Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction A Abandoning Ship Accidental Circling Accidents on Board Adhesives Air Masses Air Pressure on Sails Albatrosses Alternators Aluminum Hulls America's Cup Amp-Hour Ratings Anchors, Anchoring Anchoring Rights Anchor Types Antifouling Paints Apparent Wind B Backstaff Bahamian Moor Balanced Helm Ballast Ratios Ballast Taboo Barometer Barge Hazards Barrier Coats Battens in Sails Battery Choices Battery Needs Beam-to-Length Ratio Beaufort Scale Berths Bilge Bilge Pumps Binoculars Black Box Theory Blisters in GRP Block and Tackle Block Sizes Boarding Ladders Boat Booms Borers Bosun's Chair Bottom Painting Bower and Kedge Brake and Shaft Horsepower Brightwork Broaching To Bulwarks Buoyage Systems Buys Ballot's Law C Calling for Help Capsize Capsize Screening Castaways Catching Water Cavitation Centerboards Center of Buoyancy Center of Effort Center of Gravity Chafe Chain Chain Locker Chain Stoppers Chart Datums Charts Chart Scales Chart Stowage Checking a Battery Chines Choosing a Boat Circles of Position Circumnavigation Cleats Clouds Coast Guard Cockpit Drains Cockpits Code Flags Coiling Line Coin Under Mast Collision Bearings Collision Regulations Color at Sea Color Blindness Commissioning Companionway Formula Compass Bearings Compass Courses Compass Tests Compass Types Complex Lights Computers Cooking Afloat Coral Reefs Coriolis Force Counting Seconds Course Corrections Cranking Ratings Crew Overboard Cruising Anchors Cruising Boat Size Cruising Lifestyle Currents D Dacron Danger Angles Danger at Sea Danger Bearings Dead Reckoning Deadrise Delivery Trips Depth-Finders Depth-Sounders Deviation Cards Diesel Engines Diesel Fuel Diesel Maintenance Diesel Smoke Dinghies Dinghy Capacities Dinghy Life Dinghy Oars Dipping Lights Direction Displacement Displacement Ratio Distance Logs Distance Off Distress Signals Dockage Costs Docking Dock Lines Dodger Doldrums Downburst Dragging Anchor Drinking Seawater Drogue Drowned Outboard Motors Dry Rot E Eating Plankton Echo Pilotage Electrical Bonding Electrical Wiring Emergency Navigation Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon Engine Life Engine Oil Enlarging Plans EPIRBs Epoxy Estimated Position Estimating Angles Exhaust Line F Faint Lights Fathometer Fathoms Fear Fenders Fetch Fiberglass Fiddles Fighting Currents Figure-Eight Method Figureheads Fire on Board First Aid Fisherman Anchors Fishing Boats Fixes Flags Flare Flotation Flotsam and Jetsam Fog Prediction Fog Types Fouling Sheets Foul-Weather Gear Four-Point Bearings Freak Waves Freeboard Freeing Anchors Fuel Capacity Fuel Consumption Fuel Economy Fuel Weight G Gaff Mainsails Gales at Sea Galley Placement Galvanic Corrosion Gasoline Dangers Gelcoat Gimballed Stoves GPS Green Flash Groundings H Hallucinations Halyards Handy-Billies Harnesses Hatches Hauling Out Headroom Heads Headsails Heaters Heaving Lines Heaving To Heavy Weather Height of Eye HELP Posture Hobbyhorsing Holding Power Holding Tanks Horse Latitudes Horsepower Horseshoe Buoys Hull Colors Hull Costs Hull Shapes Hull Trim Hurricane Areas Hurricane Tactics Hydrofoils Hypothermia I Iceboxes Ice Damage Inertia Isobars J Jacklines Jet Drives Jet Streams Jib Numbers Jumping Lights Junk Rigs Jury Rigs K Kayaks as Tenders Keels Knots L Lateen Rig Latitude, Longitude Lead Lines Lead Percentage Leaks Leeboards Lee Helm Leeway Length-to-Beam Ratio Life Jackets Lifelines Life Rafts Lifesling System Lighthouses Lightning Protection Lights at Anchor Lightweight Anchors Lines of Position Lines Plans Locating Batteries Locks Lookouts Lubber Line Lying Ahull M Mainsail Slides Making Fast