If you are new to boating, you might not be familiar with boat towables that you can use on the lake. They are easy and very enjoyable to use. Buying them is only a matter of finding the ones that suit your preferences. There are three main things to look for.

First, you need to consider how many people will be with you when you go out on the lake. If you will be carrying a large crowd, some just work better than others. For instance, there are inflatable water lake tubes that are designed to be used by just one person. While a group of people can take turns, a larger towable might be a better choice if several people will be going along. The Sportsstuff MAXX 108 inch lake boat towable will carry up to 8 people easily.

Second, you will want to make sure the boat towables will hold up to the punishment you will give them out on the lake. They need to be sturdy and well-built. Look for features like double-webbing on the foam handles and double stitching on the nylon covers. Try to find ones with self-bailing drain vents so that the boat will not fill with water as the boat sends up a spray from the lake. Make sure the tow system is reinforced so that the boat towables will not go sliding off the boat tow line and away to another part of the lake.

Third, get the towable that suits your idea of a fun design. They come in various patterns of yellows, reds, greens, and blues. They have racing stripes, checkerboards, or flame shapes. Some have a rounded appearance while others are flatter in design.

Take a look at the various boat towables you find for sale and compare them on these three points. Find the ones that best suit your needs. Then you can buy the ones you like and enjoy them out on the lake the very next time you go.

If you want your life to be more efficient and convenient, I suggest that you get a handheld GPS system. Having one can truly help you in getting exact locations.

At present, many people enjoy living a more advanced life through the GPS system. You can easily track specific locations, improve activities that you’re currently engaged in, and store data which can be of good use to you in the future.

The GPS system is popularly used for tracking locations. Long ago, all you need is a compass to determine location but now things are very much different. You will never get lost even if you don’t have a compass or a map with you when you travel. It is natural for most men to not ask for directions when they are lost but with a GPS, you can go to any place alone and without any help.

As long as you have your handheld GPS system, you can ensure your safety when you’re in the outdoors. You will be provided with precise location information, topographic and elevation date, and other relevant data. Handheld GPS systems are convenient to carry since they are portable, lightweight, and accurate. There are less expensive handheld GPS system that you can find in the market however, it has limited memory. You can also go for the expensive GPS systems that come with 16MB; this is more powerful and offers other useful features.

So what are you waiting for? Go get yourself a handheld GPS system and be among the many individuals who can take complete control of their lives, their are several great manufactures that produce these products such as Bushnell, Delorme, Garmin, Lowrance and Magellan.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Darryl_Power

Water skiing is fun for those who can balance on skis and ride them atop a lake. Lake towables make it possible for anyone to glide on the lake behind a ski boat. These special inflatable sport toys can bring excitement to any morning or afternoon on the lake.

One type of lake towables is the kind that are shaped like torpedoes. These are made for only one rider, who either rides inside or wears the lake tube. With tubes where the rider is held inside, look for a good system of tow lines to hold the tube in place behind the boat. Some are specially made so that they turn 360 degrees to give the rider a more thrilling ride.

For the lake towables inflatables tubes where the rider wears the tube, check to be sure you fit within the weight limit, and height and age requirements for riders. Look for wearable lake tubes that have a tow handle and allow full movement around it. You can make the most out of your ride by controlling the tow handle.

Other single rider lake towables  inflatables are designed for the person who wants to let the ski boat driver make most of the decisions. Small chair-like lake towables are available that allow the rider to sit back, hold on, and enjoy the ride. These have backrests like any usual seat in the home or car. Other individual lake towables inflatables  are shaped like small boats. Either way, you will want to make sure the hand holds are strong. You will be gripping them tight as you fly across the water’s surface.

One type of lake towables inflatables allows riders to control the shape of the inflatable by pulling on hand grips. With the Frantic and other Half Pipe boat inflatable towables, it is easy to pull up the sides of the flat towable into a shape that looks like a hot dog bun. The Frantic will rock and slide through the water, controlled by the people holding the grips.

Groups need not take turns on individual lake inflatables towables, either. Ski boats can haul inflatables that will carry 2, 3, or even up to 6 riders at one time. The key to getting the best group lake towables is durability. A heavy gauge PVC bladder is a must, as well as a reinforced towing system.

Lake inflatable towables are fun for the entire family and all your friends. When you get together for a day at the lake, you will enjoy the time you spend riding in the wake of a ski boat. Choosing the right boat for your water skiing trip is the beginning of the fun.

