The Basics of Buying Boat Insurance

If you own a boat, you need boat insurance. It's just that simple. Before you actually purchase a policy, however, consider the following facts.

Getting the Best Quote

It pays to shop around when you're buying insurance. First, contact your current insurance company for a quote, and then research the rates of its competitors. Insurance agencies and insurance agents want to sell insurance, so it's likely that they will offer you incentives if you add boat insurance to your existing policies. If you can find comparable insurance at better rates from another agency, be sure to tell your agent. A counteroffer that benefits you both might be the result.

Who's Covered, Who's Not

Some insurance companies will only cover the owner of a boat insured under their policy. In other words, if someone other than the owner operates the boat and an accident occurs, those insurance companies will disallow coverage. Ask your agent who is covered by your insurance company's boat policies. If they will only cover you, the owner, you may want to shop for a new agency.

Watercraft Liability Coverage

Today many states require that boat owners carry watercraft liability coverage. This coverage protects owners against any damage caused to people or property by their boat due to its use, maintenance or ownership. Watercraft liability coverage also provides legal defense, and it protects owners in the event of collision, stranding, sinking, fire, theft and vandalism.

Insurance requirements, of course, are different in each state, so check with your insurance agent to see if watercraft liability insurance is mandatory where you live.

Wreckage Removal Coverage

Wreckage removal coverage is an excellent optional policy for every boat owner to consider. In the majority of locales, wrecked or sunken boats must, by law, be removed, usually at the owner's expense, a process that can be quite costly. With wreckage removal coverage, however, the insurance company pays the bill.

In addition to wreckage removal coverage, boat owners should consider purchasing coverage that will pay for normal repairs as well as mechanical failure and towing.

Boats are pricey investments. They are not only costly to buy, but they are also expensive to maintain and repair. Likewise, replacing a wrecked or inoperable boat would not be cheap. That's why it is so important that you, as a boat owner, get the coverage you need to protect yourself from costly damage or loss that could ground your boat forever.

Top Mystery Ghost Ships

There is something about a ship lost at sea which sends shivers down our spines and evokes a sense of mystery and chilling fatefulness. Maybe because the sea can become an endless void which is instinctively unnerving. However, even though thousands of ships have gone missing at sea some have become legendary and their tales timeless.

The U.S.S Cyclops was built in 1910 and was used in World War I to transport coal for the Navy. In 1918 on its way to the U.S from Brazil it completely disappeared without a trace not even a single S.O.S call. The shocking thing about this disaster is over 300 men lost their lives and to this day nobody has found any wreck or evidence of the ship. It remains the single largest loss of life experienced by the United States Navy of a vessel not in combat. According to records it was apparently overloaded with manganese ore, which could have contributed to its unfortunate demise.

The Ourang Medan is allegedly a Dutch merchant ship that sank in Indonesian waters in 1947. According to sources two ships answered an S.O.S call. The City of Baltimore and the Silver Star which were both American vessels. The distress messages exclaimed the rest of the crew were apparently dead. When the Silver Star arrived they found the entire crew dead on board with terrified expressions. As the crew of the Silver Star investigated The Ourang Medan allegedly set on fire and sank. To this day nobody knows exactly what happened on board and caused the fire. However, some believe the ship was carrying nitroglycerin and some kind of nerve chemicals which caused the deaths of the crew and eventual fire.

The Baychimo is a story of a ship that just wouldn't sink. It was abandoned near Alaska in 1931 because it was trapped in ice. After some time the ship broke free naturally and was seen adrift. The amazing thing is it remained adrift for almost 40 years without sinking. Various crew throughout the years tried to salvage the ship without success. Over the years sightings were recorded as recently as 1969.

