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Sailing
Questions about wind-propelled water vessels, their maintenance, handling and rules governing their use.
2,485 Questions
Can used tires be used as ballast in sailing ships?
Wind tries to push the sailing ship over. Ballast, as you know, tries to keep the sailing ship upright. Here's how:
Floating boats have buoyancy, water pushing the ship up, gravity pushing it back down. If buoyancy is greater than the pull of gravity, the ship floats. But, because the ship has weight, it sinks a little into the water, making some of the water move away. The sailing ship is said to displace that water. By the way, the amount of water that is displaced (moved away) will weigh the exact same as the weight of the sailing ship! So, people will refer to the ship's displacement rather than how much it weighs.
Because of the upward push of the water is greater than the downward pull of gravity, we have what is called the centre of bouyancy. Usually, it is quite high, inside the hull of the sailing ship. But gravity's pull also has a centre, too. That is usually lower inside the hull of the sailing ship. In fact, the lower that centre of gravity is OR the higher the centre of buoyancy is, the better. The distance between the two centres is called the sailing ship's metacentric height. The larger the metacentric height, the more a sailing ship will "want" to stay right-side-up.
Rubber (which tires are made of) does not weight very much compared to lead (the metal.) 100 pounds of tires will weigh the exact same as 100 pounds of lead. The thing is, however, 100 pounds of tire (tyre) will probably take up as much space for about two tires. One hundred pounds of lead, on the other hand, will probably fit in your hands... yes, still weighing 100 pounds!
So, if you only have 3 or 4 cubic feet to put ballast in, you want to get as much weight in that volume as you can. Two tires can fit into 4 cubic feet which, as I said, is about 100 pounds (in a small sailing ship, eh?) However, in 4 cubic feet of lead, that should be in the thousands of pounds! That will, of course, bring the centre of gravity way down near the bottom of the sailing ship. This will be much further away from the centre of buoyance and, therefore, give a much bigger metacentric height (the two centres will be further apart, vertically.) The larger the metacentric height, the more stronger the sailing ship will be in remaining upright.
Yes, you can use tires (tyres) as ballast, but lead would be very much better. (Lead is also more expensive than rubber. Ship builders have been known to use steel plates, steel nails, or even, sometimes, concrete! Both are much more efficient at getting the centre of gravity down low compared to rubber. But the best is lead.
Who said you are sure as the sun sets that you can reach the indies by sailing west?
Christopher Colombus
With the warmer weather finally here both new and experienced sailors will be taking to the water. Included in the list of equipment that newer sailors will be learning about prior to setting sail is the boom vang. The boom vang prevents the sail from billowing out, twisting, and spilling while sailing downwind.
If you see a red a green and white light in another boat what does this tell you?
The red (port) and green (starboard) are running lights and can tell you which direction the boat is heading in low visibility conditions. Remember the phrase, "red right returning," which means if the red light is on the right, the boat is returning, or headed towards you. The white light can be a masthead light or a sternlight, and its requirements vary depending on boat length and whether you're operating under international or inland rules.
Many nations were represented by the many explorers who sailed in 1497.
What are triangular sails called?
One type is the "lateen sail", but there are also jibs; Genoa & spinnaker.
Captain Nat Herreshoff, one of America's famous and talented builders of classic sailboats once said, "There are only two colors to paint a boat, black or white, and only a fool would paint a boat black."
Assuming You are referring to an Outboard motor: A "tiller" motor is one that has the "handle" if you will, connected to the unit, to control the motor ie the throttle and steer while sitting in the back of the boat. An outboard that runs controls and a steering wheel to a different part of the boat I believe is referred to as a "remote."
What does it mean for a book to say that someone stood in the bows of a boat?
The 'bow' of a boat is the pointy bit at the front! So to "stand in the bows of a boat" simply means that the person has gone to the front of the boat and is standing as far forward as they can get. Colloquial English uses the phrase 'IN the bows' rather than 'AT the bows' but means the same thing.
What country did Marquette sail to?
