__Dealing with debris______________________

Incoming ocean tides can churn up a lot of plant life underwater, filling the sea with bits of sea grasses. This gets caught onto the centreboard and rudder and collects on the control line. The model slows down, and in some cases can get bogged down completely. Not much you can do but retrieve the model, clear off the junk and start over. That same water will get cleared eventually as all the junk gets washed ashore, but that can take hours.

Lakes too, have the occasional bit of plant life floating around, the main thing to avoid is the lily pads and other plant life that you can see on or just below the surface.

The first tactic to use avoid the problem is to sail the model at closer range, you can practice your manoeuvring to avoid clumps of drifting plant life. When you start to run into trouble the model can be lifted up at the stern (using the line) to clear away clumps collected on the rudder. And if needed, grab and lift the model strait up to clear the board.

The centreboard needs to be raised back so that the model will slide over the debris. If the only place you have to sail is consistently full of junk, consider designing a rudder that would discourage ‘garbage collecting’ one that sweeps back at the leading edge and has a shallow draft. The control line will collect a lot of floating debris too. The way to clear the line without interrupting the models journey is to wade over to a position where the control line will form an arc in the water, and all the plant material will gather at the apex.

You then close in on the clump, grab onto both ends of the line with one hand, and grab onto the clump with the other and give it a quick tug. The plant debris is usually soft enough that the line will cut right through.

In tidal areas this process may need to be repeated over and over again, so prepare to be busy, if the shoal permits, and you are familiar with the waters, wade further out away from the shore where the water may be more clear. If it helps, imagine yourself sailing in the Sargasso Sea, and swear like a sailor.... arrrr!

___Safety precautions, courtesy and awareness___________

Some of this is covered in your kit instructions, but here I get into a little more detail with a few points to consider when you go sailing your model. Any activity in and around water should come with some precautions.

*Know your waters.
-This is a primary rule for sailing full size boats,and like so many other things, applies to sailing your model too. Almost all of your attention is going to be focussed on your model. Needless to say, avoid areas with sharp drop-offs. And avoid areas with rocky bottoms.
Shoal areas, at low tide can give you a clear view of what lies beneath once the tide comes in. These areas offer the best environment for getting the most out ofyour model. Ocean shoals with sandbars can be deceiving.
 I ventured out quite a distance once during a low tide and lost track of time (and the incoming tide) The shallow area that was once near shore was now over my head, and I had to do some swimming to get back. (I let the model I was using, sail ahead to the shore with the on shore breeze, trailing the line and spool behind it.)

*Wear protective footwear.
- Line control sailing is all about wading around in water. Do yourself a favour and invest in some good quality water shoes. I bought a cheap pair once that didn't last a month before they fell apart. Sandals are useless when you bump your toes into a rock. Be prepared though, for two tone feet.

*Protect yourself from the sun.
- Hat, shades, shirt, and at least 30 waterproof sun screen. Noon is the time to go have lunch, you will be surprised how much more space there is to have fun down at the local beach after 4pm and 10am. in the morning.

* Watch where you are going (and every one else too!).
-Kids (and adults) have a tendency to loose their sanity the minute they hit the water, becoming completely oblivious to what's going on around them. I've had lots of people crash right into me while I was standing in waist high water, in plain view, with no one else even near me!
Don't let the boat sail where it, and its line can interfere with other people's enjoyment of the water.

*Don't expect people to get out of your way, its up to you to stay out of theirs. Chances are that they have no idea what your doing, and more likely than not, have never seen a line control model sailboat. Sail your boat at close range when passing through areas that are in use.

The closest person in the water to your model should be you. Its tempting to let your model sail off long distances, but rewinding it back is going to takesome time. The further your model sails, the more space you should be aware of surrounding the model. You can retrieve your model using a spool at about the same speed as someone swimming or wading.