The Mary Celeste is possibly one of the most famous ships in history. The ship was bound for Italy in 1872 with grain alcohol as its cargo. It was found in December 1872 by the crew of a British ship called the Dei Gratia. They allegedly found The Mary Celeste completely abandoned, but the ship was fully supplied, equipped and sea worthy. After investigation it was found that a life raft was missing but the mystery of the lost crew remained. To this day The Mary Celeste remains one of the great legends of the sea. Captain David Williams is cited as having the most practical solution to its mystery. After 30 years of research he basically concluded the ship set on fire in some way, the crew entered a life raft but forgot to tether it to the ship as a result they were left stranded.

Ghost ships, the Bermuda triangle and incredible mistakes made by crew all contribute to tragic stories which ultimately led to loss of life and the ships themselves.

10 Best Knitting Tips

One of knitting's secrets is to be very familiar with all of the little tips and tricks that you can use for any project. Whenever I go to forums or even visit my favorite LYS (aka my 'local yarn shop') there are knitters there who have been knitting for years and some are still not familiar with little techniques that are not only time savers, but knitting life savers, as well.

So I have comprised a list of Knitting's Best Tips. Some of these may seem rather obvious, but you'd be surprised at how many knitters have never heard of them!

Without further ado, here we go:

1. Before you even make a slip knot, READ the entire pattern through at least once. You will be amazed at how directions / instructions are written. Some very helpful hints or notes will be added near the end of the pattern. Usually these are things you need to know right away. Be sure to read the pattern through completely, so you know what these are.

2. When casting on, always leave yourself enough yarn to make it all the way through the stitches you need to cast on the needle. Don't worry if you have a long strand of yarn left over, simply cut it to size.

3. When joining a second or third ball of yarn, try to join them at the edges rather than in the middle of a row. Then your seams will be hidden in the sides and it just looks so much neater.

4. When knitting off of a chart or directional rows, always use a sticky note to keep your place. Then when you need to walk away, always write down the last row knitted on the sticky note so you'll know just where to pick up when you resume. The sticky little note can be moved down the page as you go.

5. When knitting with a ball of yarn, always pull the yarn from the center and not the outside. If you do this, your yarn will flow nicely and not become a monster tangled mess as you knit. If you do encounter a knotted mess, simply cut the mess out, then attach your yarn again. Some knots are impossible to untangle!

6. If you want to change colors rather than knit all in one color, then do it! Be creative. If you wish to add a stitch pattern to a project, and you know how to do that, then do it! Variations on a theme are always welcome.

7. When you work on a pattern that is written for 2 or 3 sizes, always circle or highlight the size that you are knitting for. Do that all the way through the pattern. It is very easy to start knitting for another size if your size isn't highlighted from start to finish.

8. New to knitting? Then don't knit with specialty yarns or anything fuzzy or ribbon-y, like fun fur or mohair. It's too difficult to see your stitches on the needle, and you'll get lost in the fuzz. Take my word for it!

9. Keep all those knitting accessories to a minimum. They may look all the rage, and be very cute to have, but most often you won't use them anyway. Needles, yarn, scissors and instructions will do the job every time.

10. If you're getting to the end of a ball of yarn and want to know if you can knit another row without running out, then do this: take your remaining yarn and stretch it out across the width of your piece three times, back and forth. If your yarn makes it, you have enough for another row. Whew!

These tips should get you started. As I come across more fun knitting secrets, I'll write additional articles. So be sure to check back often; you never what you'll find!

Replacing Negative Behaviors in Children With Habit Training

Parents often complain that they work on changing one irritating behavior only to find their child has replaced it with another annoying action. The easy solution to this problem is to choose the replacement behavior yourself and instill it as a habit.

All children have the ability to learn new ways of doing things and develop new habits or ways of relating. But when left to their own devices children, especially those on the Autism spectrum, will easily retire into their own little worlds and continue the patterns that have been wired into their brains. Therefore, establishing new behaviors of any type will take much encouragement and repetition over a span of time.

As the saying goes, even the most intelligent people typically have to do something twenty-one times before it becomes a habit. How much repetition and for how long depends on what it is you are trying to eliminate or change. Bad habits are harder to break because one has to struggle against the power of immediate reinforcement; such as, making my sister cry always gets me my mother's attention.

