the anti~ PIRATE POTATO CANNON AND 101 Other Things for YOUNG MARINERS to Build, Try & Do ON THE WATER

By DAVID SEIDMAN, JEFF HEMMEL

The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 David seidman and Jeff Hemmel
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-07-162837-2

Contents

AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: “YES, OF COURSE, WHY NOT?”LEARN TO BODY SURFESCAPE A RIP CURRENTTHE SEA AND YOUR SENSESMAKE A SODA-BOTTLE WEATHERGLASSWE SAY, THEY SAYFIND FISH FASTSUPERIOR STONE SKIPPINGMAKE A SHIP IN A BOTTLESTOCK YOUR DITTY BAGBIG VOYAGES IN SMALL BOATSWHAT’S ON THE BOTTOM? MAKE A COLLECTING DREDGECLEAN AND FILLET A FISHCATCH A WORLD-RECORD FISHHEAVE-HO: HOW NOT TO GET SEASICKCREW (OR YOU) OVERBOARDKNOTS: THE BIG FOURYOU’RE NEVER TOO YOUNGPLAY A BOSUN’S PIPEDOGS ABOARDBUILD AN ANTI-PIRATE POTATO CANNONA HANGING AT SEALET’S GO CLAMMINGWHY BOATS FLOATHOW BOATS ARE DESIGNEDBUILD A HALF-HULL MODELREAD THE CLOUDSMAKE A DIVER’S TUBE RAFTNAME THAT WINDLEARN TO WATER-SKIDRIVE A 100-MPH BOATMAKE A VIEWING BUCKETHOW BIG ARE THOSE WAVES?RUN A MOTORIZED DINGHY THROUGH THE SURFGO SHARK WATCHING—SAFELYHOW TO HANDLE WAVESDON’T WRESTLE AN ALLIGATORWHERE’S THE WIND, SAILOR?FELINE FORECASTINGCATCH AND RELEASE A FISHPLAYING IN TRAFFICBUILD A BOATWEAVE A SAILORS’ BRACELETNAVIGATE BY SATELLITEWHEN DOES THE SUN SET?HAVE A BEACH CLAMBAKEGET UP ON A WAKEBOARDREPAIR A SAILCAPSIZED!SIGNAL WITH A CDPADDLE A SEA KAYAKWHAT’S OVER THE HORIZON?HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BEBE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR POLLUTIONRIDE A STAND-UP PERSONAL WATERCRAFTSUBMARINE A PERSONAL WATERCRAFTPASS YOUR BOATING EXAMSEND A MESSAGE IN A BOTTLEMAKE A PLANKTON NETA PROPER SAILOR’S KNIFEALL YOU NEED IS THE NORTH STARKNOW YOUR BINOCULARSA BOATERS’ OLYMPICSPADDLE A CANOEIS IT GOING TO RAIN?THE BEST WAY TO COIL A LINEFIVE SEA BATTLES YOU SHOULD KNOWROLL LIKE AN ESKIMOHOW FIBERGLASS BOATS ARE BUILTSAILBOAT RACE ON THE ROOFCOOK LUNCH ON YOUR ENGINEHOW DEEP IS IT?SEND SEMAPHORE SIGNALSA WALK TO THE ABYSSARE YOU NEARING LAND?HOW FAST ARE YOU GOING?BOATERS’ PAINTBALLNAVIGATE LIKE ANCIENT MARINERSKEEP WATCHWIN A SAILBOAT RACENAVIGATE WITH A KAMALMAKE YOUR OWN CHARTFEND OFF A SHARKROW A BOATDINGHY CRUISINGFIND THAT “LOST” BUOYCAREERS AT SEAMAKE A PADDLETHE YOUNG MARINER’S FILM LIBRARYDEEPWATER SLALOM SKI STARTA HOME FOR YOUR BOAT: MAKE A MOORINGTHE YOUNG MARINER’S READING LISTPUT YOUR SAILBOAT TO BEDCARVE A COOL SLALOM TURNSURVIVE AN AIR-SEA RESCUEMATCH YOUR SAILS TO THE WINDON-WATER PHOTOGRAPHYMAKE HUCK FINN’S PVC-PIPE RAFTAVOID BAD LUCKTHROW A CAST NETBUILD A DUGOUT CANOETHAT FARAWAY LOOK: ESTIMATE DISTANCE OFFWHO NEEDS A RUDDER?GO CRABBINGBUILD A WATERFRONT SWINGGPS GAMESBUILD A PAPER BOATBEGINNER-FRIENDLY WATER SKISCAST A FLYBAREFOOT WATERSKIINGKNOT TRICKSWATERSKIING PYRAMIDMAKE VIEWING GOGGLES FROM A SODA BOTTLEBREW YOUR OWN BIOFUELKEEP YOUR BOAT GREEN AND CLEANLEARN TO SCULLUSEFUL WEATHER RHYMESSURVIVE A HURRICANE AT SEAWIND FROM THE LAND AND SEAWIN A COOL BETMAKE A ROPE LADDERHEAVE A LINE AND MAKE A MONKEY’S FISTA COMPASS IN YOUR HANDFIND YOUR WAY WITH HELP FROM THE SUNSEAGOING TOILETSRIDE A DISKEYE-SPLICE A LINETIE UP TO A DOCKSEA WORDSCreditsIndexAuthors