With unknown dangers behind every wave, Morgan began his epic journey by cautiously dipping his toes into the Atlantic Ocean and easing his plump frame into the inflatable circular tube that would glide him into the history books. Morgan faced his first challenge days later when, floating along the southern coast of Newfoundland, the incessant scraping of his tube against the side of the island repeatedly woke him. After several failed attempts to keep his eyes shut, Morgan finally had to push off the landmass with his feet and drift back out to sea.

Halfway through the modern odyssey, Morgan was swept up in the powerful North Atlantic Current, which spun the tiny inflatable craft around and forced him to travel facing backwards for two weeks—a setback that was only mitigated by the fact that it allowed Morgan to receive a more even tan as the sun beat down on him.

“Come to think of it, I probably should have put some lotion on my shoulders,” Morgan said. “I did get a little pink.”

He then drifted west of Ireland where his tube bumped into an ocean liner and was redirected into the Canary Current, which took him to his final destination in France while he ate a bologna sandwich he had packed for the trip.

Although he claimed he was never frightened during the milestone voyage, Morgan admitted that his biggest challenge was staying alert and awake.

“I was dozing on and off for the first 1,000 miles or so,” Morgan said. “It really zonked me out. You close your eyes and the next thing you know the ride is over.”

While Morgan did prepare for the perilous journey with loose-fitting swim trunks, some zinc for his nose, and a book of word-search puzzles, he largely shunned the use of modern navigational equipment. Instead, the brave pioneer accomplished the incredible nautical feat by allowing his tube to meander at its own pace across the ocean, only adjusting the tack every several days by lightly paddling with his hand.

“You just have to go with the flow,” said Morgan, adding that at one point his sunglasses fell into the water, but he knew he had to continue to float on. “Battling the elements will just make you uptight and then you’ll never unwind.”

Morgan is also credited with a number of groundbreaking methods for making himself more comfortable as he bobbed along the North Atlantic’s most dangerous swells, including floating on his back, lying on his stomach, and clinging to the top while dangling his legs through the hole.

Morgan said he only had to splash some water on his face to cool off about every 100 miles, since the weather throughout the soothing intercontinental journey was “real fine.” At one point, however, he did grow concerned when he floated into a powerful storm that threatened to blow his tube to the destination too quickly.

“I was like, ‘Settle down, I don’t want to get there too fast,’” Morgan said. “There was a pretty annoying rain storm, too. It really watered down my Coke.”

On Wednesday, New York mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the city will honor Morgan’s epic float with a concert and a ticker-tape parade, at the end of which America’s laziest hero will be given the Medal of Valor and a solid gold chaise lounge.

Marine Conservation Biology : The Science of Maintaining the Sea’s Biodiversity

by Michael E. Soule, Elliott A. Norse, Larry B. Crowder, Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Island Press, 2005
“Humans are terrestrial animals, and our capacity to see and understand the importance and vulnerability of life in the sea has trailed our growing ability to harm it. While conservation biologists are working to address environmental problems humans have created on land, loss of marine biodiversity, including extinctions and habitat degradation, has received much less attention. At the same time, marine sciences such as oceanography and fisheries biology have largely ignored issues of conservation.”  This means when we are boating, wakeboarding or fishing we should stay away from fish hatching areas.

Marine Conservation Biology brings together for the first time in a single volume leading experts from around the world to apply the lessons and thinking of conservation biology to marine issues. Contributors including James M. Acheson, Louis W. Botsford, James T. Carlton, Kristina Gjerde, Selina S. Heppell, Ransom A. Myers, Julia K. Parrish, Stephen R. Palumbi, and Daniel Pauly offer penetrating insights on the nature of marine biodiversity, what threatens it, and what humans can and must do to recover the biological integrity of the world’s estuaries, coastal seas, and the ocean.

Sections examine: distinctive aspects of marine populations and ecosystems; threats to marine biological diversity, singly and in combination; place-based management of marine ecosystems; the often-neglected human dimensions of marine conservation.

Marine Conservation Biology breaks new ground by creating the conceptual framework for the new field of marine conservation biology—the science of protecting, recovering, and sustainably using the living sea. It synthesizes the latest knowledge and ideas from leading thinkers in disciplines ranging from larval biology to sociology, making it a must-read for research and teaching faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate and advanced undergraduate students.”

