SailMaster - December 2009 Issue
Welcome to the
December Issue of SailMaster - StartedSailing.com's Monthly Ezine, filled with information on tips, tricks, techniques to improve your sailing as well as stories and my experiences this month!
Welcome to our new subscribers! We welcome you and look forward to you being a part of our growing sailing community!
If you like this Ezine, please 'pay it forward'. Pass it along to a friend or family member who is interested in Sailing/Boating/Yachting. They will thank you for it! To pass it on just email them and ask them to look at "https://www.startedsailing.com/sailmaster-191209.html".
If a friend forwarded this to you, and you like what you read, please subscribe by visiting..."https://www.startedsailing.com/ezine.html".
Best Regards
Alex Dotsch
In This Issue...
If you don't have time to read the whole ezine, click on the topic that interests you. This month you will find:
Editor's Note
Thank you for reading the December Issue of SailMaster.
Well we are now back in the cold wintery months where only absolute sailing extremists will try and go out and have a good time. I am among those select few who embrace sailing during the colder months, but try doubly hard not to capsize!
I have unfortunately been ill with a cold and so have been unable to sail this week, but will sail in the new year. I will also not be updating this website over Christmas, since I will be in snowy Kent, enjoying the holiday, so don't expect any changes until 2010.
The biggest update to StartedSailing is new forum, which took a few days to build up. I removed the old stagnant forum and made a new one, combining Ask The Expert and Sailing Stories as well as adding a few from the old forum. I also moved posts and topics from the old forum to the new one and it has resulted in a good looking forum that I hope everyone will use.
It is also this website's one year aniversary on the 5th January, when I first uploaded the first few pages on this website. It has grown and grown leaps and bounds since then, with over 150 pages written by me on sailing, plus over 200 visitor contributions and over 110 newsletter subscribers such as yourself. Current traffic numbers are around 250 unique visitors a day, although after Christmas, I expect a rise, which means more visitor contributions and more of a community being built.
I do plan on adding more bits and pieces to StartedSailing.com, but I will begin to reduce the amount of time spent on it as I start my A level exams.
I am always looking for ways to improve the site. If you see any errors or would like to contribute in any way, please contact me!
Till Next Month,
Alex Dotsch
Exclusive Article - How To Sail In A Lake Filled With Weed
From June till around now in Late December, there has been a serious weed problem in the Welsh Harp and other reservoirs and lakes. This has caused chaos for the sailing, since it is so difficult to remove the weed, due to enviromentalists and bird watchers not allowing the weed to be removed due to habitat destruction concerns.
This year has been the first time the weed has been a problem. Some people are saying this is a result of global warming, which has produced a warmer summer and so a better breeding enviroment for the weed.
For those people who have tried to sail in weed invested lakes, I feel your pain. For those who don't know what to do, here is an action guide to sailing in weedy water.
Use a non-fixed rudder so that when you hit weed, it comes up and stops you getting stuck
Lift up the centreboard and check your rudder every few minutes. Even a small amount of weed can reduce your speed by a lot. Another clear sign of weed on the boat is floating sideways or being overtaken by everyone else.
Get or build a week stick, which you can use to remove weed from the rudder. It should be made of water resistant materials, be tough/hard and have wire at the end to aid in the weed removal.
Hopefully these tips will be useful, especially to those who decided not to sail due to the weed.
Funny of the Month
How To Get To Work In A Flood
New Pages on The Website
Sailboat Plans - An alternative to buying a boat or building from scratch, use sailboat plans!
See all the rest at my Started Sailing Blog!
Thank you for reading the December Issue of SailMaster! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please feel free to contact me with any questions about this issue.
If you enjoyed this issue of SailMaster, please feel free to send it to any friends or family and ask them to subscribe on my website.
Best Regards
Alex Dotsch
www.startedsailing.com
PS. Want to check out back issues of the SailMaster? - Click Here
Return from SailMaster December Issue to SailMaster Ezine
Return from SailMaster December Issue to Started Sailing
