SAILING AND NAVIGATION

Subject: Sailing with us

Comments:
Joshua,

Yes, we have two boats now and we are doing a lot of trips. How can we get you back on board?

Captain Dick Lathrop

442-2704

912-5393

PS. Check out www.sea-legs.org

- Captain Lathrop, Wed Aug 30 16:40:55 2006

Subject: Saying Hi

Comments:
My name is Joshua, it has been a while since I contacted you last I am almost positive that you are the right guy I used to go sailing with you with my two brothers (sometimes three) with Tom and I cannot remember his last name he was a mentor my head hurts from thinking so hard well anyways I was wonering if you still to trips just short ones like we did from the New London Harbor to the lighthouse or so. You can easier reach me by E-Mailing me at JWelsh1987@yahoo.com please E-Mail me either way thank you very much Joshua.

- Joshua, Wed Aug 30 12:30:27 2006

Subject: response to unposted item

Comments:
Dear RHH,

Please contact me at my email address: dicklathrop@prodigy.net.

I have a question for you.

Captain Dick Lathrop

- Captain Lathrop, Sun Nov 6 10:04:49 2005

Subject: r h hoenig's question

Comments:
thanks for your question. I have Maptech Charts on my computer and I went to the location you describe. It is much further than 12 miles from the east coast of the US. It is closer to the Bahamas, but it is more that 12 miles from those islands too.

can you tell me what's behind this question?

- Captain Lathrop, Thu Nov 3 23:33:03 2005

Subject: territorial waters of u.s.

Comments:
i'm trying to find out whether a ship at 24 degrees 23.35 minutes NORTH and .072 degrees, 43.9 minutes WEST is within 12 nautical miles of the east coast of the u.s. can anyone help pls?

- r h hoenig, Thu Nov 3 22:15:06 2005

Subject: Jennifer's hints

Comments:
Dear Deckhand Jennifer,

It was a pleasure to have you aboard! You are our youngest Deckhand. Congratulations on completing all the qualifications.

Thanks for the tips on how to remember sailing terms. Other SEA-LEGS cadets may be able to use these hints to learn the terms too.

Good luck on completing your Pilot Qualifications. Let me know if you need any help.

Captain Lathrop

- Captain Lathrop, Sat Oct 15 16:18:00 2005

Subject: How to remember sailing terms

Comments:
Thanks you Captain Lathrop for helping me with Sea Legs.

Here are some of the ways I remember boat words.

Port and Starboard.

I use p for pepper and s for salt then I can remeber the first letter.

Since salt has little stars, it makes me think of starboard and I can spell port then I know the word.

I remember the word keel by saying

" the eels swim around the keel"

Jib is a smaller sail so I call it the Junior sail and jib and junior both begin with J

I think of the hull as an upside down mountain since I live near the mountains.

I am excited to finish my Sea Legs and begin my pilot qualifications

Thank you again. Your Sea Legs program is fantastic.

My favorite parts of the sail are hoisting the main and sitting on the bow.

Jennifer Glavin

- Jennifer, Sat Oct 15 16:01:46 2005

Subject:

Comments:
Nice one mate, looks good, keep up the good work.

- Sebastian Remmick, Fri Sep 9 02:56:27 2005

Subject:

Comments:
Great Site! I really enjoyed it! Keep up the good work!
welcome

- Vanessa Harper, Wed Jul 20 16:15:43 2005

Subject: Greetings from Sweden

Comments:
Ahoy Abigail!

Thanks for your message from Sweden.

Our flagship is a beautiful Swedish boat--a Halberg Mistress 32--so we feel very close to your country every day that we sail.

Please send me your email address and I will send you a picture of our boat.

You can email me at captain@virtualvoyages.net

Fair winds.

- Captain, Thu Jul 14 21:59:00 2005

Subject:

Comments:
Greetings from Sweden, very nice job! Thank you for this site

- Abigail Lavelle, Thu Jul 14 20:21:18 2005

Subject: William Quintana

Comments:
Ahoy William,

Thank you for your visit to our web site and for your contact through the Discussion Zone.

