the  main menu, select "Weather Briefing", then 
"Local Briefing", then "Standard Briefing". Anytime it asks for 
a "Tail Number", just enter "N1234". 

The user interface is  kind of clunky, and  the reports are all 
in    technojargonspeak   which   is   probably   pretty   much 
incomprehensible if you  don't know how to  decode it. You will 
probably need a book on interpreting weather service reports to 
make  any  use  of  it, but  for  raw  weather  information, it 
probably can't  be beat  as a  source. For  example, here's the 
last three hours worth of reports from LaGuardia Airport: 

LGA SA 1850 E140 BKN 12 122/55/46/0513/989 LGA SA 1750 M110 BKN 
12 122/54/46/0517/989/ 214 1070 54 LGA  SA 1650 80 SCT M110 OVC 
10 115/55/45/0616/987/WSHFT 28 FROPA BINOVC 

The 1650 (UTC) report  is the longest, so  I'll decode that. It 
says: 

LaGuardia Airport,  Normal scheduled  report at  1650 UTC (i.e. 
12:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time). First cloud layer is estimated 
to  be at  8000  feet and  is  scattered (which  I  think means 
covering between  10 sky).  Second cloud  layer is  measured at 
11,000  feet  and  is  overcast  (i.e.  covering  more  than 90 
barometric  pressure  is 1011.5  millibars.  Temperature  is 55 
degrees F.  Dew point is  45 F.  Wind (this is  the part you're 
interested in, right?) is from 060 at 16 kts. Altimiter setting 
is 29.87  inches of  Hg. Windshift  from 280,  frontal passage, 
breaks in overcast. 

The coding is  baroque and opaque, being  designed for the days 
of 110 baud teletypes when saving every character mattered. 

There  are also  forecasts  for the  next  12 hours  or  so for 
selected locations, predicted winds aloft (sometimes useful for 
predicting surface wind  shifts), locations of  fronts, etc. As 
far as 24-48 hours  in the future, I  don't suspect you'll find 
much in the way  of that, except in  the most vague and general 
terms. (rs) 

More weather stuff: 


ftp://archive.afit.af.mil/pub/space/
 NORAD (TLE) for NOAA sats, tide code
ftp://atlantic.ocean.fsu.edu/pub/Tides/
 Tide code (shareware) for IBM-PC compatible


The racing rules updates can  be found on the Ship-to-Shore BBS 
(the number is  listed in the  Max Ebb article).  Here's a list 
that I got from the BBS: (hc) 


Ship to Shore OIS
Marine Net for Sailors

  Arlington      VA   703-525-1458   Boston          MA   508-256-1775
  Moncton        NB   506-386-8843   New York City   NY   212-865-3787
  Norwalk        CT   203-831-8791   San Diego       CA   619-435-3187
  San Francisco  CA   415-365-6385   Salt Lake Cty   UT   801-968-8770
  Toronto        ON   416-322-6814   Vancouver       BC   604-540-9596

There are  also the following  mailing lists  for discussion of 
various topics: 

live-aboard@centaur.astro.utoronto.ca  MARINE-L @VM.UOGUELPH.CA 
YACHT-L@GREARN.BITNET 

YACHT-L owner address:  E.R.Kooi@CRI.Leidenuniv.NL list address 
: YACHT-L listserver : LISTSERV or LISTSERV@NIC.SURFNET.NL 

TALLSHIP owner address:  CBROMLEY@NVMUSIC.VCCS.EDU list address 
: TALLSHIP listserver : LISTSERV 

The SAIL-TX mailing list  FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) File: 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
Listname:   SAIL-TX  Title:  Texas  Sailing  announcements  and 
discussion  To  post:  sail-tx-l@mdf.fidonet.org  To SUBscribe: 
sail-tx-r@mdf.fidonet.org                To        UNSUBscribt: 
listserv@mdf.fidonet.org in  the msg  body state  UNSUB SAIL-TX 
------------------------------------------------------------------------ 

From Joe Hersey,  of Coast Guard  Communications: For those who 
are interested, the Coast Guard Research and Development Center 
in  Groton CT  now has  an operational  World Wide  Web server, 
accessable from: http://138.29.250.20/ 

I'll try  to keep  an up-to-date  summary of  the Coast Guard's 
Internet services in the  CG Navigation Information System BBS, 
accessable from fedworld.gov. 

