Author Archives: schatzi

Take an Over-Night Boat Trip – How to Gunkhole

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For many boaters, cruising usually means launching their boat on a lake and heading out for the day to fish, to sunbath or to enjoy an outing with some friends and beer. For others, it means spending the day discovering the shoreline, snugging down for a night in a secluded cove and then returning the next day. An over-night boat trip is an excellent way to enjoy a summer weekend.

The type of boat you own determines how comfortable your cruising trip will be. Sailboats greater than 21 feet have interior cabins that can act as a mobile ‘Anchor Hotel’. Power boat owners can’t comfortable sleep aboard their craft but can anchor and camp along a distant sandy shore.

How to Gunkhole
A gunkhole is a small, sheltered cove where small boats can anchor. Because each shoreline is different, the surrounding topography determines how much a cove will be exposed to the wind. Here are a few tips to make your overnight boating trip safer & more enjoyable:

  • Look at the surrounding hills and forest to determine how exposed a cove is. You want a place where the anchor will not drag during an unexpected storm.
  • Talk to local boaters to find out the seasonal wind patterns. Some coves may only be protected from the prevailing skies during certain times of the year. Be extremely cautious of storms which can approach from the opposite direction and can turn a calm bay into a wind-tunnel.
  • Anchor in a sheltered spot that’s protected from the wind and waves and away from marine traffic.
  • Leave enough scope (ratio between the depth of the water and the length of the rode) for a secure anchorage:
    • For a lunch stop, a scope of 3:1 should be good.
    • For overnighting, a scope of 5:1 should be good.
    • For rough weather, a scope of 7:1 should be good.
    • When in doubt, let it out!
  • Be a good neighbor and leave enough room to swing between your boat and a neighboring one.
  • Consider dropping two anchors, one aft and stern, just in case the winds pick up. If possible, try securing the boat with an extra line to a tree or boulder on the shore.
  • Ensure to properly secure your tender or pull the light raft high on the shore. Wind and waves (or tides out on the ocean) can grab your inflatable and set it adrift unmanned.
  • Always turn on your mast light at night. It gets very dark on remote shores so let others see your position.

If you’re an avid boater, try gunkholing one of these weekends. An overnight boating trip is a great way to feel the peaceful isolation of nature that few can afford or have time to experience.

How Can Travel Insurance Be Beneficial?

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Why do you need Travel Insurance?

When you go on a trip there are many things that you need to plan, like where you should go, what you should pack, what are you supposed to do once you get there. However, no matter how well you do your planning; there are somethings on which you cannot have your control like and these are the exact things that travel insurance covers:

  • Your flight may get cancelled.
  • Your luggage may get lost, which may also be having your medicines or prescription in it.
  • Your wallet and passport may go missing, and you may need a passport replacement and emergency cash.
  • You may meet with an accident and do not get any medical attention.
  • You may need to cancel your tour due to unavoidable circumstances.
  • Your tour operator, airline or cruise line may become bankrupt. In such a case you will need the non-refundable costs covered and reach your destination.
  • You may fall ill in a foreign land and need immediate medical attention.
  • A natural disaster forces you to leave your hotel.
  • A terrorist attack happens in the city you have planned to visit, forcing you to cancel your trip.

What are the different types of Travel Insurance?

Depending your unique circumstances there are different types of policies that you can choose from. The different circumstances may include the length of your trip, the people you will be travelling with, the activities that you will be performing while on the tour, etc.

Now let’s have a look at the different coverages that you can opt from:

Single Trip Travel Insurance

As the very name suggests, this policy covers you only for a single trip. You can use it for yourself or your family by buying it before you go on each trip. This can be expensive depending on how often and how many of you go on a tour.

Annual Multi Trip Travel Insurance

Under this you can travel as many times as you want for the particular span of time during which the policy is alive, which is possibly a period of 12 months. Hence, if you are a frequent traveler, this can be cheap for you.

Some users restrict the number of trips that you can have, while others do not have any such provisions.

Worldwide Travel Insurance

If you are planning to tour two or three continents then you may need this type of policy. You will not need this cover if you are willing to tour only Europe, but if you plan to tour Australia, America and New Zealand as well. Such a policy may be apt for a backpacking tour or a gap year, if it is bought as an annual policy.

Winter Sports Travel Insurance

This type of cover is needed if you are planning to go for a snowboarding, skiing, sledging trip, etc. This policy however, charges a high premium because it is extremely probable to get injured while being on such trips.

These are only a few main types of trips; there are several other types of insurance policies that you can pick and choose from. The idea is to have a travel policy, rather than touring around vulnerable to financial disasters. Insurance is mandatory while you rent a car as well.

