Grant Headifen

About Grant Headifen

My vision for NauticEd is to provide the highest quality sailing and boating education available - and deliver competence wherever sailors live and go.

Entries by Grant Headifen

Latitude and Longitude

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The latitude and longitude coordinate system is the key navigational concept for boating. It is the mariner’s coordinate system.

Engine Maintenance

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Maintenance of the engine and associated components are an essential part of being a boat owner and skipper of the vessel.

Engine and House Systems

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Perhaps the most important use of DC power on a vessel is for starting the engine. Thus, it is prudent to always assign one “isolated” battery or bank of batteries for the sole purpose of starting the engine and assign another battery or bank of batteries to “the house”.

Electric Devices and Standards

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A word of caution whenever using any home AC appliances on a vessel. Generally, these devices will work fine at first, but in a marine environment, they are subject to corrosion due to the salt air.

Sea Anchor

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Finally, there is something called a “sea anchor.” These can be a variety of devices used to slow down a vessel caught in high winds and turbulent seas.

GPS

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GPS stands for global positioning system. It uses a network of satellites in orbit.

Understanding Water Depth

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While water can be dangerous, so can the stuff that lies below it. Thus it is important to know, for sure, how close it is to fragile stuff on the bottoms of out boat such as the propeller and rudder if fitted.