Please let me know more about what led you to our site. Send me an email at captain@virtualvoyages.net to be on our contact list. You can reach me by phone at (860)442-2704.

Captain Dick Lathrop

s/v Horizon

- Captain Lathrop, Sun Jul 3 07:29:51 2005

Subject:

Comments:
Thanks for nice site! Best regards!

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- William Quintana, Fri Jul 1 21:42:53 2005

Subject: first visit

Comments:
Carlow and Dominic,

Nice to see your messages about our site. How did you happen to find out about Virtual Voyages?

A new way to get involved with us in in our SEA-LEGS program.

Check it out at www.sea-legs.org

Captain Lathrop

- Captain, Fri Jul 1 12:45:13 2005

Subject:

Comments:
I really enjoyed your website. Good luck in your work.

- Dominic Crusher, Fri Jul 1 10:54:50 2005

Subject:

Comments:
Hello Nice to meet you! Arigato for cool site! Wait for new info.

- Carlos Moreau, Wed Jun 29 19:46:09 2005

Subject: boueys and boat lights

Comments:
How do you know what side of the boueys to go on when out on the lakes?

- anne, Mon Oct 4 17:01:34 2004

Subject: sailing skills A and B

Comments:
Andrew,Steven,Joshua,Tom

Thanks for visiting the web site.

Work on section A and B, parts of the boat and knots.

Tom and I will try to get you aboard again soon and you can demonstrate your knowledge then.

Next assignment: Using the GPS.

Captain Lathrop

- Captain Lathrop, Sat Jul 31 11:24:00 2004

Subject: tutorial

Comments:
We went through the tutorial and we would like to go sailing again.Is there anything else you would like us to know about?We came with Tom that one time about two weeks ago.

- Andrew,Steven,Joshua,Tom, Sat Jul 31 10:56:02 2004

Subject: answering Paul and friends

Comments:
You ask me where I am. You say to use words, not numbers. OK, I am in New London. What is my latitude and longitude?

Are you marking Xapiema's voyage on that big chart of the Atlantic coast of the United States?

If you are, you will see that Xapiema stopped in Baltimore.

I got off the boat there and took a train back to New London. Look on the ship's log and find the position of Xapiema now. Using your chart, you should be able to locate any point if you have the longitude and latitude.

Did you see the pictures of the bridges on the East River and the Statue of Liberty?

- Captain Lathrop, Wed Oct 23 20:14:55 2002

Subject: where

Comments:
where are you

- Paul lauren, Wed Oct 23 14:41:33 2002

Subject: where are you

Comments:
We think you where around Soth Carolina.

- Paul Lauren Meda vile lucero, Wed Oct 23 14:47:39 2002

Subject: answering Paul

Comments:
Paul,

Thank you for writing. You want to know exactly where I am right now.

My latitude is about 42.2 degrees North. My longitude is about 072.6 degrees West.

Where are you?

You will figure out by finding me on your chart, that I am no longer aboard Xapiema. You will see by looking at the ship's log that Xapiema is below 40 degrees north. Since every degree of latitude equals 60 nautical miles, Xapiema is more than 120 nautical miles south of where I am. Where is Xapiema?

- Captain Lathrop, Tue Oct 22 14:05:53 2002

Subject: where

Comments:
where are you write now

- Paul , Tue Oct 22 12:22:07 2002

Subject: Lucy's Questions

Comments:
Dear Lucy, Thanks for your questions. Here are my answers:

Most important part of the boat?

All are important and all rely on other parts, but if I had to choose one part I would choose the keel.

You don't normally see the keel, it is under the water, but it is essential for safety and it makes everything else (the sails, the mast, the rudder, the hull) work properly.

Check out the Navigation contest to see how many people entered It's on our web site.

