Flag Etiquette

Flags are an excellent way to signal information to other vessels; but to properly communicate, you need to know flag grammar.

Stern Flag

First off, the flag on your stern pertains to the country you pertain to. If your boat is a US vessel, you would fly a US flag (50 star flag); if your boat is German, you would fly the German flag. When you are sailing in your national waters, you can fly that countries ensign flag in lieu of the national flag. When overseas, this practice is not allowed and you must fly your national flag. 

The size of this flag is dependent on the length of your yacht, the typical guideline is 1 inch on the fly (horizontal length of flag) for every foot of boat length. Flags come in several standard sizes and you should always round up to the next commercially available size.

Port Spreader

The port spreader halyard is the correct location to fly club burgees and other personal flags. This side is considered the personal flag side of the boat. It is recommended that you only fly one burgee on the halyard as opposed to flying every burgee you have on board.

The size of these flags is typically 1/2 inch on the fly for each foot above water that they flag is flown; ie. a 15 inch flag when the spreader is 30 feet above the water.

Starboard Spreader

While the port spreader flies personal flags, the starboard spreader flies regulatory flags. This halyard is where the yellow quarantine flag is flown until customs are cleared, at which time it is switched over to the countries courtesy flag. These flags are also sized as 1/2 inch on the fly for every foot above water that they are flown.

Distress

Distress can also be expressed by way of altering the national flag or ensign. Commonly accepted distress signals are flying the stern flag upside down or tying a knot in the fly of the flag. Both of these signals are accepted as daytime visual distress signals and should only be done during an actual situation of distress.

One of my neighbors was displeased with the US election results in 2012 and hoisted the US flag upside down to the top of his mast while tied up in the marina and the marine police actually came into the marina to investigate the situation and help this boater in his time of distress. When they learned of his reasoning, he was ordered to lower the flag since he was not in distress.

Now you know which flags are to raised and where. Country flag on the stern, personal and club flags on the port spreader, courtesy and signal flags on the starboard spreader.

Sunsets

A major advantage of living aboard is you can enjoy sunsets from various places without straying far from your home.

When you sail offshore, you can enjoy watching the sunset over the ocean (which is a treat for those of us who live on the East coast). 

You can also tie up in a marina located near or in the heart of the city, putting you within walking distance of bars and restaurants!

We have been living aboard for 4 years now (I started in 2012, Maddie started in 2014) and we have really enjoyed the flexibility of living so close to the city night life, yet removed in our own little world inside the boat. The only reminder that we are in the city is the glow of the city light pollution peering in through the hatches and portholes, not much different from a full moon night.

For being in the heart of the city, we certainly don't pay as much as the neighboring land lubbers. Rent in our area is around $1800 per month for a one-bedroom apartment, and the condos cost $250,000 for a small one-bedroom (with $500 per month condo association fees). Our slip fee runs around $500 a month (including electric and water) for a 45 foot sailboat. Spending less on where we live lets us enjoy the area more and still save up to go cruising!

When you live aboard, the different sunsets are a delightful part of daily life.

Barber Hauler Setup

The process of setting up a barber haul is very simple, all you need is a snatch block!

On a beam to broad reach, the headsail is eased, causing it to twist and loose efficiency. 

The first step is to ease the headsail until there is slack in the line but not so much that the sail begins to flog. This will reduce the tension on the sheet, allowing you to place it into the snapshackle by hand. Then sheet the sail back in and trim to the apparent wind.

Now the headsail is able to hold a better sail shape, resulting in higher efficiency and more speed through the water. 

With the better sail shape, you can reach your downwind mark in less time and more comfort!

Fiddle Blocks

Maddie is working on writing thank you cards after our wedding and had everything setup on the table, but we were about to go sailing in a stiff breeze. Instead of clearing everything off the table, we decided to put the fiddle blocks in so that everything would stay put!

This is one advantage of a fixed table (over a folding table), there is space in the salon for the table to be set up with your current projects and go sailing! Without the fiddle blocks, all of her notes and boxes would have slid off the table as soon as we heeled over; instead, everything stayed on the top of the table.

These fiddle blocks are also removable, allowing us to have a smooth and flush table when in port. I must admit that these fiddle blocks get in the way when eating on a regular basis, but are nice for moments like this.

Synthetic Rigging Tensioning System

The setup to tune synthetic rigging with deadeyes is very simple, all you need is a turning block, and some leads that can be run to a winch. This allows you to use achieve the necessary tension in the stays in a controlled and repeatable manner.

To begin, the turning block is tied to the toe rail where a fair lead is in plane with the deadeye. This will ensure that the force on the lashings is vertical with no horizontal component.

Once the turning block is positioned properly, untie the tails and lead them through the turning block, then over to the tensioning line. The tensioning line (9mm VPC) is led to the winches in the cockpit. I use the secondary winch for the anchor and the primary winch to drive the tension. To connect the tails to the VPC tensioning line, I use a sheet bend with a slip; this knot will hold securely as incredible loads are applied to the system, but is also possible to untie after the procedure is completed.

One important trick when tensioning the stay is to set everything up as seen in the photo above, then apply tension to the whole system before untying the shroud frapping knot. This will make sure the tensions are similar between the tails and lashings once the shroud frapping knot is untied. 

Once the shroud frapping knot is untied, tension can be added to the stay via the cockpit winches until the appropriate amount of tension is present in the stay. I perform this adjustment on both sides of the boat at the same time to ensure that the mast stays in column and that the stays are of similar tension. This does require double the setup materials, but the end result is very even tensioning of the standing rigging.

For more details into how to tension your synthetic standing rigging with deadeyes, please read this post.