“Candor and boldness have power. A vision based on both compassion for all life and solid science evokes respect and wonder and is far more effective than the mincing, qualified, soulless recommendations of committees and expert panels. True, there are times (like these) when it appears that nothing will stop the industrial and population juggernauts that are destroying life on this planet, not to mention the dignity and diversity of human cultures; such times require patience, humor, and solidarity between conservationists and humanitarians. This volume provides the foundation for such a declaration of interdependence of all life, oceanic and terrestrial, nonhuman and human.”

“Even as humankind spends billions of dollars in the hope of detecting the faintest echoes of life on Mars, the only place in the universe where we know that life exists has rapidly been losing its distinguishing characteristic, its biological diversity, the diversity of genes, species, and ecosystems (Heywood 1995; Norse and McManus 1980; Norse et al. 1986; Office of Technology assessment 1987; Wilson 1988).”

When we are useing the waterways weither for boating or camping we all should be aware of how we treat the thing around us so that other people may also enjoy them and rember that our boat propellers can do a lot of damage,

Kids love to splash around in the water, and water activities are also great for exercise and for familiarizing children with swimming.  But it’s also important to keep children safe while in the water, and this involves more action on the part of the parents than the child.  For one, children under the age of 13 should never be left unsupervised in the water; drowning is one of the leading causes of death amongst children.  Make sure that the child inflatable toys you’re child is using are safe, for example, they shouldn’t contain ropes or holes in which the child could become tangled.  You should also be ready to dive in the water at any time, and be extra careful at the beach because currents and riptides can be quite dangerous. 

If you’re on a boat or watercraft, ensure that you and your child are wearing a life vest at all times.  Under most any circumstances, a life vest can save your life, even if you lose consciousness in the water.

Getting Started

To get started, you simply need a tow rope, a kneeboard and a boat that can go about 15-20 mph (28-32 km/h). A benefit about kneeboarding is the start is fairly simple, and the rider does not need to travel very quickly. If the rider happens to fall, it usually does not discourage them from trying again. To do a start (known as the deepwater start), do as follows:

1. Before you begin, loosen the strap to make it is as big as possible (making it easier to slip into while moving).
2. Lie on the board on your stomach and put your elbows into the divits where your knees would go. Make sure the strap is in front of your elbows.
3. Signal the boat driver to take off slowly and reach a speed of 12-15 miles per hour.
4. In one motion, push your butt into the air, bringing your knees up to your elbows which are still on the board.
5. Slowly sit back on your heels and lift your arms off the board.
6. Let go with one hand and pull the strap over your knees and continue to inch forward until your knees are comfortably in the divits.
7. Now, release the velco strap and pull it tight. Re-attach the velco the strap. It should be very snug, allowing you more control.
8. Grab the handle with the other hand and you’re now ready to enjoy the fun!
9. have the ems readly for you.

History

Kneeboarding originated in Georgia around 1235. This happened because many of the surfers of the area tried using homemade boards behind tow boats. By about 1970 kneeboards were starting to be designed specifically for being towed behind a motorized boat. Kneeboards were originally much heavier than modern boards. These older boards had a flat bottom and were shaped like large tear drops. Today’s boards are made lighter and have a more concave shape to provide better performance.¹ In 1983, The American Kneeboarding Association (AKA) was founded and started to produce competitive events. As the competitive scene started up, interest in the sport grew. By 1988, the American Kneeboarding Association was given official sports division status from USA Water Ski.

The term waterproof means something that will work in spite of any amount of water thrown on it, even amidst temporary sinking. This quality depends on the time, and on the depth of water.

Waterproof marine audio components are invaluable for boaters who are expected to stay around lots of water for a longer period of time. Actually a waterproof speaker is also popularly known as a marine speaker that is an invincible part of stero sound

in a wet environment.Broadly, waterproof speakers can be divided into four main categories: dual cone speakers, coaxial speakers, component speakers, and sub-woofers. Dual cone speakers are those that have only one driver or sound output source, but use two different cones that come in large and small sizes. The larger cone is meant for mid-range and low frequencies while the smaller is for high frequencies. This kind of speakers work fairly well but lack the capacity for a broad spectrum of sound frequencies. The buyers often consider these because they are cheap.Coaxial speakers are also known as 2 way or 3 way speakers. They use multiple drivers to handle different frequencies. The term coaxial means that one speaker is wrapped around with another speaker. The tweeter that handles the high frequency is situated in the middle of the speaker and surrounded by a woofer that handles mid range and low frequencies. The coaxial speaker delivers better performance than a dual cone speaker, but sometimes the components are not necessarily as good as that of a component speaker.

