- Cruising South - USA & ICW - for snowbirds going cruising.
- Flotsam: Knots, Flags includes Bowline video and Highwayman's knot. Not your normal knots.
- Pat's Converter (save page for offline use) or our printable table for Distance and Speed conversions for conversions of knots (nautical miles per hour used in sailboats), statute miles per hour (powerboat speedometers), and kilometres per hour (on Canadian waterway speed signs).
- How to lock through a lockstation on the inland canals and heritage waterways.
- Useful information on shipping a boat from Britain is included in this personal account of moving to Canada.
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Here's a quick way to get someone back on board. I suggest adding a third rope for the person in the water to grab!
- Navigation tools and techniques
- Discussion of how a compass needle works
- Metres to Feet conversion - table convert 1-20 metres to feet
- Boat security is important, especially if you travel to places you are not familiar with.
- Remember the international rule "Red-Right-Returning" which means that the red buoys are on your right hand when returning towards a harbor (or upstream) from seaward. Some people who cruise the canal frequently, install little red and green "reminders" by their wheel so they don't get confused at Newboro locks, where they switch around.
- Keep your chart in the plastic sleeve it comes in. Make an "arrow" out of masking tape and move it along the chart to keep track of where you are.
- Bottom wax product that can replace anti-fouling paint? Try good old Carnuba wax (Tre-wax), a hard wax lasts for ages.
- If you are approaching a harbour exposed to onshore winds in late afternoon, the waves coming into the shoaling water in the harbor can be quite exciting compared to further out. Before you venture into the harbor, secure your gear and your CREW. (I don't want to scare you, but a friend vowed never to go to Kingston again after becoming airborn and breaking bones!)
- Read Tom's cruising and fishing tips.
