Boating and Sailing.pdf - Moja ladja

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Part 1: Getting Started in Boating
Elusive, metallic creatures known as bonefish spend a good part of their time in water
barely deep enough to float a tadpole. They are as neurotic as turkeys the day before
Thanksgiving, ready to speed for deep water at the bump of an oar against a gunnel, very
difficult to fool, and inedible when caught. In the per-
Boater-ese
Draft refers to the depth
from the waterline to the deepest
portion of the keel. It measures
the minimum depth in which a
boat can operate without going
aground.
Boat Bytes
The NMMA is both a boating
industry booster and
watchdog. It includes thousands
of companies that
build boats, motors, and
accessories, and it also helps to
set boating standards for construction
and safety. Their
address is 200 East Randolph
Drive, Suite 5100, Chicago, IL
60601; 312-946-6200;
www.nmma.org.
verse way of anglers, they are considered wonderful
game fish. Similarly obnoxious species include the permit
and the six-foot-long tarpon, also avidly chased by
flats anglers.
Flats boats are stealth fighters devised to sneak up on
these species. Most have a nearly flat bottom (the boats,
not the fish) to give them a shallow draft.
Flats rigs have low freeboard so that they don’t catch
the wind and drift excessively. Lengths range from 15
to 21 feet. Center or side consoles are common,
although some are simply operated from near the transom
via a tiller. Prices range from $7,000 to as much as
$45,000 for special lightweight models with particularly
shallow draft.
Leisure Afloat: Cruisers, Trawlers, and
Houseboats
For those who can afford them, these floating houses
turn boating into a much more leisurely, even luxurious,
affair that those not into salt in the hair and sardines in
the swimsuit can appreciate.
Cruisers and trawlers differ from houseboats in that they have deeper-draft hulls and are
more suited to taking on offshore waters and big inlets. They also usually have more
power and more seaworthy fittings. Consequently, they’re expensive, with prices starting
at about $1,500 per foot and going into the stratosphere.
Cruisers have planing hulls, which means they offer speeds not possible with displacement
hulls. They’re often equipped with twin engines and can cruise at better than 20 mph,
reaching maximum speeds, with adequate power, of near 40 mph. The level of interior
finish can be superb in these boats, and the prices reflect the quality fittings. Lengths
from 30 to 55 feet are common, with prices from $80,000 to several million dollars.
Trawlers nearly always have displacement hulls, rounded bottoms where speed is limited
by the waterline length. No matter how much power you put on a round-bottomed
trawler, it still chugs along at a speed somewhere south of 10 knots. This means you need