TACTICS
Part 3: Bringing it all together By Rob Naysmith, Down South Marine
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HERE is something almost spiritual about feeling the water move beneath your feet, and never has this been more evident than since our release back onto the waters after lockdown. It highlights how much our personal wellbeing depends on owning a boat or having a best friend who owns one. This makes it even more important that we spend some time getting to understand the boat and, despite what others may say, it is never wasted time. I have left some of the most impor-
tant aspects of a boat to the last, hopefully bringing everything together to show how each part mentioned, becomes an intricate part of the whole. So, let’s not waste any more time — we have fish to catch…. LENGTH I’m often asked where the actual length of a boat is measured. The term used is LOA (length overall) and it is a straight line from the tip of the bow to the centre of the transom, excluding any bowsprits, railings, engines, outmounts or anything that may protrude fore or aft; it is only the hull that is measured.
There is another common measurement in boating, although we skiboaters seldom refer to it, and that is the LWL (Loaded Waterline Length). This is the measured length of the boat’s hull at water level, when it is lying, fully loaded, on the water — again, bow to transom in a straight line. BEAM The beam of a boat is measured from outside edge to outside edge of the gunwales at the widest point.The wider the beam of a boat in relation to the LWL, the more stability the boat will have on the water. But remember that there is a SKI-BOAT September/October 2020 • 53