Man Overboard Marine Operators Masts Mast Steps Mast Vibration Mayday Calls Miles Mooring Motorsailers Multihulls N Navigation Lights Net Tonnage New Anchors Nighttime Boating Noises in Fog Nonskid Surfaces Nylon Line O Ocean Currents Ocean Temperatures Ocean Voyaging Ocean Water Oil Bags Osmosis Outboard Motors Overhangs Overloading P Paint Amounts Painting Time Paints Pan-Pan Calls Passages, Gangways Piloting Pitchpoling Planing Planking Plankton Plastics Plow Anchors Plunging Breakers Polypropylene Polyurethane Paint Pooping Seas Portholes Powerboat Engines Preventers Privacy Propeller Advances Propeller Drag Propeller Facts Propeller Fouling Propeller Options Propeller Thrust Propeller Vibration Propeller Walk Provisioning Pulling Power Purchases Purifying Water Q Quadrant Quarantine Quarter Berths Quick-Stop Method R Radar Reflectors Radar Sets Radio Transmitters Rafting Up Ranges RDF Sets Reciprocal Bearings Reefing Reefing Options Refrigeration Registration Renaming a Boat Resins for Boats Resistance Rhumb Lines Rigging Tension Right of Way Rigging Sizes Rodes Rogue Waves Roller-Furling and Roller-Reefing Headsails Roll Times Rope Strength Rope Stretch Rope Versus Line Rudder Loss Rudders Rules of the Road Rum Punch Running Inlets Running Off S Safe Anchorage Safe Anchor Weight Sail Area Sailboat Engines Sailboat Handling Sailboat Rigs Sail Cloth Sailing in Gusts Sailing on Friday Sails and "Lift" Saloon Salvage Sandpaper Scope for Anchors Scudding Sculling Scurvy Sea Anchors Seacocks Seakindliness Sea, Land Breezes Sealants Seamanship Seasickness Seaworthiness Self-Steering Selling a Boat Sentinels Setting Anchors Sextants "She" Is for Ships Sheet Sizes A Ship's Log Shrouds and Stays Single-Handed Sailboats Single-Handed Sailing Skegs Skid Fins Slack and Stand Slips Versus Moorings Smart Regulators Solar Panels Soundings Sound Signals Speed Limits Speed of Boats Speed Trials Splicing Line Spreaders Stability Stability Limits Stainless Steel Stanchions Starter Draw Steel Hulls Steering Systems Stern Anchoring Stern Drives Stern Glands Stove Fuels Sun Exposure Surveyors Synthetic Fibers T Tacking Tacking Downwind Tanks Teak Finishes Through-Hulls Thunder and Lightning Tidal Streams Tidal Waves Tides Tillers Time Signals Time Zones Tonnages Tools Torque Towing Towing Drogues Trade Winds Traffic Schemes Trailerboats Trim Tabs Trysails Turnbuckles Twelfths Rule Twin Screws U Unlucky Colors Unlucky Names V Varnish Details Varnishing Ventilation Voices in the Night W Wasted Fuel Watchkeeping Watermakers Water Needs Waterplane Area Waterproof Clothes Waterspouts Watertight Bulkheads Wave Height Waves Waves in Gales Weather Fronts Weather Helm Weather Information Wheel Turns Whistling Winches Wind and Altitude Wind Generators Windlasses Wind Systems Winterizing Wire Terminals Wooden Hulls Wooden Spars X - Z Xebecs Yacht Definition Yacht Design Your Performance Zinc Anodes Bibliography Index

About the Author

John Vigor (Bellingham, WA), a journalist for 35 years and former managing editor of Sea Magazine, has sailed more than 15,000 ocean miles. He is the author of The Practical Mariner’s Book of Knowledge (IM, 1994).

Reviews

"Vigor is one of the finest boating writers of our time" - Cruising World; "Vigor presents an incredible amount of information in a very clear way" - Ocean Navigator; "Well organized and easy to read. It should be on every vessel" - Ensign review of Boatowner's Handbook; "An invaluable resource. Vigor's practical wisdom gives you the know-how and confidence to prepare your boat for the sea" - Cruising World review of Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat