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GIFT IDEAS FOR THE BOATER

Posted On: November 30, 2016

 

Christmas Gift Ideas for Boat Lovers

Shopping for Christmas gifts always seems tricky. However, when shopping for Christmas gifts for boat lovers there’s a few staples that can make gift giving a breeze.

 Our Christmas gift ideas for boat owners and lovers contains a list within a variety of price ranges so you’ll be sure to find something to fit any budget.

  1. Fishing rod and reel

Relaxation is, of course, a big part of the boating life. So is fishing. A gift of a new rod and reel is a great way to enable your favorite boaters to catch dinner while they are out on the water. A day spent floating on the water in the sun, followed by a freshly caught fish dinner is hard to beat. Just be sure to choose the correct rod and reel for the type of boat your friend has and fishing they like to do.

  1. New dock lines

If you are on a budget, this could be just the gift for you to choose. It is inexpensive, yet a must have item for any boater. New lines are always welcome since older ones become worn and frayed. Having an extra set to use as a replacement is convenient and saves time.

  1. Navigation set.

New marine navigation sets come in a variety of price points. You can find one to fit almost any budget. Prices start at under a hundred dollars, up to thousands. Anyone who spends time in the water needs a good navigation set to get them where they want to go, and even more importantly to get them home.

  1. Bean bags

When rough seas hit, your friends will appreciate bean bags designed for rough seas. These are specially designed to absorb the pounding that your neck and back takes when the water becomes turbulent. These are a wonderful way to make a day on the boat even more comfortable.

  1. A new boat

A new boat is among the best gifts available for a boat lover. If you can afford to gift the one you love with this extravagant surprise, it is truly something that will never be forgotten and will always be appreciated.

If you can’t afford a luxury yacht, that’s okay. Boats come in many styles and sizes. You can get a small  boat or maybe even pay for the slip for his existing boat.

There’s no shortage of Christmas gift ideas for boat owners. Any one of the above ideas will be welcomed by any lover of boats. Best of all, you do not have to break your budget for a top-notch gift.

Happy holidays!

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STAYING ALIVE IN COLD WATER

Posted On: November 28, 2016

GETTING THOSE LAST FEW DAYS ON THE WATER .….

 

Sometimes those occasional warm autumn days can be deceiving, because the water temperature can be frigid. Taking some simple steps can turn a worst-case scenario of a swamped or capsized boat into the best-case scenario for surviving cold-water immersion. To reduce the risk, make sure to not overload your boat, avoid those situations that put you at risk of going overboard and make sure everyone is wearing a life jacket.


Understanding the critical phases of cold-water immersion and knowing some basic techniques to delay hypothermia’s onset greatly increase your chances of survival. Cold shock is an initial deep and sudden gasp, followed by hyperventilation, which has been shown to increase breathing by 600 to 1,000 percent. Keeping your airway clear and wearing a life jacket greatly reduce the risk of drowning. Try not to panic, and concentrate on your breathing. Cold shock will normally pass in one minute.


Over the next 10 minutes, you will lose the effective use of your extremities. Concentrate on self-rescue; if that’s not possible, keep your airway clear and wait for rescue. Remain calm and don’t try to swim. Loss of body heat can be 10 times faster through the movements associated with swimming.

Hypothermia means that a person is losing body heat faster than he can produce it; but even in icy water it may take approximately an hour before a person becomes unconscious. (To learn more about surviving cold-water immersion, visit coldwaterbootcamp.com.) If you cannot get out of the water and help is not immediately available, draw your knees to your chest and wrap your arms across your chest (hugging your life jacket) in the Heat Escape Lessening Posture (H.E.L.P.), protecting the critical areas of heat loss. If others are in the water with you, huddle together with your arms around each other, both to conserve body heat and create a larger target to spot in the water.


Don’t Boat Alone Especially in the Fall and Winter

 

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HOW THANKSGIVING EVOLVED

Posted On: November 23, 2016


Thanksgiving History

From fall feast to national holiday

The First Thanksgiving

The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast, to which they invited the local Wampanoag Indians.

 

A New National Holiday

 

By the mid–1800s, many states observed a Thanksgiving holiday. Meanwhile, the poet and editor Sarah J. Hale had begun lobbying for a national Thanksgiving holiday. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, looking for ways to unite the nation, discussed the subject with Hale. In 1863 he gave his Thanksgiving Proclamation, declaring the last Thursday in November a day of thanksgiving.

 

In 1939, 1940, and 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt, seeking to lengthen the Christmas shopping season, proclaimed Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November. Controversy followed, and Congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 decreeing that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November, where it remains.