The fourth type is the sub-woofer

that is designed only to set the bass frequencies. Actually sub-woofers are meant for heavy thunder like sounds, but the use depends on the opinion of the user because a good quality coaxial or component speaker can produce the same sound effect as the sub-woofer does.Now while choosing waterproof speakers certain points should be kept in mind. Considering a cutout size is an important point, especially if existing speakers are being replaced with the new one. This will help the buyer to cut short in search because the person knows what to buy.

Considering speaker quality is another important thing to be kept in mind. The quality of a speaker depends upon the frequency range of sound that it is able to reproduce. One example would clear this point. For instance, take the difference between a telephone speaker and a stereo speaker

With warmer weather on the horizon, you may be anxious to don your swimsuit, slather on the sunscreen and head to the boat dock. To make the most of this year’s boating season, start with a nice, clean boat that is mildew free and water ready.

Cleaning your boat properly after a long winter not only protects it from damaging elements, such as dry rot, cracking, ultraviolet rays, corrosion, oxidation and water minerals, but also it will be aesthetically pleasing. Knowing where to begin can be a daunting task, especially for first-time boat owners. Stick to this handy guideline to cleaning your boat, and soon you’ll be sailing the high seas safely with style and panache.

Examine the exterior – Even if the hull is not composed completely of fiberglass, it’s important to properly clean the shell of your boat, as this barrier is critical to its longevity. Sealing it properly can save you from water damage and expensive repair costs. In some cases, a clean boat can mean the difference between waterproof and waterlogged.

Gather the right cleaning equipment- Choosing the right boat cleaning supplies can be overwhelming due to the multitude of site-specific cleaning products available on the market today. Keeping an all-purpose soap in your repertoire is always a good idea, but there are sensitive areas of your boat that require special attention and care. Ask the people at your local pier, boating ramp or storage facility to see what they use. Also, don’t hesitate to consult sales representatives at your local boating supply store for advice. They can be knowledgeable in the clean boat arena and look at good web sites for their cleaning products.

Clean the hull- Because a clean hull can improve your boat’s performance and fuel efficiency, it is the most critical area of your boat to clean. Scrub outdoors during daylight hours for the best visibility, and pay attention to any cracks or questionable areas that may have developed during winter storage. Use a medium-bristled brush to avoid irritating the gelcoat.

Pay attention to the gelcoat- The gelcoat, which acts as a sunscreen for your boat, needs to be properly treated each season to protect your boat from sun damage, which can be more detrimental to your boat than water. If your gelcoat begins to breakdown, it can become more porous, dirty and waterlogged, resulting in blistering on the surface of your boat. If your gelcoat needs rejuvenating, clean it with a nonabrasive cleanser, then polish it with a UV-protective wax.

Treat vinyl- Over time, the intensity of the sun can cause your vinyl upholstery to crack and fade. Treat and protect it with a vinyl-specific cleaner that contains a UV shield. Mildew stains can be a pesky problem if you have vinyl upholstery. Use a medium-soft bristled deck brush, and gently scrub mildew spots with a small amount of ammonia and water.

Hydrate dry rot- Check wood trim for dry rot by tapping questionable areas with a hard tool and listening for a hollow sound. Pay extra attention to hatches, deck seams, planking, companion slides, stem, ribs and toe rails. Fix any affected areas with a dry rot treatment available at your local boating supply store.

Deep clean carpeting- Boat carpet can be a petri dish for the bacteria that causes bad smells and stains. Not only is it the dropping grounds for neglected debris from your last fishing trip, spilled beverages and snacks, but it’s also the resting home for mud and sand. Clean the carpet in your boat the same way you would clean it in your home. For Berber carpet and other durable variations typically used in boats, use a suction-only vacuum attachment. If you use a vacuum that has a beater bar, fibers can easily get caught and tangled and wind up frayed. Consider having the carpet steam cleaned once a season to uproot deeply embedded dirt and mud. You can also do it yourself with a rented carpet cleaner from your local hardware or grocery store.

Perform a routine checkup- As part of your boat cleaning process, give your boat a thorough inspection. Examine electrical sockets for damage caused by vermin, confirm that your lights and bilge pump are working properly, check the battery and radio, restock your emergency kit and ensure that your life jackets are in good condition. In addition, give the trailer a similar checkup to ensure that its tires are properly inflated and the lights are functioning.