Advice on stuff for my cruise

[Joe]

Unfortunately, Ross, you have....

...completely missed my point. I think 48dodge's comment may help illustrate it for you. Up til now, I have never considered this forum a waste of my time. I've always found it interesting, informative and entertaining. But.... well I've already addressed my concern.

 

[Bill Roosa]

Thanks Ross

I was doing my best deer in the headlights last night. You are of course correct.I guess what scares me the most about Kyle's post is that I can imagine someone actually being serious when they made it. And these folks are all around us while we are out on the water!

 

[Ross]

Bill, Every now and then we do hear about

some ignorant and possibly stupid person being stopped by the Coast Guard when they have announced to the world that they are sailing to Europe in a 14 foot sears brand aluminum boat. I guess "Darwin Rules" could be applied but we as a society tend to watch out for fools and children.Joe, This is a very good forum populated by members who range from very experienced to those with virtually no experience. People with extensive book knowledge about sailing and almost no experience on the water to members with years of time on the water in all conditions and practically no understanding of the physics of why their boats sail or float. There are members who can't leave the dock if any of their electronics are not working, some have never owned a paper chart. Once in a while somebody will spoof us as a prank and will confess. Sometimes someone will post a question and vanish like the morning fog and we have no idea if our answers helped or not. Sometimes a very demanding visitor will tell us that he needs a part and demand a source. I suppose that you could pick and choose among the posters and reduce your frustration a little. But I am amused by the world and the variety of people that we get. Imagine if you will, if this forum were the basis for a TV night time soap. We have it all and no script writer could improve on it.

 

[Jack h23.5]

Actually, about tides..

In florida we sometimes have 3 highs then a low, and sometimes 3 lows then a high. Not sure what causes it, but sometimes the tide can be much lower 12 hours later. Last November I tied up a 6 pm high tide and woke up at midnight to check the lines and found high tide, followed by high tide at 6 am. Then rode the tide out at 9:00 down the anaclote river. Go figure.

 

[Ross]

Jack , the time has come for you to do a little

study about the tides. One tide each day is higher than the other. But on the east coast of Florida you always have two high tide and two low tides. These are always affected by the wind and can be made higher than predicted or lower than predicted. On the gulf coast most places have only one high tide and one low tide each day. These also are affected by the wind. During the full moon and the new moon we have what are called "spring" tide because the sun and the moon are either in conjunction or opposition and therefore have the greatest effect on the tides. If you have a GPS and click on celestial and then on tides you will see the difference in the heights of the tide predictions.

 

[TT23844]

Don't buy a boat

Kyle - Save your money ( & possibly your life) There are plenty of experienced skippers with well equipped boats that will take you sailing for a nominal fee for a few days to a week. That way you can enjoy & learn the answers to many of your questions (and many issues that you seem to be completely unaware of ) After you've experienced a few different boats at different locations etc you'll be in a much better position to ask the questions AND understand the answers.

 

[stimpy]

head-sail

Kyle...Stick with the sunfish and add a headsail! Don't forget a sleeping bag. I would go with an Apple shuffle for music... to cut down on weight.

 

[48dodge]

Weird tides.

"But on the east coast of Florida you always have two high tide and two low tides. These are always affected by the wind and can be made higher than predicted or lower than predicted. On the gulf coast most places have only one high tide and one low tide each day. These also are affected by the wind. During the full moon and the new moon we have what are called "spring" tide because the sun and the moon are either in conjunction or opposition and therefore have the greatest effect on the tides."We have odd tides here in Charleston, too. Between the 3 rivers, wind and the tide, you never really know what the tide level is going to do. High or low tide can be up to an hour off the scheduled tide due to the wind sometimes. Really messes up fishing. If the sun, moon and wind all hit just right, downtown will flood and my inlaws will get water up over their retaining wall.