Excerpt

CHAPTER 1

LEARN TO BODY SURF

You don’t need a surfboard to catch a wave. Your own body can do the trick.Ideal bodysurfing waves are anywhere from 1 to 4 feet, breaking on a gentlysloping beach that allows would-be surfers to wade in comfortably. Avoid thecrashing surf that you’ll find on beaches with a sharp drop-off. Here’s how toget started:

1. Start in about chest-deep water, watching seaward as the waves come in. Spenda few moments getting a feel for the waves’ timing, figuring out where theybreak. You want to be waiting just outside that point, so that as you startswimming, the wave reaches you just before it breaks.

2. When you’re ready to go, push off with your feet in the direction of thewave, using a swimmer’s crawl to gain momentum. In deeper water, try swim fins;they’ll give you that added burst of speed required to get into position.

3. Once the wave begins to propel you forward, stop stroking and extend yourarms forward, continuing to kick with your feet.

That “Yes!” moment comes when you actually surf the wave, rather than simplyflounder your way through the movements. Aim downward. This changes your centerof balance and allows gravity to push you down the wave face. Once you’reskimming down the face, your head and shoulders will naturally rise, and you’llbegin to plane on your chest like a human surfboard.

Avoid heading straight at the beach. Think like a real surfer and angle acrossthe wave’s face in the direction it breaks, extending your inside arm, palmdown, so that it glides across the surface of the water.

ESCAPE A RIP CURRENT

Regular beachgoers have probably heard of rip currents. These are nothing totake lightly. They happen when breaking waves strike a beach with such force andfrequency that water piles up on the beach and is then pulled back out to seainto the troughs of approaching waves. Rip currents can be extremely dangerous,especially when weather conditions have heightened wave action. The currents areresponsible for roughly four out of every five surf-zone rescues.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), ripcurrents are most likely to form around low spots or breaks in sandbars, andaround structures like piers, jetties, or the “groins” that typify erosion-preventionprojects. The currents can extend out through the surf line, in somecases hundreds of yards offshore.

Your best defense is to learn to recognize the signs of being caught in a ripcurrent. Usually you’ll notice that you’re being pulled out and away from thebeach or farther away from a landmark. The most important thing is not to panicand “fight” the current by trying to make your way back to shore. In most cases,it’s a losing battle. Instead, swim (or paddle, if you’re on a surfboard)parallel to the shoreline until you’re out of the rip current, then angle yourway back to shore. Sight a location on land to determine which direction you’reactually moving.

