Tips, Tricks & Rules of Thumb

[Seaquesta1]

Originally Posted by Kai Nui

Seaquesta1, that should be rule #1. Are you speaking from experience?

No, but I was once sitting across from someone who was directly downwind from someone who didnt know the rule.

My sides are still sore from the laughing

Lesson learned the hard way

[JGarrick]

My instructor gave me this one in flight school. It works just as well for nav lights on boats:

Red, right, wrong.

It's weird, but it works. Red is on the left, so red on the right is wrong.

My wife has a good method of remembering port and starbard, as well as red and green, but it only works on the boats we have owned up until the trimaran. The galley has always been on the port side, so all she need to remember is that the port is in the galley. I really like the "tiller towards trouble". That might really help her steering. She does fine if we are on a boat with a tiller or a wheel for any period of time, but one weekend with a wheel, and one with a tiller, and we end up sailign in circles.

[SkiprJohn]

For weather,
"Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning."
"Red skies at night, sailors delight."
"Mackerel skies and mare's tails make tall ships shorten sails."

For common sense,
"Don't tug on Superman's cape."

For nuts and bolts,
"Righty tighty, lefty loosey."

Regards, --JohnL--

[markpj23]

3 minute rule: a vessel travelling 'X' knots for 3 minutes will travel 'X' times 100 yards.

Thus:

5kts for three minutes = 5 x 100 = 500 yards advance;
6kts for three minutes = 6 x 100 = 600 yards advance;
15kts for three minutes means I got drunk, passed out and woke up on a Cat!

[Alan Wheeler]

Here in NZ, our rule for entering a port is colour to colour. You pass a red marker with it being on your port (left)side and a green marker marker with it being on your starboard (right) side.

Port/starboard? Port is shorter word, so it matches with left and, Starboard the longer word, so it matches with right and green.
The term port was often thought to be the side the wine was carried on and the port side was thus named for that. It's not entirley correct. We all know port is the side the ship used to birth along side the dock as steerboard was the steering side. The wine being carried on the port side was something that came along much much later.

Another good one in regards to weather, "If in doubt, don't go out".

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Wheels,
So what you are saying is that where you sail, "Red right returning does not apply."
Is that correct?
Regards, --JohnL--

[Alan Wheeler]

Correct. Just to to be sure, it is "when entering port, you keep colour to colour(color)".
I knew the US had a different system, but am unsure who else around the world. I had always presumed we followed the comonwealth, but I guess that would mean Canada would be different as well and that kinda wouldn't work to well. so maybe it's just NZ that has it right and everyone one else has the system different.

This was a point I learned in my masters course. The international rules are not consistant everywhere. Kinda scary.

[S/V Elusive]

Stop Scott ... No MORE!!! I'm still with the "Susan driving and going in circles" ... when I get up off the deck, I'll be ready for the next one. <roflmao>

Yep, but you have seen it first hand. So you know!

[coot]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Correct. Just to to be sure, it is "when entering port, you keep colour to colour(color)".
I knew the US had a different system, but am unsure who else around the world. I had always presumed we followed the comonwealth, but I guess that would mean Canada would be different as well and that kinda wouldn't work to well. so maybe it's just NZ that has it right and everyone one else has the system different.

IALA (International Association of Lighthouse Authorities) has a standard, which divides the world into region A and region B. Region B is North and South America and if I remember correctly a few places in the Pacific rim with heavy US influence (e.g. Japan, South Korea). Region A is the rest of the world.

Thus, the proper mnemonic should be "Red, Right, Returning, Except When It Isn't".

If you think that's bad, the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) divides the world into THREE regions for allocating radio frequencies...

[GordMay]

Each degree of latitude equals 60 minutes, and 1 minute of latitude equals 1 nautical mile, or 6076 feet.
A nautical mile also equals 1 minute of longitude, but ONLY when measured at the equator. Since those meridians converge as they go north, the distance between them is reduced.
When using dividers to take measurements off the chart (in any direction), use only the latitude scale located at the side of the chart to determine distance.

[S/V Elusive]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Each degree of latitude equals 60 minutes, and 1 minute of latitude equals 1 nautical mile, or 6076 feet.
A nautical mile also equals 1 minute of longitude, but ONLY when measured at the equator. Since those meridians converge as they go north, the distance between them is reduced.
When using dividers to take measurements off the chart, use only the latitude scale located at the side of the chart.

Correct me if I'm wrong (like it wouldn't happen anyway) but, when measuring longitude, if you use the latitude scale in the longitudal plane, don't you get an accurate measurement of nautical miles for longitude?

mi pore feebal brane kneeds two no!