Flag

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Mar 20, 2005
10
- - GCYC Hempstead Harbor NY
I have a few questions. How do you determine the size flag to fly? Is it about 10' of boat to 1' of flag? I have a 30' Hunter with a ysb12 diesel. When sailing should the gear shift be in neutral, foward or reverse? I have heard mention of all three from different sources. And lastly has anyone come up with a novel way to cover the reef hooks so the jack lines don't foul on them upon hauling the main?
 

Joe

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Jun 1, 2004
8,304
Catalina 27 Mission Bay, San Diego
National ensign...

Customarily, allow 1 inch of flag length for 1 foot of boat length... rounding off to the nearest size. For your thirty footer a 20x30 inch flag would be appropriate, but larger is okay. Just a reminder, that the national ensign is a designation of your boat's nationality (not a political statement) and it is always flown from the position of honor, the stern. Don't fly it from the spreader flag halyard. (signal and host country courtesy flags are appropriate there) Also, take it down at night and don't leave it up when the boat is unattended. Your last 2 questions I'll leave for someone else.
 
F

Franklin

Reverse

Leave it in reverse unless you have a folding prop or a generator attached to your shaft.
 
A

Andre K. 1991 Hunter 30

Reverse

Always leave it in the reverse gear when sailing. dont forget to take it off the gear when you are starting the motor again. If you leave it in the forward gear , the transmission may still spin unnecesarily.
 
R

Rich

And a detail or two on the yacht ensign

I was fascinated by the yacht ensign, the Betsey Ross Flag with the fouled anchor in the middle, so let me share a piece or two on that... In the early 19th century the first American yachtsmen, mostly big-money guys with large square-riggers crewed by professionals, felt harassed because their vessels were indistinguishable from the working vessels of the day and they were constantly being visited by the customs boat at each new harbor they entered, with all of the expense and time that involved. Around 1846 They used their influence to get Congress to approve an ensign that yachts could fly to show the customs officer of the port that they were exempt from inspection. The use of this ensign was tied to documentation of the vessel until the 1990's, when the Coast Guard relaxed the rule so that all recreational vessels could fly it. The yacht ensign can be substituted for the national ensign, but only inside US territorial waters. Another piece of ensign history--the first national flag flown by the Continental Army at the siege of Boston was actually an ensign of the British East India Company, stolen by the Sons of Liberty from one of the tea ships during the Boston Tea Party. The Sons of Liberty and the British Soldiers facing them in Charlestown no doubt understood the political humor in that display of the ensign, but the rest of the Continentals, including General Washington, were outsiders and probably clueless about the whole thing. To this day history books on the US flag seem not to know about the Tea Party connection...
 
P

Paul Zetlmaier

How About This One!

This is SV "Luscious" Parading the colours up and down the Columbia River on the 4th. She was a grand sight! Luscious is a 53' Hunter berthed at the Portland Yacht Club
 
Jun 17, 2005
197
- - Kemah, Texas
Now thats PATRIOTISM !!!!P

PAUL..and his SV LUSCIOUS displays "OLD GLORY" the WAY WE ALL SHOULD >> with Glee, with Pride, with Honor, with Dignity, ETC. God Bless America !!! RESPONSE #5 below is what I CALL Awesome...way to go PAUL !!!
 
T

Tom S

Rich you are correct

You can mostly thank the rich fat cats from the New York Yacht Club back in the Mid 1800's here is a link to the story --> http://nyyc.org/popup.cfm?content=viewthenews&thenewsid=231 Now here is a picture of an American flag on a sailboat !! (In NY harbor for Sail America 1 year after 9-11 in 2002)
 
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Franklin

Tom

I think my dock neighbor knows that boat all too well. Memorial day weekend he was anchored near Galveston and he said a big heavy black boat got loose when a storm came rolling in and almost hit his boat, but did hit about 4 others before it stopped just feet from his. Said he had been looking for that boat at the yards (had to get repaired somewhere) to educate the guy on how to anchor and what to do when you break free. I notice that boat has a Texas flag on it so I wouldn't be surprised if that's it. Not that many black boats around that size.
 
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Tom S.

Franklin, I don't know. Maybe

Its a long sail from Texas to New York harbor, but I guess its possible that they sailed the boat up here for the "Sail For America" even back in 2002. Though just having the "lone star" fly on a boat does not always mean the boat is from Tx. There are a lot of transplants in the New York and its not uncommon to see them fly that. For instance here is even a bigger boat (can't tell from this picture) that was flying a huge Lone Star Spinnaker. (FYI -- thats my boat on the left flying the Red White and Blue Spinakker :) )
 
T

Tom S.

Franklin, I don't know. Maybe (this time w/photo)

Its a long sail from Texas to New York harbor, but I guess its possible that they sailed the boat up here for the "Sail For America" even back in 2002. Though just having the "lone star" fly on a boat does not always mean the boat is from Tx. There are a lot of transplants in the New York and its not uncommon to see them fly that. For instance here is even a bigger boat (can't tell from this picture) that was flying a huge Lone Star Spinnaker. (FYI -- thats my boat on the left flying the Red White and Blue Spinakker :) )
 
T

Tom S.

Franklin, I don't know. Maybe (this time w/photo)

Its a long sail from Texas to New York harbor, but I guess its possible that they sailed the boat up here for the "Sail For America" even back in 2002. Though just having the "lone star" fly on a boat does not always mean the boat is from Tx. There are a lot of transplants in the New York and its not uncommon to see them fly that. For instance here is even a bigger boat (can't tell from this picture) that was flying a huge Lone Star Spinnaker. (FYI -- thats my boat on the left flying the Red White and Blue Spinakker :) )
 
P

paul

Louis

You are right about Lucious; but she is not my boat.. did not want to leave any mis understandings. Her skipper (forgot his name) is in his 80s and a past commodor of the PYC If you can picture it; 15kts or so on a port tack through the anchored folks out for the Ft Vancouver Fireworks. Blasting a 10gauge signal cannon. Whoops and horns and pride you would think had disappeared from our lives!
 
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