Seasickness

Seasickness is a condition caused by the confusion between different parts of the balance mechanism in the body. It occurs when the brain receives conflicting signals from the inner ear’s vestibular system, which senses motion and gravity, and other sensory inputs like vision. This sensory mismatch leads to symptoms such as nausea, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue3. Seasickness is a common issue for individuals on boats due to the conflicting signals received by the brain when the body registers motion but the eyes perceive stability.

Appropriate Freeboard

High freeboard improves buoyancy with no decrease in hull speed. Sailboats at rest with low freeboard only look faster than many of their high freeboard counterparts. Unless the boat has the general shape of a log, the heel of the vessel increases the freeboard presented to the wind. High freeboard presented to the wind when…

Lisbon Stop Over

US Sailors who cruise are different than those who just race.  A US pure racing sailor views sailing as a competition between human athletes with the vessel being equipment.  A US cruising sailor views the crew as components of the vessel required to make it seaworthy.  These views have implications in crew selection and training.…

Tsunami Resistant Basin at Crescent City, CA

The Inner Harbor Boat Basin at Crescent City, CA was extensively damaged  by the March 11, 2011 earthquake off Sendai, Japan. Several dozen vessels and many docks were destroyed by wave cycles related to the earthquake-caused tsunami. These exceeded 8 feet (2.4 m). See the video below. May 2014 We visited the Crescent City Harbor District during a road…

Long Keels Less Seaworthy

Time to wake up! This happens all the time I’ve seen people discussing liferafts and such, but for me this big issue here is keels. The four crew on Cheeki died because the boat’s keel fell off, probably very suddenly, and this is not, as some have suggested, an unusual occurrence. It is frighteningly common. Modern fin…

Water Ballast

According to Sailing Today, September 2000 page 83, Van de Stadt’s Dehler 25 sloop bested MacGregor Yachts by a year or so in the use of water ballast. The German Dehler 25s were produced from 1984 to 1991 and water ballast was reported in the US to be used for trailering reasons and cost savings. With the Van…