3 NL Texas Hold Em Strategy Tips For Doubling Your Stack In Under 7 Minutes

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You can use these NL Texas Hold Em Strategy tips to feed your steroid stack so it grows and grows and grows. The only side effect to using these things is that you’ll be amazed how easy it is to make money playing Poker. So read this entire article and take action today.

NL Texas Hold Em Strategy Tips For Growing Your Fast Stack # 1

The best way to quickly increase your carpet from the moment you sit down at a table is used to steal the blinds with the pot pre-flop steal. Using superior position and having a character image of being a strong player, you should be able to take many successful blinds and grow your stack well.

NL Texas Hold Em Strategy Tips For Growing Your Stack Quick # 2

The next thing you can do to grow your stack faster is to take advantage of continuation bets. A continuation bet is a bet that you make post-flop whom you didn’t hit the flop. But because you are betting out you are showing strength and it seems like you have hit the flop.

This will help you win more pots, even if you do not have the best cards. Remember, you do not need the best cards to win. Most of the time player who bets first that will win the pot. You may have to take a second or a third go at it, but mastering this skill is a sure-fire way to boost your stack fast.

NL Texas Hold Em Strategy Tips For Growing Your Fast Stack # 3

Another slightly more risky – but worth it when done correctly – tactic is make very much gutsy all-in.

Punching an all-in bet without good cards, so essentially a bluff – doesn’t have to be as risky as you’d think. In general, it does not matter what cards you have is more important what your opponents, what are the community cards and the feeling of the game.

If you get the idea that your opponent doesn’t have very good cards than it might be worth going all-in to take the pot there and then.

Now, I’m sure you are realizing how powerful these NL Texas Hold Em Strategy tips are for you. Just imagine yourself cleaning up at the poker table the moment you use these. Before you continue on to learn more review these tips so that you will be able to easily perform them and double your stack in less than 7 minutes.

Germ Free Vegetarian Dining: 5 Disease Culprits You Won’t Encounter at A Vegetarian Restaurant

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These days, it seems like germs are everywhere. From the swine flu to the avian flu, we seem to be under siege from deadly bacteria and viruses. Fortunately, when you dine in a vegetarian restaurant, there are some illnesses that you can forget about for an hour or two. Here are 5 germs that you are less likely to encounter when you choose a vegetarian dining option for your next meal.

1. Salmonella
This illness-causing bacteria is carried primarily in meat and eggs. Most often, people ingest the bacteria when eating meats or eggs that have not been fully cooked. Since your vegetarian meal contains no meat or eggs, you do not have to worry about proper preparation time.

Salmonella can sometimes spread from contaminated meat to other foods and surfaces if the preparer touches the item after handling uncooked meat. Vegetarian restaurant kitchens are safe from any possibility of cross contamination. Even if a germ managed to get on your veggie before it arrived at the restaurant, the bug is eliminated when your chef washes your veggies before use.

2. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) a.k.a. Mad Cow Disease
Rare but deadly, BSE is caused by a mutated protein that enters the body and causes the brain and spinal cord to degenerate, eventually leading to death. It is carried exclusively in meat products and is transmitted by consuming the affected beef. Your dinner at a vegetarian restaurant is guaranteed to be BSE-free.

3. E. coli
E. coli is a bacteria which produces toxins that can cause serious illness and even death, particularly among those with a weakened immune system. It is most commonly transmitted in undercooked meat, such as the hamburger-related outbreak on the West Coast a few years ago. While unwashed produce can occasionally contain E. coli, basic washing eliminates the bacteria. Simply put, as long as your restaurant is washing its vegetables before use, you’re completely safe.

If you’re still worried, go organic for your vegetarian dining. Certified organic farms were found to have a lower incidence of E. coli than other producers. If you want to be doubly sure that your meal is bacteria free, an organic vegetarian restaurant is less likely to have E. coli than other restaurants.

4. Shellfish poisoning
Nearly everyone has known someone who has gotten sick after a seafood dinner. Clams, mussels, oysters and scallops are the most common culprits. These two-shelled bottom feeders often build up toxins as they filter the water for their nutrients. When improperly cooked, those toxins remain in the meat, entering your system and leading to a few days of gastrointestinal misery. You can avoid any risk of shellfish poisoning by opting for a vegetarian dining option instead.

5. Clostridium perfringens
This is another illness-causing bacteria carried in poorly prepared meat and poultry. While the subsequent gastrointestinal upset is not usually fatal, it is weakening and can last for 24 to 48 hours after consumption. Most of us have experienced it at some time or another without knowing it, since studies have shown that the majority of the population has antibodies left over from previous infection. To save yourself from a case of the “stomach flu,” choose a vegetarian restaurant instead.

Dangerous, disease-causing bacteria lurk in incorrectly prepared meat, poultry and shellfish, and you can get your dose unknowingly from a meat-serving restaurant. Choose a vegetarian restaurant instead for a germ free dining experience.