44
votes
Accepted
Are longer kayaks faster than shorter ones?
Executive summary: All else equal, a longer boat will have a greater hull speed. A greater hull speed means less drag and hence greater speed for a given amount of "paddling effort". Hence, longer ...
- 9,658
42
votes
Accepted
How efficient is travel by canoe?
The canoe has three huge advantages:
it works in the absence of paths or trails
it can carry enormous loads
adding paddlers to it makes it go faster
The first is probably the most important. I've ...
- 12.7k
30
votes
Accepted
Surfacing out of a sunken ship/submarine - Survival Tips
Even though the question describes a hypothetical and unlikely situation I think it has some merits as it is somewhat relevant for SCUBA diving also: it describes an emergency uncontrolled SCUBA ...
- 13.3k
28
votes
Are longer kayaks faster than shorter ones?
The narrower the beam, the less paddling resistance the boat will have.
For any given weight capacity, the longer boat will have a narrower beam. (The widest part of the boat, where the paddler ...
- 768
25
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to 'live off the sea'?
Theoretically, it might be possible to survive on fish, rainwater and desalinated seawater. In one 1930 experiment, two men survived for a year eating exclusively meat without experiencing any health ...
- 1,329
24
votes
Surfacing out of a sunken ship/submarine - Survival Tips
First and foremost: Don't Panic
At 30m, you'll be fine if you can free yourself within about 20 minutes and know what you're doing. That being said, there is a good chance you won't know your exact ...
- 341
24
votes
Can't see empty trailer when backing down boat launch
A common solution for this with small boat trailers is uprights attached to or in line with the wheel fenders. These serve the added benefit that when the bunks are underwater there's a guide to the ...
- 341
20
votes
Accepted
Why did Lewis and Clark use square rigged boats?
From the article you've linked, they were under sail a little more than one-tenth of the time [on the river]. Perhaps that could have been a bit greater if they were schooner- or lateen-rigged, but ...
- 26.8k
20
votes
What is meant by "an Easterly wind"?
Wind direction is, by convention, the direction that the wind is coming from. An easterly wind blows from east to west. If the bow of the boat is pointing into the wind, it's pointing to the east.
- 440
19
votes
Accepted
Life Jacket for a person without arms?
The expensive way is to get a harness lifejacket.
The cheap way is to fit a crotch strap to a lifejacket (type 2 pfd), this is a standard part and I believe most lifejackets have fittings for one.
...
- 8,097
19
votes
What is a 'Whitecap' and why should I be concerned about boating in them?
White caps are named for the white caps at the top of waves.
White caps are sign that the wind is picking up and that the weather conditions are getting worse and look like this at low wind levels.
...
- 69.4k
16
votes
Accepted
What's the difference between an oar and a paddle?
There are a few fundamental differences between oars and paddles.
One main difference is the position of the user relative to the direction in which the vessel is moving.
Oars are used to propel the ...
16
votes
What's the difference between an oar and a paddle?
According to Wikipedia, a paddle is held by the person and an oar is connected to the boat in some manner, such as a rowlock.
- 69.4k
16
votes
Life Jacket for a person without arms?
I think the best bet for a person without arms (assuming we aren't talking rough water/offshore use) is a type 2 life jacket. Specifically the type that look like an oversized bib.
These jackets don'...
- 9,658
16
votes
Is it possible to 'live off the sea'?
... can someone gather/hunt/farm all of the nutrients required to be healthy whilst never having to land again?
Nutrients yes, healthy not likely.
A 1000 days is a grueling journey.
Reid Stowe, whom ...
- 376
15
votes
Are longer kayaks faster than shorter ones?
As a general rule, yes
Consider a boat weighing 20kg, a paddler weighing 80kg.
You're now displacing 100litres of water, the way in which you displace that volume has a lot to do with how easily the ...
- 8,097
13
votes
Accepted
How do choices in design of a paddle-craft influence its handling characteristics?
Ay-yi-yi! This is a very broad question, a true answer to which would probably require a PhD in hydrodynamics or years of relevant engineering expertise. Note that the interplay between these design ...
- 4,252
13
votes
What is a 'Whitecap' and why should I be concerned about boating in them?
As well stated in another answer, whitecaps (the white tips of waves) are a visual indicator of local wind speed over the water.
Just wanted to add emphasis that whitecaps, as an indicator of wind, ...
- 3,476
13
votes
Accepted
Can I sleep in my canoe with it adrift on a commonly used lake?
For the specific question of drifting on the Great Lakes, doing so is effectively suicide.
First, there's the matter of traffic. The Great Lakes are a major shipping lane, with upwards of a hundred ...
- 2,998
12
votes
Accepted
What type of rope to use for the mainsheet of sunfish?
You most definitely want to be selective when selecting rope for a sailboat's running rigging. I'll group sailboats into two categories: racing and non-racing. Racing sailboat is simply any boat where ...
- 10.7k
12
votes
How efficient is travel by canoe?
The most efficient boat design is fairly straightforward. Rowing is more efficient than paddling, because anchoring the oar to the hull allows oars to be longer than paddles and longer levers are more ...
- 576
11
votes
Accepted
What type of trailer do I need for my Granada 24 sailboat?
Do I need to use a trailer made to measure, or can I use any trailer
that can carry any boat of a specific category within its range of
specs (keel type, weight, and dimensions)?
You don't need a ...
- 23.5k
11
votes
Accepted
How to get a beached pontoon boat back into the water?
What constitutes “best and easiest?” I suspect you don’t want to pay for a proper boat lift to drive down to the beach and pick up the boat. If feasible that would be the best safety wise and easiest ...
- 9,658
10
votes
Accepted
How can I prevent a fiberglass crack in my sailboat from getting worse?
Gelcoat cracking is pretty much a fact of life in boat ownership. The sun and water is a tough environment. However, gelcoat cracking is usually not too concerning as long as it is fixed right away.
...
- 10.7k
10
votes
What happens when fiberglass gets wet?
Often when we say "Fibreglass" we're actually referring to a composite of both fibreglass and resin (usually polyester for glass, epoxy for carbon/kevlar - sometimes glass). This is important, that ...
- 1,475
9
votes
Accepted
In a boat repair, what would cause Gelcoat not to harden?
There are several factors that can inhibit the gelcoat from curing. There is not enough information in the review to identify the specific cause. The only specific cause mentioned is stirring, if we ...
- 30.4k
9
votes
Accepted
How can I desalinate ocean water enough for cleaning or showering?
The problem is that desalinating water is hard; nearly desalinating it isn't much easier (it would be possible to design a bad reverse osmosis system but there isn't much market for that).
Instead if ...
- 26.8k
9
votes
Does 'Single-oar sculling' have any use in recreational boating?
It's mostly a lost skill (in the UK) for forward propulsion, though I have seen older fishermen use it for moving small dinghies around. I've played around with it a little myself and it's fairly easy ...
- 8,097
9
votes
Help me interface these two nautical devices
Garmin GPSMap 182C and Simrad TP32 share the same language (NMEA 0183), but they do not have enough in common to talk about.
The NMEA sentences that the 182C can transmit are GPRMC, GPGGA, GPGSA, ...
- 191
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible