Boating and Safety Boating safety- describe Alabama’s boating laws, basic vessel operation, required boating equipment, and possible hazards involved in safe and responsible boating. Define marine terminology.

 Abeam-at a right angle to the helm. Helm is where you steer.  Astern-towards the back of the vessel.  Aft- is towards the back.  Aground-put the bottom of the vessel on solid ground.  Amidship-the middle pt. of a vessel.  Anchor-a metal forging made to hold a vessel in place. And to secure your vessel from moving.bearings (test question) there are 360 bearing pts. on a compass. They are there to determine direction.  Cardinal points-the four main pts on a compass. North is zero or 360, east is 90, south 180, and west is 270.  Bilge-the lowest part of your vessel internally.  Bow-toward the front.

 Capacity plate -(on the test) list the max. allowable wt. and the number of people, and the max. horse power for that vessel.  Buoys-Can Buoy shaped like a can, odd in number and green in color, and marks the port side or left side of the channel from the sea. Nun Buoys-top is shaped like a nun’s hat or cone, red in color mark the right side of the channel from the sea and are even in number.  Capsize-to turn over.  Carburetor flame backfire arrestor- Restricted to inboard outboard motor. Sits atop the carburetor to prevent fires.  Charts-aid in navigation from pt. a to pt.b.  Come about- sailing term; to change course or to tack.

 Compass-instrument shows the heading of the vessel.  Current-movement of the water in a horizontal side to side direction.  Rip current-dangerous current usually caused by storms. Very difficult to get out of.  Displacement hull-the type of hull that plows through the water. It is slow but very strong.  Planning hull- small and fast but not real strong.  Draft-the distance from the water line to the prop.  Float plan-telling someone where you are going and what time you will be back.  Freeboard- the vertical distance measured on a boats side from the waterline to the gunwale (top rail on vessel).

 Give-way vessel- yields the right of way to avoid collision when nearing another vessel. Also known as the burdened vessel.  Privileged vessel or stand on-holds course and speed.  Gunwale - side of the boat.  Hypothermia-a physical condition where the body loses heat faster than it can produce it.  Keel- spine of a ship, also known as a backbone.  Lee and leeway- side of the vessel that is away from the wind.  Lubber’s line-a mark or permanent line on a compass that shows the direction or course of the boat.  Morring-permanent anchored, chained, or moored.

 Motorboat-any watercraft 65’ or less in length propelled by machinery.  Pfd-personal flotation device (life- jacket).  Port- the left side of the boat when you are facing the bow (forward). Port and left have the same amount of letters in it.  Starboard- to the right side of the boat when you are facing the bow.  Scope-the length of the road from the anchor on the bottom of the sea to the boat. 6 to one ratio in calm water. So if you are sitting in ten foot of water you need sixty feet.  Rules of the road-set of guidelines that operators follow for safety on the water.  Tide-up and down movement of water caused by the gravitational attraction of the sun and moon.

 Trim-the balancing of weight to obtain desired balance from port to starboard (side to side) and bow to stern (front to back).  Vessel-anything that can float is potentially a vessel.  Wake-water put out by the stern of the vessel, the operator is responsible for any damage caused by the wake.  Way-movement of a vessel through the water. Technically it is underway when not at anchor, aground, or made fast to the shore.