Finally, Boat/US maintains an online mailing list: 

``Some info  will still  be posted  in rec.boats,  but to avoid 
cluttering the  group, we've decided  to create  a mailing list 
open to all  interested boaters. To  subscribe, just email your 
request directly to boatus@aol.com.'' 


5.13 Should we split rec.boats? 

This topic arises about three  times a year. The usual proposal 
is a  split along  power/sail lines.  Each time  the concensus, 
with a growing number  of dissenters, is that  (a) much of what 
is discussed  here would  be crossposted  to rec.boats.sail and 
rec.boats.power  if they  both existed,  (b) many  topics, like 
maintenance,  moorings,  coast  guard  regs,  boat  shows,  the 
grounding of the QEII, large oil spills, etc., are of (passing) 
interest to almost anyone who goes out on the water, (c) we all 
learn something about the folks with whom we share the water by 
reading what they  have to say,  (d) the volume  of postings is 
rapidly increasing and  is growing too  large, but a power/sail 
split will not necessarily address this. 

Recently  rec.boats.racing  and  rec.boats.building  have  been 
formed, and they seem  quite successful; I personally attribute 
their success to  the lack of overlap  in interests between the 
folks in those groups and ``the rest of us.'' 

Analysis of  the traffic on  rec.boats suggests  that between 1 
and  10 percent  of the  traffic is  devoted to  discussions of 
splitting.  All such  discussion should  take  place in  (or at 
least route followups to) news.groups. 


5.14 What sextant should I buy to learn with? 

Good sextants are expensive (about  3000US is not unusual), and 
the inexpensive  plastic ones  (Davis make  the best-known) are 
far cheaper.  For learning,  or even  for real  navigation, the 
Davis models  are fine, but  require more  careful and frequent 
adjustment, and often seem to give less accurate results. 

They will give a  result accurate to within  about 2 minutes of 
arc, which should get your  position right within about 3 miles 
or so.  Errors made by  beginners are  usually computational or 
mistakes  of understanding,  and tend  to  be far  greater than 
this. So a plastic sextant makes  a fine tool for learning. Buy 
one,  and if  you  like it,  keep  it as  a  spare when  you go 
offshore. 

Hints:  to keep  the readings  accurate, beware  of temperature 
fluctuations, which warp the  sextant (temporarily). In winter, 
wear  gloves.  In summer,  watch  out  for having  part  of the 
sextant  in sun  and part  in  shade. And  last but  not least, 
always approach your  reading from the  same side (i.e., always 
increase  the angle  until the  sun  is on  the horizon---don't 
increase  and  then  decrease  and  then  increase,  etc.) This 
prevents backlash from screwing up your readings. (jfh) 


5.15 Boat pictures, and ftp sites for boat info 

I (sb2) run the rec.boats FTP server(if you can use a listserv, 
you  too can  have them)  for pictures.  Some from  my personal 
collection, some from the America's Cup, others from Whitbread, 
etc. 

dell1.dell.com in the anonymous FTP directory/donate/boats 

I believe that Steve also  maintains an ftp-able version of the 
FAQ. So  do I (jfh)  on the machine  wilma.cs.brown.edu, in the 
pub directory with the  name rec.boats_FAQ.Z. The file POWER.UU 
that's there is  also of interest  to some rec.boaters---it's a 
PC program  for something  to do  with surface-piercing drives, 
submitted by Paul Kamen. It's  a zipped DOS executable, and you 
need version 2.04 of pkunzip to unzip it. 


5.16 Propellor selection 

GENERAL RULE  OF PROP SELECTION:  On a properly  trimmed boat a 
prop of the correct pitch and diameter will permit the motor to 
attain it's maximum rated RPMs but NO MORE. 

HOW TO BUY THE CORRECT PROP:  The best method of prop selection 
that  I know  of is  to find  a  dealer that  will let  you try 
several props with the understanding  that you will buy the one 
that performs as above. Of course it is also understood that if 
you ding a test prop you will buy it. 