If you can’t get out of a rip current, conserve your energy and tread water, oreven float. Allow the current to dissipate, then swim back to shore. If you’retoo far out, try to catch the attention of a lifeguard or someone on the beachby waving your arms and shouting if possible.

Experienced Young Mariners can learn to identify the “look” of a rip current.Watch for what looks like a channel of choppy water or a noticeable differencein water color. You can also look for the movement of seaweed, debris, or seafoam heading out to sea. Many coastal areas publish a daily rip current outlookin surf-zone forecasts. Find them online atwww.ripcurrents.noaa.gov/forecasts.shtml.

THE SEA AND YOUR SENSES

Ask those who have spent time at sea and they’ll have plenty of creepy stories.But all the odd things that seem to go on usually have a straightforwardexplanation.

For example, the moon can look like it’s rapidly flying across the sky. Whenseen behind fast-moving, broken clouds, the moon appears to be moving—notthe clouds. Without a point of reference, our sense of motion is thrown off. Youcan also get the same feeling from objects on the water. When a large freighterpasses slowly behind a buoy, you can get the impression that the buoy has comeloose from its mooring and is drifting in the opposite direction.

Another phenomenon is the “dancing lighthouse.” If you closely watch a fixedpoint of light in a blackened room for a few minutes, the light will appear tomove. Imperceptible (at first) movements of your eyes or even minute changes inthe tension of your eye muscles cause this. The brain then interprets this asmotion since there are no points of reference in the dark. This is why youshould never stare at a far-off light at sea, such as a lighthouse. Not onlywill the light seem to move, but its characteristics may seem to change as well.It is best to scan your eyes back and forth slowly to prevent strain, and to useyour light-sensitive peripheral vision.

Lights can also change colors unexpectedly. A buoy’s green light can initiallyappear to be yellow when far off, and you may think you have found a white lightinstead. This is because green light is made up of blue and yellow. Since theshortwave blue light is more easily diffused, the yellow is often all you see.Then, too, buoys with white lights may have a reddish glow when first sighted.White light contains all colors. So when the shortwave greens and blues arefiltered out, you’re left with yellows and reds.

Colors can throw you off in other ways. A red ship will appear closer than ablue one. But during twilight the opposite is true, with blue objects appearingcloser. This is because after your eyes have become accustomed to the dark theyare more sensitive to blue than to red. This is why red buoys seem to turn blackas night approaches.

Your ears can fool you as well. Those who have been to sea likely will tell youthey’ve heard voices calling to them. Your brain has a constant filteringprocess that selects frequencies of greater significance from the backgroundnoise. Without this, conversation would be impossible. At night when you’retired and open to suggestion, your brain can pick out combinations offrequencies within the noise of the wind and waves that sound like voices.

MAKE A SODA-BOTTLE WEATHERGLASS

A weather glass is a simple type of barometer that was first made inHolland during the 16th century and remained in use on land and in ships untilthe 20th century. The classic weatherglass is a glass pitcher-shaped objectpartially filled with colored water that has a narrow, upturned tube leadingfrom its bottom to a point just above the water level. Because the tube is theonly opening, the water effectively seals the air in the top of the glassreservoir from the outside. Changes in the atmospheric pressure compress orexpand the trapped air and push the water up or down the tube.

You’d have to be a skilled glassblower to make one of these old-fashionedweatherglasses, but you can make one from a plastic soda bottle. Not only isthis easier to do, it is also a lot more rugged, while being just as accurate.This weatherglass also has the virtues of being inexpensive and maintenancefree. If you wish, you can take it aboard as an auxiliary to the aneroidbarometer (the one with a dial and needle indicator) that should be aboard everycruising boat.