No one except me has ever cruised on Easy Wind for more than 4 weeks, but other cruises have gone much longer. Some have gone on for years.

Could you be attacked?

Such an attack would be an act of piracy and the attackers would be pirates. Pirates are the outlaws of the sea. I can't say it never happens, because it does. Piracy is limited to certain regions of the world where governments have not be able to control it. I don't think there is any piracy in the regions of the world where we are voyaging.

Thank you for your questions. Be sure to tell me where you go to school.

- Captain Lathrop, Tue Oct 1 13:53:23 2002

Subject: sailing

Comments:
what is the most important part of a boat? can you still sail with no wind. have people ever entered in any contest? do people ever travled for more than 4 weeks? if you go out far enough can you be atacted?

- Lucy, Tue Oct 1 10:36:06 2002

Subject: Bonus question!!!

Comments:
Hey Wilds!!!

Congratulations on the bonus questions. We will have to beef up on our history of explorers, next time. We were hoping that you would run out of darts before the contest was over. Actually, we had a blast! Looking forward to sharing this summer's journey with you guys! The Mastrandrea Family

- Mas... Kids, Sun Apr 28 21:07:18 2002

Subject: Tropics

Comments:
Hi Sawyer,

It's me again.

I read something in my geography book about the tropics that I wanted to share with you. As I said before Tropical climates receive the most direct rays of the sun. Since the sun's heat makes water evaporate, the tropical zone also gets the highest amount of precipitation. This is also the only area where there are no seasonal changes. The Tropics are also known for their monsoon rains.

Did you see my question for you in the marine science section?

Tyler

- Tyler Wild, Sat Apr 13 16:33:09 2002

Subject: Gulf Stream

Comments:
The gulf stream curves up around the east coast of the U.S.

When you cross it, it will push you in a slightly north, definately eastern direction, which will effect your long. position. you will have to severely change your bearings to get into port at Norfolk.

According to our predictions, you have already passed by Bermuda at the closest point. What were those readings? When?

- Mas Kids, Sat Apr 13 09:11:31 2002

Subject: Tropics

Comments:
To answer your question, Sawyer, they are closest to the Tropic of Cancer, which is at 23 degrees N Latitude. I'll bet you knew this already! The latitude of a place affects its climate and weather paterns. The area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn is called the Tropics. This area, near the equator, remains hot year round. Thanks for the question - it made me think!

Tyler Wild

- Tyler Wild, Thu Apr 11 19:51:08 2002

Subject: Tropic Of Cancer

Comments:
Hey Tyler, what have you found out about the Tropic Of Cancer yet? Do you know what the name means? Which tropic is Captian L. closest to? Write in your answer and we'll read it and reply!

Sawyer Mastrandrea

- Mas... kids, Thu Apr 11 11:39:32 2002

Subject: Answering WCS students

Comments:
Dear WCS students.

Thanks for contacting me and for taking part in this activity. I left a map of the Atlantic Ocean at your school last Saturday. Your computer teacher should have it by now. You can use any map covering this region of the world (The Carribian) and having longitude and latitude along the edges.

Go to our web site and click on "The Voyage". Then click on "Voyage 2002 Navigation Olympics" for detailed instruction about how to get started.

We have already sailed from Puerto Rico to St. Thomas to St. Maarten. I am writing this from St. Maarten. Look on the map where 18 degrees North crosses 063 degrees West. You will see St. Maarten or St. Martin. One spelling is Dutch the other is French. Each nation owns about half of this island.

Draw a line on the map connecting San Juan, PR with St. Thomas, and with St. Maarten.

You will be off to a good start. Also check our log entries so far.

Let me know if you still have questions about getting started. The day after tomorrow we sail from Tortolla to Norfolk, VA.

You should be prepared to mark our position on your map and predict our next position.

