Boat Handling Skills

Collection: Field Notes — Old Fashioned Seamanship

 *Coming Soon*

Series 1: The Physics of Control

Focus: How the boat moves through the medium and how you manipulate drag/lift.

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• Lateral Plane and Leeway: Managing shallow-draft, keel-less hulls.

• Active Ballast: The sailor as a component of the hull’s displacement and trim.

Series 2: Manual Propulsion & Kinematics

Focus: Efficiency without internal combustion.

• Sculling: The geometry of the figure-eight and constant thrust.

• Biomechanics of the Long-Distance Paddle: Ergonomics for coastal passage.

• Tracking and Poling: Movement in the "shallows"—estuaries and tidal flats.

Series 3: Heavy Weather & Energy Management

Focus: Survival in high-energy environments.

• Heaving-to in Lightweight Multihulls: Using drag and sail geometry to "park."

• Drogues and Speed Regulation: Managing following seas.

• Capsize Recovery: The manual for self-rescue in traditional craft.