Boating Geek

Popular Fish Species of North America  Fish are some of the most interesting creatures on earth! They come in an amazing variety of species and sizes. They live in virtually all waters where their life basics are available to them. Some are predators; they feed on other fish and aquatic creatures. Others are prey species, spending their lives in danger of being gobbled by larger fish that share their waters. The first step in learning to catch fish is learning about fish: which species are available, where they can be found, and what they eat. The more you know about your target species' life habits, the more likely you are to catch them. Many expert anglers learn even the smallest details about the daily patterns of the fish they're after. This helps them locate the fish and select just the right bait and technique to make them bite.  Following is a brief look at the freshwater fish species that are most popular with North American anglers. As your fishing skills grow ...

 All the cruising parents we have met found the experience of voyaging with their children very positive, and the ties established during several years of voyaging built the foundation for a lifetime of intense and fulfilling family relationships. Though some parents worried about the risks to their children initially, most ended up feeling cruising was better for their children physically and mentally than life ashore. In fact, cruising with kids is harder on the parents than on the children. In addition to the things all of us have to deal with while voyaging, cruising parents spend a good deal of their time educating, entertaining, and worrying about their children. We've met children aboard ranging in age from infants to young adults. Any age can work, but most parents say the children get the most out of it if they are old enough to remember the experience but young enough not to want to be somewhere else. Toddlers and teens tend to create the biggest problems aboard....

I know, I know this seems simplistic, but it is the truth. A sailor needs a boat. You don't need a fancy boat or an expensive boat or a large boat, but you need a moderately well-constructed vessel of wholesome design.  Good Boats Cheap, Cheap Boats Free  The traditional approach to boat purchasing works well for a certain type of buyer: They identify the type of craft they want, research selected models, visit a broker, and, with the help of a surveyor, close the deal. I have no problem with this method. It's how the majority of cruising vessels are procured today. As I said, it works well for a certain type —a buyer with money.  Alas, not everyone has a pile of dough idling away in the bank. They might be young or old. Illness might have stolen their retirement nest egg. There are many reasons why good people aren't among the wealthy: bankruptcy, accident, divorce, and an economic downturn are just a few. Even the most successful entrepreneurs are often only one...

Maintaining Your Erection  The most important thing you can do with a new boat—and its rig in particular—is to look at it This costs nothing. It is relatively easy. Just look at it. Look at it really, really closely. Inspect it. Study it. Clean it. Grab a magnifying glass Look. Compare. Think. Do this in good daylight over the course of several days—while reading Brian Toss's book The Rigger 's Apprentice at night. Most boat rigs have swages. Every swage corrodes—and eventually needs to be replaced. Swages corrode relatively fast in the tropics where the trapped ocean water gets boiled away to leave the salt between the strands of rigging wire in the cup of the lower fitting. The salt makes a mild acid that corrodes the swage. Look carefully at the swage. Is there excessive rusting? Is the swage banana-shaped instead of straight? And, most importantly, are there any micro cracks developing? (The mild acid causes rusting to accelerate.  The rust then expands and tries ...

Five Valid Reasons for Owning a Boat (Even Vimen It Really Isn't Practical)  There's nothing more beautiful than watching a sunset while sitting on a boat in calm evening water. There's nothing more exhilarating than seeing the water rush behind you in your boat's wake as you're heading toward a new marina for an overnight stay. And there's nothing more relaxing than hanging out on your boat waiting for the fish to bite. 1. Perceived status. People who own boats "yachtsmen," if you will seem to be a distinguished lot, so it's reasonable that you might wish to join them.  Yachtsmen are generally friendly enough, but they do often make a distinction between fellow boat owners and the rest of the world. If being a part of this seemingly exclusive group is important to you, then yes, you need to buy a boat of your own. 2. Pride of ownership. This is different from the previous reason in that it is less about what other people may think and mo...

WHAT MAKES BOATS FLOAT You're at a boat ramp at the start of a beautiful day, and you're backing your trailer into the harbor. The boat—still resting in the trailer's cradle eases deeper and deeper into the water until the stern finally lifts and the boat begins to float.  How does this happen? What principles are at work that allows for a vessel constructed of non-buoyant materials such as aluminum, steel, or fiberglass to bob on the water's surface?  The Greek mathematician Archimedes figured it out while taking a bath. As legend has it, Archimedes noticed that when he got in the tub, the water level rose, and he determined that an object in water displaces a volume of water exactly equal to the volume of the object immersed in the water.  He further discovered that an object would sink if its weight was greater than the weight of the water it displaced. If the object floated, the weight of the displaced water was exactly the same as the weight of the o...

Considering Different Kinds of Boats  The most motivated boaters are anglers. Boat dealers sell about three times as many fishing boats as all other types of boats combined. But plenty of other people buy boats for water-skiing, racing, pleasure cruising, and other activities and reasons. Knowing why you want to boat and what you want to do when you boat helps narrow down the many, many different types of boats to the one you want. At www.boatingmag.com , you'll find a search engine that lists about 100 different kinds of boats and hundreds of boat brands. The drop-down menus at this site seem to get longer every time I click them. To use the search engine, select the style of boat you want. Select the size of boat, and then your price range. The database sorts through hundreds of boats and gives you a short list of brands and models that may appeal to You don't need to know all about all the kinds and brands of boats on the market today, but familiarizing yourself with ...

There's nothing more beautiful than watching a sunset while sitting on a boat in calm evening water. There's nothing more exhilarating than seeing the water rush behind you in your boat's wake as you're heading toward a new marina for an overnight stay. And there's nothing more relaxing than hanging out on your boat waiting for the fish to bite. Getting Trained and Licensed  Before you buy your first boat, you need to be ready to use it. Besides getting started on mastering the obvious skill of safely piloting a boat, you need to acquire a few other tidbits of knowledge as you set out on your boating adventure. Captaining a boat isn't really as hard as driving a Car. But it's so different that new boaters get into trouble when they try to handle a boat the same way they handle a car. Boating safety training helps ward off some of the accidents that come from such misconceptions. Some states require a boating license, whereas others just ask for proof...