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WHY NOT GIVE A CLICK THIS HOLIDAY SEASON

Posted On: November 21, 2016


This Holiday season, why not GIVE A CLICK?

 It’s the holiday season, shop ‘til you drop, deal with the stress and figure out which charities you may be donating to this year.   Between all the baking, and shopping, why not find some peace by sitting down and going online?

Ever notice all the fund me and crowdfunding projects on Facebook I’m sure you’ve seen them. But, what is this crowdfunding all about?!

Can YOU really donate my money this way or is this a scam?

Crowdfunding is an emerging practice of funding a project or venture by raising numerous small amounts of money from a large number of people. Typically this is done via the Internet.  This means that crowdfunding empowers nonprofit organizations to conveniently raise donations via mobile, social and online networks of volunteers, donors, and staff. These donations happen in real time with 0% transaction fees.

Crowdfunding allows for a personal connection. You get to connect with a project or venture that excites you and captures your imagination.   On top of this connection you also get to make the donation in the easiest way possible. No more writing a check or filling out a form! You now easily get to click to donate via your phone, tablet, computer or other devices.

In fact, crowdfunding has been such a favored form of giving that the fundraising volume in 2015 was $34 Billion! Not to mention, this industry is projected to grow to over $300 billion by 2025.

So find a charity, a cause, a person, anything you like, and Give A Click….. and feel better this Holiday season!!

 

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HEADING SOUTH?

Posted On: November 16, 2016

With the cooler temperatures, many of you are getting ready to head south and to the islands. The Zika virus is still present out there, so take a few precautions and stay healthy.

Here’s some tips from the CDC.

 What can travelers do to prevent Zika?

There is no vaccine or medicine for Zika. You can protect yourself by preventing mosquito bites:

  • Cover exposed skin by wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants.
  • Use EPA-registered insect repellents containing DEET, picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus (OLE, also called para-menthane-diol [PMD]), IR3535, or 2-undecanone (methyl nonyl ketone). Always use as directed.
    • Pregnant and breastfeeding women can use all EPA-registered insect repellents, including DEET, according to the product label.
    • Most repellents, including DEET, can be used on children older than 2 months. (OLE should not be used on children younger than 3 years.)
  • Use permethrin-treated clothing and gear (such as boots, pants, socks, and tents). You can buy pre-treated clothing and gear or treat them yourself.
  • Stay in places with air conditioning and window and door screens to keep mosquitoes outside.
  • Sleep under a mosquito bed net if air conditioned or screened rooms are not available or if sleeping outdoors.
  • Mosquito netting can be used to cover babies younger than 2 months old in carriers, strollers, or cribs to protect them from mosquito bites.

Many people infected with Zika virus do not feel sick. If a mosquito bites an infected person while the virus is still in that person’s blood, it can spread the virus by biting another person. If you travel to The Bahamas, you should take steps to prevent mosquito bites for 3 weeks after your trip, even if you don’t feel sick, so that you don’t spread Zika to uninfected mosquitoes that can spread the virus to other people.

If you have visited The Bahamas and have a pregnant partner, you should either use condoms or not have sex during the pregnancy.

If you are thinking about pregnancy, talk with your health care provider and wait to become pregnant You also should use condoms after travel to protect your sex partners from Zika even if you are not pregnant or trying to become pregnant.

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RISKING IT FOR WHAT?

Posted On: November 14, 2016




I see many boats damaged by hasty, unprofessional, winterizing. Many boats are damaged, some even destroyed every year because the systems aren't given the attention they deserve. While everybody knows that the engine and freshwater system must be winterized, there are many small but critical jobs that should be done that tend to go unaddressed. 

Was the engine intake sea strainer drained? Have biminis and dodgers been stored inside? Is the boat blocked properly for storage?

I could go on and on.

Look your boat is a major investment, are you going to take a chance of ruining everything to save (not if you do it wrong) a few dollars in winterizing your boat without a professional?

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THE BEGINNINGS OF THE MODERN COAST GUARD AUXILLIARY

Posted On: November 09, 2016

Ernest Hemingway was perhaps the most famous of the citizen force, patrolling the waters of the Florida Straits on board his fishing vessel Pilar

With Veterans Day rapidly approaching, learn how a ragtag armada of everyday boating heroes kept World War II from America's coastline and became what we know today as the modern U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary. Here's the story by Troy Gilbert.

From sailors to fishermen to power-boaters, ordinary citizens rose and volunteered themselves and their boats on every coastline of the U.S. becoming an integral defense force for the nation.