Contributed by hl. 


5.17 Binocular selection 

Contributed by (pe). 

The quality of binoculars shows  up in several important areas. 
this is certainly  one product area that  the quality can range 
from junk to excellent, and you get what you pay for. The areas 
of prime concern are as follows: 

1) Eye  relief: This  is the distance  back from  the eye piece 
that the  image is  formed. Most  binoculars have  a rubber eye 
piece that positions your eyes in the proper place. This rubber 
piece can  then be folded  out of  the way for  people who wear 
glasses. A  longer eye  relief is  more forgiving  to those who 
wear glasses. 

2) EXIT  PUPIL: Generally tied  closely to eye  relief, this is 
the diameter  of the  image comming out  of the  eye piece. The 
larger this is,  the less sensitive  it will be  to having your 
eye is in  the exact right spot.  Generally speaking, larger is 
better.  But  to  make  it  larger,  the  overall  size  of the 
binoculars increases. 

3) Light Transmission: The percentage  of light that enters the 
front lens that makes  it out the eye  piece. For daylight use, 
this  is not  too  critical. For  nightime  use, a  few percent 
improvement in the amount of light making it through can make a 
hugh difference. The type of optics (glass versus plastic), the 
coatings on the  lens elements, and the  overall quality of teh 
lenses make  the difference.  Large, GLASS,  coated optics give 
much  better  performance  than  plastic,  uncoated  optics. Of 
course, large glass elements start to get heavy. 

4) Depth of Field: As a side effect of the above three items is 
an improved depth of field. This is the distance that an object 
remains in focus. The really good units don't even have a focus 
knob,  as  the  depth  of  feild  is  so  large  that  it isn't 
necessary. 

5) GAS FILLED: The better units are sealed, and purged with dry 
nitrogen.  This  keeps  moisture  out,  keeps  the  lenses from 
fogging, and helps improve the overall optical qualities. 

6) THE  CASE: A rubber  armored, rugged case  will help prevent 
damage.  Lens  caps that  stay  with  the unit  keep  them from 
getting lost, and  make it much  more likely that  you will put 
them back on to protect the lenses. 

You may want to check out  the West Marine catalog. They have a 
chart   listing  all  the   important  characteristics  of  the 
binoculars that  they sell. Compare  it against the  specs of a 
unit you are considering. Decide if you might ever need to read 
the number on a channel marker at night. 

My advice is to go with  the best that you can afford. Properly 
treated, they will last forever and you will not be sorry. 


5.18 Blue book value of boats 

Contributed  by  jjensen@kaiwan.com (John  Jensen).  For anyone 
thinking  of a  purchase of  a boat,  BUC Research's  Used Boat 
Price Guide seems  to be the  reference to have.  You can reach 
them   at:  BUC   Research  1314  Northeast   17th  Court  Fort 
Lauderdale,   FL  33305  to  order  call:  1-800-327-6929  Fax: 
305-561-3095  phone: 305-565-6715  Library of  Congress Catalog 
Card No. 63-35604 ISBN 911778-67-5 

Prices as  of the Volume  1 issue (1984-1990  models): Volume 1 
(1984-1990)   72.00   Volume  2  (1974-1983)   62.00  Volume  3 
(1905-1973) 52.00 

The book(s) are worth it. However  it has been suggested to try 
your local library first before shelling out your money. 


5.19 Interfacing NMEA0183 to your computer 

Lots  of  people  want  to  know  how  to  interface  NMEA 0183 
instruments to their laptops or  other computers. One answer is 
to do  it directly: NMEA  data out  -> RS232 data  in, and NMEA 
data   return  ->  RS232  ground.  The  signal  is  4800  baud, 
no-parity, 1 stop bit. 

But    here's  a   better  answer,   courtesy  of   Bob  Curtis 
(bc@gate.net): Here's a simple circuit to keep your instruments 
safe: 



    a ----/\/\/\/\----+        +---+------/\/\/\/\------ +12v
            5k        |        |   |         5k
                     ---     |/    +-------------------- to RS-232 rcv.
                     / "_    |
                     ---     |\
                      |        |
    b ----------------+        +------------------------ to RS-232 common
                               |
                               | <- might not need this connection
   gnd ------------------------+

You will  have 100 shown  (recommended). Some  systems may work 
more reliably with  a common ground.  The parts (2-5k resistors 
and a  photo-optical isolator) will  cost about 4  at any Radio 
Shack. 