French explorer Jacques Marquette sailed to America in 1666. Jacques Marquette mapped the northern area of the Mississippi River.
If you are operating a powerboat at night your green side light must be visible to boats approaching over an arc of the horizon 112.5 degrees and so fixed as to show the the light from right ahead to 22.5 degrees abaft of the beam on its respective side.
How many sailboats are there in the US?
about 45,000 sailing plesureboats in the u.s. most in fort lauderdale or in south Texas but freshwater is only bout 1,000
I do not think the answer above is accurate. There were over 13 million registered boats in the United States in 2002. I find it doubtful that only 45,000 of them were sailboats.
Here's a quick look at the top 20 states and the total number of boats registered in each:
- 1. California 1,051,606
- 2. Michigan 1,000,337
- 3. Florida 922,597
- 4. Minnesota 834,974
- 5. Wisconsin 650,280
- 6. Texas 624,390
- 7. New York 529,732
- 8. Ohio 413,276
- 9. Illinois 398,431
- 10. South Carolina 383,971
- 11. Pennsylvania 357,729
- 12. North Carolina 353,625
- 13. Louisiana 327,272
- 14. Missouri 325,717
- 15. Georgia 325,135
- 16. Washington 266,717
- 17. Alabama 264,191
- 18. Tennessee 259,235
- 19. Virginia 243,590
- 20. Mississippi 199,037
Head for tide / Stem the tide. Have both anchors out of hawse pipe i.e ready for let go (deployment).
Let go / walk back windward anchor.
Use engine at a very slow speed (Dead slow ahead) & continue pay out cable. Speed over ground to be minimum for not to strain the windlass & cable.
Once paid out about double of the cables (eg 10 shackles for final 5 on each), engine to be stopped.
As V/l commences falling back with the tide, commence heaving on the windward anchor AND Let go / Walk back leeward anchor.
Continue heaving on windward anchor & walking back leeward anchor till final position is achieved i.e say 5 shackles on each anchor.
Running moor is just opposite operation of standing moor but it is more controlled operation as engine is used (The standing moor can be done without the use of engine as first anchor is deployed at upstream.) The other advantage of running moor is that the final turning circle is believed to be lesser than that of a standing moor.
Mind you both running & standing moor is done to minimise the swinging arcs.
Bon Voyage.
Why are the sails on sailboats white?
Not all of the sails are white only sails made out if Dacron are white. But sails made out of carbon are black.
What does it mean when a ship keels?
I believe the complete term is "keel over". This sometimes referred to as a knockdown. If the keel turns straight up out of the water, your boat has "turned turtle". If a large wave turns your boat over end-to-end, you have been "pitch-poled". These conditions are usually cause by rogue winds, rogue waves, or lack of attention to the sails and weather conditions. They do not necessarily mean that the boat will sink.
Another take:"Keeling" is a malaprop -- it's not really a word. People often say "keeling" when they mean heeling. When a boat heels, it tilts laterally, with the wind.
The term "keeling over" is something else: it refers to a position when the boat shows its keel; the bottom-most part of the boat, which means it's turned turtle or gone upside down. So "keel over" is a legitimate term; keeling is not.
What are the ropes that support and control the sails of a ship called?
The "ropes" that raise or lower the sails are called HALYARDS and the "ropes" that control the sails are called SHEETS. Halyards are the lines (ropes) that raise sails. Downhauls lower them (note that they are not always included as gravity does usually help out, though they are sometimes necessary). Sheets are used to pull the bottom corner of a sail aft (or towards the "stern" or back of the ship). Tacks pull them forward (ie towards the "bow" or front of the ship). Square sails also have lines that are used to douse (square sails are often "lowered" by pulling them up, and set by letting them fall down as they are attached on the top edge by a long horizontal spar called a yard) or to reef them (decreasing the sail area in cases of heavier wind) These are the buntlines, clewlines, reeflines, and reefing points. The yards that hold square sails up also need to be able to turn, and lines attached at their ends called braces pull either the port or starboard (left or right) end of the yard aft. There are, of course, many more however these are probably the most important.
