1. Wakeboarding - The Ultimate Water Sport
July 15, 2008


Known as a surface water sport, wakeboarding consists of riding a special piece of car camping equipment, known as a wakeboard, which skims over the water’s surface while being pulled behind a boat. Although some people go slower and some faster, the average speed while wakeboarding is between 18 and 24 miles per hour. Of course, the speed depends on a number of factors to include: • Rider’s personal preference • Water conditions • Board size • Weight of the rider The device that pulls the wakeboarding rider can consist of various options to include closed-course cables, winche... (read more)

Author: Thomas Hollowell | Article Views: 4810

2. Red Diesel and the UK Boating Market
June 27, 2008


Introduction At the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris a German Dr Rudolph Diesel unveiled the world’s first compression-ignition engine capable of working on a number of fuels including peanut oil. It was not too long before the first hydrocarbon oil duty was first imposed in 1928 by Winston Churchill, as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Stanley Baldwin’s government. Full duty was imposed on light oils, such as petrol, and a lower rebated duty on heavy oils, e.g. as diesel. However in 1935 with the development of diesel engines for cars, petrol sales declined to such an extent that in 1935 the Go... (read more)

Author: Neil Dennis | Article Views: 460

3. Home Boat Building - Lofting or Full Sized Plans?
June 26, 2008


I often get posed the question, “Do your plans come full sized or do you need to loft them?” I have to truthfully answer, neither, which often confuses people because they believe home built wooden boat plans are one or the other. In these days of computer aided design (CAD) drafting, no longer is it necessary to loft boat plans, because the computer actually does this for the boat designer. What this means to the boat builder, is that all they need to do is measure and mark, not loft. Lofting is a process whereby the boat is actually drawn full sized to determine the exact sizes of the f... (read more)

Author: Jeff Spira | Article Views: 2449

4. Learn Emergency Repairs to Sailboat Forestay - Galapagos Islands
June 10, 2008


Back aboard our little ship, the captain decides it is time to run up the mast and un kink the vhf aerial, put out of alignment by the attempted but aborted landing of the baby booby. Out comes the bosuns chair, and lines onto the main winch. Anglo crew having the broadest shoulders by far, is winch man – her captain likes to share the tasks around! He always enjoys the view from that vantage point up the mast, and is fascinated by the different perspective the height gives. The simple act of humans walking along the deck or dock, viewed vertically is remarkable. Legs suddenly launch jerkily f... (read more)

Author: vincent bossley | Article Views: 947