.

Chapter 6 

List of Contributors 

Here is a list of the people who contributed to the information 
above.   The  list  is  widly  incomplete,  because  I  started 
collecting the information  (for myself) long  before I planned 
to make  the FAQ,  and didn't  attach names  to lots  of things 
people  told  me.  My  apologizes  to  those  whose  names I've 
omitted. I'll gladly add them if you tell me to. 


ab    bowers@tifosi.dfrf.nasa.gov       Al Bowers
ag    GERMAIN@CDHF2.GSFC.NASA.GOV       Andy Germain
al    lastra@cs.unc.edu                 Anselmo Lastra
ay    alany@tekig5.pen.tek.com          Alan Yelvington
bj    wtjones@sr.hp.com                 Bill Jones
bp    billp@voyager.chm.clarkson.edu    Bill Plunkett
bm    cfwpm@ux1.cts.eiu.edu             Bill McGown
bs    bsmith@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM         Brian Smith
bt    Brigitte.Torok@CCIW.ca            Brigitte Torok
cp    peterson@hercules.calspan.com     Chuck Peterson
cn    nolte@guvax.acc.georgetown.edu    Cheryl Nolte
cr    crossle1@cc.swarthmore.edu        Cindy Rossley
da    davea@hpscit.sc.hp.com            Dave Angelini
db    dbyrne@ldgo.columbia.edu          Deirdre Byrne
dk1   kinzer@prcamfg.sps.mot.com        Dave Kinzer
dk2   kell@mprgate.mpr.ca               Dave Kell
dz    zielke@fozzie.nrl.navy.mil        David Zielke
eb    boebert@SCTC.COM                  Earl Boebert
em    murphy@phri.nyu.edu               Ellen Murphy
fm    francis@oas.Stanford.EDU          Francis Muir
fs    Finn.Stafsnes@tf.tele.no          Finn Stafsnes
gb1                                     Greg Bullough
gb2                                     Gerard Bras
gb3   guido@blink.att.com               Guido Bertocci
gf    gregf@ptidsun18.pen.tek.com       Greg (Fox?)
gm    grm@instrumental.com              Greg Mansfield
hc    hchan@well.sf.ca.us               Hoover Chan
hl    Hal@cache.declab.usu.edu          Hal Lynch
jb    bloxham@geophysics.harvard.edu    Jeremy Bloxham
jfh   jfh@cs.brown.edu                  John Hughes
jz    zeeff@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us      Jon Zeeff
la    lance@lancea.actrix.gen.nz        Lance Andrewes
mb    burati@APOLLO.HP.COM              Mike Burati
mp    pedersen@halcyon.com              Matt Pedersen
mt    markt@tekig1.PEN.COM              Mark Tilden
pb    bennett@erich.trimuf.ca           Peter Bennett
pe    Peter_Engels@star9gate.mitre.org  Peter Engels
pg    peter.gustafsson@gd.chalmers.se   Peter Gustafsson
ph    lotus!lotatg.  lotus.com!phil@uunet.UU.NET
                                       Phil Somebody
pk    fishmeal@netcom.com               Paul Kamen
prh   prh@s3109j15.atl.hp.com           Phil Haseltine
ps    Paul.Saltzman@f764.n153.z1.ship.wimsey.bc.ca
                                       Paul Salzman
rb    bentson@grieg.seaslug.org         Randolph Bentson
rs    roy@wombat.phri.nyu.edu           Roy Smith        
rs2   rstepno@eagle.wesleyan.edu        Bob Stepno
rs3   spady@bcstec.ca.boeing.com        Robyn Spady
sb    steph@candide.uchicago.edu        Stephen Bailey 
sb2   sblair@upurbmw.dell.com           Steve Blair
sc    steve@test490.pac.sc.ti.com       Steve Comen
sm    stefan@sunrise.stanford.edu       Stefan Michalowski
sm2   smorris@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu          Scott Morris
srb   Scott.Richard.Berg@p4910.f349.n109.z1.fidonet.org 
                                       Scott Richard Berg
sja   dv207@cleveland.Freenet.Edu       Seth J. Alberts
tc    chatzi@beauty.asd.sgi.com         Tony Chatzigianis
tf    timf@eskimo.com Timothy           R. R. Flanagan                  
tl    tpl@ces.cwru.edu                  Tom Lightbody
wc    billc@netcom.com                  William Courington
wh    whoward@lamont.ldgo.columbia.edu  Will Howard
wms   wms@spin.att.com                  Wayne Simpson
wo    woodruff@s34.es.llnl.gov          Someone Woodruff
wv    VENABLE@faculty.coe.wvu.wvnet.edu Wallace Venable