Captain Lathrop

- Captain Lathrop, Tue Apr 9 15:40:09 2002

Subject:

Comments:
I AM A STUDENT AT WATERFORD COUNTRY SCHOOL AND MY CLASS WAS REALLY INTERESTEDIN TRACKING THE BOAT BUT WE DONT KNOW HOW TO GET STARTED SO CAN YOU EMAIL US AT YOGAROOTS@YAHOO.COM TO TELL US HOW WE GET STARTED.

- wcs, Tue Apr 9 11:03:44 2002

Subject: answering Laura

Comments:
Dear Laura,

Thanks for writing and thanks for your question. Modern sailors use the GPS (global positioning system)to navigate at sea.

Another way is LORAN which uses radio signals based on land to help you find your position. This requires having the equipment on board to be able to pick up the signal.

Before that, mariners relied on two systems of navigation, Celestial Navigation and Dead Reckoning.

With Celestial Navigation you figure out how far (the angle) the sun, moon, or certain stars and planets are above the horizon. since this changes for different places on earth at different times, you can look up these positions on a table and get an idea as to where you are on the surface of the earth. It requires knowing exactly what time it is and exactly how high above the horizon the object is. For this navigators use an instrument called a sextant.

To do a little celestial navigation yourself, go out at night and find the North Star. The angle between the North Star and the horizon is your latitude on earth. If you live somewhere around New London, that angle will be about 41 degrees.

Dead Reckoning is just estimating what direction you have travelled from the last known point and how fast you have travelled in that direction. If you are right, you will know where you are. The problem is knowing exactly what direction you are travelling, since ships don't always move straight ahead, even when they steer a straight course. The water or the wind may be setting the ship one way or another and it is very hard to tell exactly how much. This may not be a big problem over short times and distances, but over long times and distances the error can get very big.

Come sail with us and try out our GPS. Guaranteed to get you home! (unless the batteries die)

Captain L.

- Captain Lathrop, Wed Oct 10 11:40:13 2001

Subject: question

Comments:
what other ways are there to navigate at sea?

- laura scott, Tue Oct 9 17:21:28 2001

Subject: Boueys

Comments:
As we were out sailing the Thames River, Captain Lathrope told us about the hole point of the channel, and how it was marked. The Buoys (floating cans)were lined up on each side of the channel of deep water. The boueys were two different colors, Red and Green. "Red right Return." I learned that when returning the red buoy is always on your right and the green is always on your left.The opposite is said when leaving the channel. I found it quite interesting that the green buoys always as an odd number that reflects off light and the red always has an even.

- Jason, Mon Oct 8 20:09:13 2001

Subject: Seasickness

Comments:
For any kind of motion sickness, one can drink ginger tea made from a teaspoon of freshly grated ginger root. Pour boiling water over it, let stand for ten minutes, strain it, add honey if you need sweetness, and drink. My daughter didn't believe it but felt better ten minutes after drinking the tea. Good for any kind of nausea from motion sickness or flu or whatever. See Dr. James Duke, "The Green Pharmacy." Hope this helps. I dislike chemicals like dramamine and prefer ginger tea.

- Plutarchus (JAS), Wed May 2 16:59:23 2001

Subject: re: general map reading & G.I.S.

Comments:
Love to help with some of the geography. I am now studying G.I.S. (Geographic Information Systems) and general map reading with a planner from the PVPC (Pioneer Valley Planning Commission), one of several "regional" planning agencies. This one includes an area in WEstern Massachusetts containing 43 municipalities. I look forward to helping with some comments on the cities you will visit, especially Canada where I first studied "land use planning" (University of Toronto). I would be glad to share what I am learning--as a preparation for a return to urban and regional planning (my first profession before I became a teacher). I'll send along more info as I get a chance to.

JAStrickland@cs.com

- JAStrickland, Sat Mar 10 01:28:55 2001

Subject: Virtual Voyages

Comments:
Hello Dick, the site looks very good. congradulations... if u want u can email me at Jarbo15@hotmail.com

- Jared, Sun Mar 4 17:42:45 2001