During a hot summer night in June 1942, the German submarine U-166 took aim at a U.S. Coast Guard patrol vessel escorting the passenger ship SS Robert E. Lee about 25 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Within an hour, the passenger ship would join the 56 other ships sunk off the northern Gulf Coast during World War II. Nearly 100 lives were lost on the SS Robert E. Lee, and the Coast Guard escort ship would claim the only sinking of a German submarine off the southern U.S. coastline.

In July 2014, the man who discovered the wreck of the Titanic, Robert Ballard, and a team of scientists aboard his exploration vessel Nautilus conducted a research expedition to study the long-term effects of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. In the process, they documented many of these stricken World War II vessels, and a lost chapter in American maritime history emerged. Using remotely operated underwater vehicles equipped with high-definition cameras, many of these never-before-seen wrecks, some resting more than 5,000 feet deep, finally came in from the shadows and illuminated the straits in which the United States found itself during the early stages of the war. It was a situation that led to recreational boaters charging onto the frontlines to defend the country.

In 1941 after six U-boats managed to sink 41 ships in the targeted waters of the East Coast and the Florida Straits, a second, larger operation code-named Drumbeat was launched by the German navy, the Kriegsmarine. At the time, many U.S. citizens were still ignoring the calls for coastal blackouts by the government, which meant that the freighters and tankers that moved along the shores at night were conveniently silhouetted for the German navy. Taking advantage of that, an armada of 22 U-boats approached the U.S. coastline and the attacks were constant. In March 1942 alone, 70 American ships were lost to the U-boats on the U.S. East Coast and Gulf Coast, in what the Nazis terrifyingly referred to as the "American hunting season." This ongoing attack was kept largely secret from the American people by the U.S. government, which didn't want to admit how thinly stretched and outclassed the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard were at this stage of the war — this despite several of the tankers exploding and burning for hours in plain view of port cities and their populations.

Finally, after many of the vital fuel ships supplying the Northeast were sunk, the oil and gas industry informed the U.S. War Department that the burgeoning war economy would grind to a halt from a lack of fuel in only nine months. There were 19 U-boats operating daily along the coastline; the U.S. government was under pressure, and at something of a loss, to counter the serious threat. At the time, the U.S. Navy was still ramping up the building of new warships, while the existing vessels were occupied with convoy patrols to England and with fending off the Japanese in the Pacific.

That was the critical moment when a surprising ragtag fleet of recreational boaters, the owners of schooners and powerboats, stepped forward. Immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a small group of skippers offered up their personal boats for anti-submarine operations along the American coastlines, and these "coastal picket forces," made up entirely of civilian volunteers, eventually laid the groundwork for what became the modern-day Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Ernest Hemingway and the crew on board his 38-foot fishing boat, Pilar, were the most famous examples of this citizen force; Hemingway patrolled the Florida Straits in search of German U-boats while armed with only grenades and Thompson submachine guns. While Hemingway's actions certainly added to his legacy, he also gave a symbolic face to the thousands of American yachtsmen and yachtswomen volunteering their time and vessels to defend the coastline of the United States and the vital supply lines through the Caribbean.

By August 1941, it was reported that nearly every yacht club along the East Coast had banded together to form a flotilla. This civilian navy fleet was a true sampling of the boating traditions around the country, from yacht owners in the Northeast to shrimpers in the local flotilla toured the area on a 24-hour basis, enduring storms and the blazing heat of summer. Off the coast of Louisiana, a convoy of 126 shrimp boats had crew members on constant watch for submarines while continuing to bring in their hauls of Gulf shrimp.

The flotillas also became vital in rescuing seamen from torpedoed vessels, freeing up the Coast Guard to actively hunt marauding U-boats. In one instance, when a Mexican tanker lay engulfed in flames and rapidly sinking just off the beaches of Miami, hundreds of citizens watching in horror witnessed the local flotilla "drive their little boats right into the flames" to retrieve survivors.

 

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WHAT IS SCOPE?

Posted On: November 07, 2016


The Scoop On Scope

Scope is often defined as the ratio of the length of deployed anchor rode to the depth of the water. Wrong! Scope calculations must be based on the vertical distance not from the sea bottom to the surface of the water, but from the sea bottom to the bow chock or roller where the anchor rode comes aboard. For example, if you let out 30 feet of anchor rode in six feet of water, you may think you have a 5:1 scope, but if your bow roller is four feet above the waterline, your scope is actually 3:1.

Scope is required to keep the pull on the anchor horizontal. The more upward pull on the anchor, the more likely it is to break free. Minimum scope for secure anchoring is 5:1. Seven-to-one is better where you have the room. A length of chain between the line and the anchor (at least 20 feet) also helps to keep the pull horizontal.

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