.

Chapter 7 

Bibliography 


7.1 Magazines 

AMERICAN SAILOR, none, This one is for members of USYRU. Almost 
exclusively for racing. Dave Perry  has a short but interesting 
``rules corner''. 

ASH BREEZE, none, P.  O. Box 350, Mystic,  CT 06355, 15/year (4 
issues).    The  journal   of   the  Traditional   Small  Craft 
Association.    Member-contributed   articles   about   design, 
construction, and  history of  traditional boats.  Members also 
receive    discounts  on   books  published   by  International 
Marine.(al). 

BOAT DESIGN QUARTERLY, none, P.O. Box 98, Brooklin, ME, 24/year 
(only 4  issues). Each issue  contains six to  eight reviews of 
boat  designs.  This  magazine is  mostly  the  effort  of Mike 
O'Brien (who also  writes for WoodenBoat  magazine). Only worth 
it for those truly obsessed with boat designs.(al). 

BOATBUILDER, none, P.O.  Box 420235, Palm  Coast, FL 32142-0235 
800-786-3459. Primarily amatuer  construction. Monthly articles 
by notable Dave  Gerr (lots of  his latest book  "The Nature of 
Boats" was  first published  in Boatbuilder).  Includes instant 
boat construction,  origami steel boats,  etc.(mp) Possible new 
address (subscription dept?): Boatbuilder,  76 Holly Hill Lane, 
Greenwich, CT 06836-2626. 

COASTAL CRUISING, none, The Magazine of Achievable Dreams. This 
rag was formerly called  "Carolina Cruising" and probably still 
should  be.  Concentrates  on  the  ICW  around  and  about its 
Beufort, NC home  base. A harbor  profile in each  issue with a 
color  arial  photograch  as  a  centerspread.  Quirky  columns 
written  by  people who  are  really into  bringing  the spoken 
accent to  the written page.  Printed on  cheap newsprint paper 
and comes out 6 times a year.  Unless you live or cruise in the 
Carolinas, save your money. (wms). 

CRUISING WORLD,  none, Good articles,  wonderful reader service 
called  ``Another Opinion'',  which will  tell you  about other 
readers who  own the  same boat  that you  do (or  that you are 
thinking of buying), and who might be interested in telling you 
about it, Extensive brokerage and charter listing. -jfh-. 

GPS   WORLD  MAGAZINE,  none,  Monthly  magazine  covering  the 
spectrum of GPS  usage. Current regular  subscription rates: US 
59, Canada 79, Foreign  117. Advanstar Communications, P.O. Box 
10460, Eugene, Oregon 97440-2460,  U.S.A. Phone: (503) 343-1200 
Fax: (503) 683-8841 Telex: 510-597-0365 (rb). 

GREAT LAKES SAILOR,  none, Tends to focus  on the sailing scene 
in the midwest.  Has suspended publication  as of January 1993. 
(tl). 

JOURNAL  OF NAVIGATION,  none, The  main problem  is this  is a 
quarterly publication (at best), that often suffers long delays 
in delivery. It has an interesting  mixture of high end and low 
end stuff.  For instance it  will have discussions  of what the 
piloting station of a large freighter will have the next decade 
alongside a report of  a last (ill fated)  Atlantic voyage of a 
junk rigged 30' cruiser. (rb). 