Lakes (fresh water)
- Leeches, mosquito bites, swimmers itch: not a problem in the ocean, but something to be aware of in lakes. After all the years spent in lake water, I have yet to have a leach attack, (luck, or maybe I just taste awful) ...so I can't speak with experience, but they latch on to you when you are standing still, you shouldn't pull the things off since they have their ugly little mouth sunk into your flesh, and this can cause an infection.
If you put a small flame to their butt with a cigarette (the only good thing you can say about smoking!) or a lighter they let go. Salt will also work. You may then give them their just desserts with sadistic glee.

West Nile virus carried by mosquitos is spreading across North America. A loose fitting T-shirt, and a hat sprayed with bug spray containing "deet" is recommended for mosquitos.

*Swimmers itch.
- I have found that sun screen works in areas where 'swimmers itch' can occur. Avoid areas with a lot of weeds. And avoid water where it is known to occur in the first place.
- What causes it? A schistosome pronounced 'shiss-toe-soam' it is a small, worm-like parasite that likes water snails, but will latch on to you too. They burrow into your skin when you come out of the water and quickly die. Their corpses then cause an allergic reaction and you develop an itchy rash. eww....gross! :- 0
- Still, don't go in the water above your knees if 'the itch' is rumoured to be there. You really don't want an itch ...you know where, And slather your legs and feet with sun screen (waterproof of course).
Once out of the water, dry off vigorously right away or take a shower and dry off quickly.

*Pollution
SHAME on us all for not being vigilant and taking on the responsibility of caring for our world. STOP VOTING for politicians who put economy before ecology! We can not buy a new planet! GET MAD and DO something about it! You have the power to make personal and political choices that can make a difference. (End of rant)
- Of course, not all pollution is caused by humans, a local lake I go to has, at times, closed its beach due to the high population of ducks and geese and the (ah-hem..) mess they leave behind.
Use polluted water at your own risk, don't swim in it, wading around in it may not be that harmful, but don't use it at all if you have even small scratches or open wounds, wash thoroughly your legs and feet afterwards.

__Traditional reckoning___________________

The terminology of sailing has stubborn, deep roots, well guarded by tradition. Perhaps it is a way of acknowledging that you know your stuff, everybody knows left from right, but port, starboard, broad and abaft?

The traditional reckoning terms used can be seen in the illustration. General directions of dead ahead and dead astern, meaning forward and behind. Abeam, port and starboard meant, directly left or right.
Both port or starboard were divided into quadrants; on the bow, forward beam, abaft (after) beam and quarter.
In between those foreward and abaft beam quadrants and the 'On' quadrants were designated as 'broad' as in 'broad' on the port bow and 'broad' on the port quarter.

To add more precision, each quadrant was divided into three points, the first point of each quadrant were next to each other.
Look again at the illustration. This was a clever way to compensate for errors when a ship may be tossing about in rough seas or amidst the confusion of battle.
(example) Three points on the port bow is not that different than three points forward on the port beam.
During the second world war, there was no time for learning awkward, traditional terms for quick reckoning. The US Navy adopted the clock method of reckoning, directions became hours, as if the ship were placed on the face of a giant clock pointing to noon, and its simplicity put it into popular use.
Three o'clock replaced 'on the starboard beam' one o'clock replacing 'two points on the starboard bow' etc.

__Apparent Wind___________________

Ever wonder, if a sailboat were travelling through the water, would a flag blow in the direction the wind was travelling, or would it blow back because the boat is moving forward? The answer is that the flag will point somewhere in between, this is known as apparent wind. If you were on a sailboat, it would be the wind that you would apparently feel. True wind is what you would feel if your boat were standing still.

Generated wind is the wind you would feel in a dead calm with the boat moving forward. In the example, you see boat "A" setting still, the wind is blowing a flag rigged on its forestay in the same direction as the wind. Once the boat begins to travel forward, as shown in boat "B" the flag points slightly back to its apparent wind direction.
Note: When your boat is moving, that ‘generated wind’ gets subtracted from the ‘true wind’ and so, the faster your model is going the less wind the model will ‘feel’ resulting in less heel. That same wind could cause a knockdown if the boat was not travelling as fast (with the same point of sail).

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