Here’s what you’ll need:

16-OR 12-OUNCE PLASTIC SODA BOTTLE
CORK OR RUBBER STOPPER
2 INCHES OF ¼-INCH-DIAMETER COPPER TUBING
12 INCHES OF 3/8-INCH CLEAR PLASTIC TUBING
3/8-INCH RUBBER WASHER
1 CUP OF WATER
RED FOOD COLORING
12 INCHES OF COPPER WIRE
16 FEET OF STRING
DRILL
VISE
EPOXY

1. Find a cork that fits tightly into the bottle’s neck, put the cork in a vise,and drill a ¼-inch hole through it.

2. Smear a little epoxy on the copper tubing and push it though the hole in thecork.

3. Press the clear plastic tubing over the end of the copper tube.

4. Slip the rubber washer over the tube. (You’ll use the washer to mark thewater level in the tube at the last observation. This way you can see how muchand in what direction the water level has moved.)

5. To keep your weatherglass level to get good comparative readings, make asimple string bridle to let it hang straight down from a hook. Begin by making acollar from a piece of copper wire that fits loosely around the neck of thebottle.

6. Now take four pieces of string about 4 feet long, double them, and pass theends through the ring.

7. Arrange the tightened loops evenly around the collar and tie one line fromeach pair to a line from an adjacent pair using a square knot. Make sure thestrings leading to each knot are the same length.

8. Repeat this step to make another set of knots.

9. Now gather up the free ends of the bridle and tie them together at a point alittle more than a bottle’s length from the collar. Cut off any excess.

10. To finish your weatherglass, attach the end of the tube to the bridle with ashort piece of wire at a spot above the water level in the bottle; make sure thetube isn’t pinched anywhere.

11. Pour about 1 cup of water tinted with food coloring into the bottle.

12. Put the cork and tube into the bottle’s mouth, and hang your glass from thebridle in some convenient location.

Watch the weatherglass closely over the next few days. You’ll see that when theoutside air pressure goes up—usually a sign of improving weather—thewater in the tube is forced down; when the outside air pressure goesdown—usually a sign of worsening weather—the water in the tuberises.

You can graduate your weatherglass by marking the positions of the water levelin the tube. In most parts of the world the needle of a “high” barometer wouldpoint to 30.50 (inches of mercury) and a “low” barometer to 29.50. The averagereading at sea level is usually 29.90. Check your water level against abarometer or the local weather report.

Forecasting the weather with a barometer or weatherglass is all about carefuland frequent observations of the rate and direction of the water. If you recordyour readings every 4 to 6 hours and plot the results on a graph, you’ll have agood picture of whether the air pressure is rising or falling and—mostimportant—how quickly it is changing.

Here’s how to interpret what you record:

WE SAY, THEY SAY

All Young Mariners should know how to talk like a sailor. By that we mean theparticular words seafarers have devised over the centuries to describe thespecifics of their craft. Knowing these words will tell people you know your wayaround boats and the water. They’re also a good way to distinguish anylandlubbers in your midst.

FIND FISH FAST

The big problem with taking your boat out to go fishing is finding the fish. Butit can be easy, if you know what to look—or smell—for.

Smell? Yup, if you smell the distinct odor of something fresh like cantaloupe orcucumber, it may mean that bigger fish have been eating smaller ones nearby. Thesmell comes from the oils in the chewed-up fish as they float to the surface.The same oils will often make a smooth, thin surface slick, another sign thatfish are feeding.

Use your binoculars to scout for birds hovering over one spot. They are probablygoing after small baitfish or the remains left by bigger fish feeding. Eitherway, that’s where you should head to try your luck. Also look for a suddeneruption of white or a lot of ripples in one concentrated area. It’s a sure signfish are thrashing about.

You have to learn to read the water to find those spots where fish like to hangout. A good place is a line of weeds on the surface, driftwood, buoys, oranything else that is floating. These are good places for small fish in openwater to find protection from bigger ones. And the bigger ones know this. Ifsmall fish are around, big ones will not be far behind.

A persistent turbulence in the water, called a rip, is created where twocurrents meet or where deep water is forced to the surface. Fish love theseareas, too, as they are usually rich in nutrients. Lots of nutrients mean lotsof phytoplankton, which mean lots of zooplankton, which mean lots of baitfish,which mean lots of the game fish you’re trying to catch. Look for areas whereyou see the color of the water change. (For more on plankton, see Make aPlankton Net, page 110.)

