Powerboat

Embracing Electronic Navigation Charts: A New Era

/ ,

It’s kinda sad but technology has made us move along from good old-fashioned paper charts. I loved navigating on them, drawing lines, measuring distances, computing headings. Alas, the Government office that is in charge of this nostalgic way of seafaring navigation has decided to replace all the charts with Electronic Navigation Charts, ENC’s. They are […]

Embracing Electronic Navigation Charts: A New Era Read Post »

Boating, Powerboat, Sailboat

Understanding Different Light Emissions

/ , , ,

If it were only so simple as to say a light flashes. But then we would only have one type of light and there may be more than one item that needs to be identified. Different types of light emissions, let’s say characteristics, allow for many more identifiers to be used. The descriptors are pretty

Understanding Different Light Emissions Read Post »

Boating, Powerboat, Sailboat

Essential Boat Safety: Signaling Distress Effectively

/ , , ,

One of the eight required items to check for on a boat is a means of signaling a distress. An orange flag with a black circle and black square will suffice for daytime, but at night you need a bright light source. Pyrotechnics are the answer as they can produce thick smoke in the daytime

Essential Boat Safety: Signaling Distress Effectively Read Post »

Boating, Powerboat, Sailboat

Safe Powerboat Handling

/ ,

US Powerboating has developed a course called Safe Powerboat Handling that includes hands-on, on-the-water instruction designed to teach anyone who wants to learn how to safely operate a small motorboat and improve their boat handling skills. No previous experience is required! The US Coast Guard and the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators (NASBLA) have approved

Safe Powerboat Handling Read Post »

Boating, Powerboat

How Cardinal Marks Indicate Safe Water Directions

/ , ,

Cardinal marks are navigational aids used in maritime pilotage to indicate the position of a hazard and the direction of safe water. They are named after the cardinal points of the compass (North, East, South, and West) and use specific colors, topmarks, and light patterns to convey information about the surrounding waters.  Key features of cardinal marks:

How Cardinal Marks Indicate Safe Water Directions Read Post »

Boating, Powerboat, Sailboat

Red, Right, Returning

/ , ,

Those are the words every sailing or boating instructor recites when talking about Navigation and Buoyage. It’s only true in half the world, the rest use the opposite. In the late 1970’s standardized markings were introduced worldwide, except for North and South America, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. They adopted their system in the early

Red, Right, Returning Read Post »

Boating, Powerboat, Sailboat

The motorboat club driver

/ , ,

As far as powerboat instruction in Washington DC goes, this is the target audience for my motorboating services. Freedom and Carefree are great avenues to getting on the water in a motorboat without a huge capital outlay. Unfortunately, the training they offer is rather basic and lacks structure on the very basics of boating, which

The motorboat club driver Read Post »

Powerboat
Scroll to Top