LATITUDE  38,  none,  The  SF  Bay  sailing  rag.  Cheap paper, 
irreverant staff. Far  more honest than  any other sailing rag. 
Latitude 38,P.O.  Box 1678,Sausalito  CA 94966,USA.  Phone: 415 
383   8200   ;  415  383   5816  (fax).   First  class  postage 
subscription:   45/year.  Third   class  postage  subscription: 
20/year.    ``We   regret  that   we   cannot   accept  foreign 
subscriptions, nor do we bill for subscriptions. Check or money 
order must accompany subscription orders.'' (However, Canadians 
may order the First Class subscription.). 

MESSING ABOUT IN BOATS, none,  This small magazine with its own 
strong identity and  readership may interest  those who enjoyed 
Small Boat Journal  before its change. Costs  20 buck per year. 
29  Burley St.,  Wenham,  MA 01984.  ``This  is a  great little 
magazine  filled  with  reader-contributed  articles  and  good 
classifieds  (especially  for  readers  in  New  England). Very 
entertaining,    and  you   can't   beat  the   price.''  (al), 
``particularly since it comes out  every two weeks. The primary 
focus is  on boats for  the "little  guy," rowboats, patched-up 
boats,  and homebuilt  boats.  There is  a  lot of  coverage of 
off-beat  boats,  and  most issues  include  a  design  by Phil 
Bolger.'' (wv). 

MULTIHULLS, none, 421  Hancock St., N.  Quincy, MA 02171, (800) 
333-6858, 21/year (6 issues). As the name states, this magazine 
deals exclusively  with multihulls.  Coverage is  divided about 
evenly  between cruising,  design,  building, and  racing. They 
also sell books, videos, and posters.(al). 

NATIONAL   FISHERMAN,  none,  The  working  seaman's  magazine. 
Printed  on newsprint,  filled  with editorials  about  why the 
fisherman cannot make it in  the modern USA, and articles about 
how well  EPIRBs *really* work,  etc. A  *great* mag. Wonderful 
classifieds. 

OCEAN   NAVIGATOR,  none,  Informative  article;  passagemaking 
information, info  on nav hardware  and tools.  The letters are 
worth the price of  admission. Nav problems at  the end of each 
issue that  include piloting  and offshore  celestial problems, 
with answers.  Only magainze that  I read cover  to cover. Some 
articles  about  electrics tend  to  be  slightly screwy--Nigel 
Calder can't distinguish amps from amp-hours. 

OFFSHORE, none, 220-9  Resevoir Ave, Needham,  MA 02194. Covers 
the Northeast coast from New  Jersey to Maine. Good coverage of 
the   area  with  plenty  of  local  interest  stories,  marina 
profiles, safe  boating, navigation and  area history. Slightly 
skewed toward powerboats but plenty of interest to sailboaters, 
too.  Regular columns  on local  boating  news and  Coast Guard 
Search and Rescue summary. Series by Dave Gerr on understanding 
Yacht Design  contains many of  the articles on  which his book 
"The Nature  of Boats"  is based.  Excellent classified section 
with a unique  "renewable guarantee" that will  keep your ad in 
until sold for a one time fee of 25.00 (wms). 

POWERBOAT REPORTS, none. 

PRACTICAL   BOAT  OWNER,  none,  published  in  Poole,  Dorset, 
England.    Practical   Boat   Owner   Subscription,   Quadrant 
Subscription  Services,  Perrymount  Road,  Hayward  Heath,  W. 
Sussex,  RH16 3DH,  United Kingdom.  Another reader  notes that 
``The current Practical Boat  Owner gives the following address 
for overseas subscriptions:  Practical Boat Owner,  PO Box 272, 
Haywards  Heath, W  Sussex, RH16  3FS,  UK. Tel:  0444 44555.'' 
P.B.O. is  great for boat  tests (yachts any  size, motor boats 
mostly    small)  and   simply  excellent   for  how-to-do-its. 
Editorials  reflect  the  British scene  since  it's  a British 
magazine. The editor, George  Taylor, answers queries in person 
by return of post. 

PRACTICAL SAILOR,  none, These folks  test out  products and do 
sailboat reviews and compare products made by different people. 
They also answer questions. They have no adverts, so that their 