SUPERIOR STONE SKIPPING

We know what you’re thinking: Who doesn’t know how to skip a stone? You justpick it up and sling it, right? Not so fast there, hotshot. To truly master theskip you need a little more technique than the simple huck-and-chuck. Just askPennsylvania native Russell Byars, the man who holds the current Guinness WorldRecord. In July 2007, Byars skipped a stone an astonishing 51 times.

Will the record be broken by the time you read this? Who knows, but we can tellyou that world-record stone skipping appears to be a uniquely human skill.French scientists actually studied the phenomenon, and even built a robot todetermine the perfect technique. They concluded that the stone should be about 4inches in diameter, thrown at about 60 miles an hour, and strike the water at anangle of no more than 10 degrees to produce the least amount of drag. What theycould not do was get the robot to produce any more than 20 skips. Take that, Mr.Roboto.

We won’t make you take a crash course in physics here. We will, however, offer afew pointers should you ever wish to take either Mr. Byars—or therobot—down.

1. Choose your weapon and place. Thin, flat stones, anywhere from 1 to 4 inchesin diameter work best. Your lake, pond, or inlet should also be still and flat.Look for a nice reflection on the surface. If you see waves, go for a sailinstead.

2. Hold the stone like a seasoned “skipper.” Rest the flat side against yourbent middle finger, curl your index finger around the trailing edge, and placeyour thumb on top.

3. For best results, throw the stone sidearm, imparting a little spin byflicking it with your index finger as the stone leaves your hand. Aim for a spoton the water about 10 feet ahead of where you’re standing, and keep the stone aslevel to the water as possible.

With any luck, the stone will reach a velocity of 60 mph, make contact at 10degrees off the horizontal, and skip repeatedly across the surface.

Or who knows, maybe it will just go plunk. Either way, it’s still fun!

MAKE A SHIP IN A BOTTLE

How can someone possibly squeeze a model of a sailboat, or even more astounding,a model of a fully rigged clipper ship, into a bottle? The opening is way toosmall. There has to be a trick—and there is. You really do squeeze theboat in through that little opening. You build the boat outside the bottle withall its masts, sails, and rigging folded back toward the stern. Then you slip itin, glue it in place, and then—with the pull of a thread—pop up themasts and everything attached to them. It’s a neat trick, though it requires asteady hand and some patience.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Wash out the soda bottle and remove the label. Remove any stubborn adhesivewith Goo Gone or WD-40.

2. Lay the bottle on its side and, using a long artist’s brush, paint a blueocean for your boat to sail on along what is now the bottom of the bottle.

3. Measure the opening of the bottle and carve the widest hull that will passthrough the opening—probably about 1¼ inches wide. You can use apiece of pine you might find lying around, or basswood obtained from a hobbyshop.

4. Cut a 3½-inch mast from a cooking skewer or a thin dowel.

5. Cut another piece of skewer about 2 inches long to make a bowsprit(the pole—or in proper sailor speak, the spar—that sticksout from the front of a traditional sailboat).

5. Using a pin or needle, push a small hole into one end of the mast and thebowsprit.

6. Glue one-quarter of the length of the bowsprit to the deck at the bow, makingsure the hole you drilled is on the outer end.

7. Figure out where you’d like the mast to go on the hull, and drill two smallholes through the hull on either side of the mast. Poke the magnet wire throughthe hole in the mast, bend it into a U, pass the ends through the holes in thehull, bend them up onto the hull bottom so they won’t come out, and glue theends in place. Check to see that the mast pivots up and down easily, and adjustas necessary.

(Continues…)
(Continues…)Excerpted from the anti~ PIRATE POTATO CANNON AND 101 Other Things for YOUNG MARINERS to Build, Try & Do ON THE WATER by DAVID SEIDMAN, JEFF HEMMEL. Copyright © 2010 by David seidman and Jeff Hemmel. Excerpted by permission of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..
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