Replacing old behaviors with new ones also takes lots of focused energy and effort. If you want to eliminate a negative behavior and substitute it with a more acceptable one, patience and consistency are a must. Most children will need to have the new behavior labeled, taught and role modeled, followed by many opportunities to practice. This may be difficult for busy parents to do but essential nonetheless if a change for the better is the goal.

Breaking an old habit is like blazing a new trail in a jungle - it may not be as easy as following the well-worn path but worth it if it avoids the quicksand. As children routinely perform the same action over and over again, their brain slowly gets rewired as the alternative pattern of behavior creates new neural pathways. Once established, these will override the old ones and become the default behavior.

Here are five easy steps to habit train your child:

1) Choose a value or a behavior you want to instill or modify. Prioritize them in order of annoyance and start at the top only working your way down when the one above has been mastered.

2) Provide appropriate substitutes for behaviors you want to change. If you want to stop a behavior you need to introduce an appropriate alternative to take it's place and specifically train your child to use it.

3) Make it easy for your child to remember the new behavior. Train your child with prompts and reward the behavior you want to see more of. If you are trying to get your child to stop screaming post visual reminders for them to use their 'inside voice' all around the house and praise them immediately and specifically when she speaks appropriately.

4) Be intentional and consistent in your teaching. This means creating a plan of action, getting all household members on board with it and spending the time necessary to address the negative behavior you want to eliminate every time it surfaces.

5) Practice, practice, practice. Being extremely specific and concrete with your directives and using role-play as a tool will help children with Autism generalize from one situation to another. Giving children ample opportunities to practice new behaviors is extremely important and cannot be overdone if you want to achieve success.

Always remember that many negative, aggressive behaviors and tantrums in children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder often stem from an inability to communicate effectively. If you were a non-verbal child and unable to communicate your needs to get them met, wouldn't you tend to tantrum too? Even a child with some language ability, who is trying his best to communicate but can't get his point across, can easily become frustrated and discouraged.

In cases such as these, stopping negative behaviors may have more to do with improving communication than teaching substitute behaviors. Introducing alternative methods of communication and training them to use it can form new habits and ways of relating to people that result in more satisfaction and less frustration for all. An Augmentative or Alternative Communication (AAC) method or device may mean the difference between feeling invisible, isolated, and dependent versus being able to be seen/heard, interact and get their own needs met.

As parents we need to fully embrace our role as teacher or trainer and not shy away from it. Yes it is time consuming but consistently instructing and guiding our children is what gets the best results. If not, we are granting any and all behaviors permission to take hold. We all know that the deeper a root has established itself the harder it is to remove. So make your job easier and tackle those negative behaviors before they become too ingrained.

Stock Not Selling on eBay? Use It to Your Advantage!

Your stock not selling on eBay? Use it to your advantage!

Sound strange? I shall explain.

No matter how successful a seller you may be, every now and then you will purchase stock for resale that doesn't sell as well as you thought it would. Or worse, it doesn't sell at all. Experience in your product area will dictate how often this happens but happen it will at some point.

Here is what not to do.

Leave it on eBay and hope for the best.

Don't do this. You've already established it's not selling it isn't suddenly going to start selling for no reason.

With the products I sell within my eBay business, I have a fair grasp of which items will sell the best. Like I say this comes with experience but I'm not perfect and now and then I do purchase some 'duffers' which just don't sell. In my case it is the usually the colour of an item. An example, I have one blue bag which sells great and continues to sell great, now another bag which is exactly the same model but a different colour, just doesn't sell at all.

Here is what I do.

Put the bag on short eBay auction duration (1 -3 days) for a very low starting price with no reserve. In my case £0. 99. Now, within this listing you MUST have as many links to your shop or other eBay items as possible. Why? Because a low cost, no reserve eBay auction attracts a HUGE interest. When you do this, make sure you use an eBay counter within your listing so you can see how many viewings you've had. Also, track how many 'watchers' of the eBay item you have.

So, you have your eBay item on auction for a low cost but how does that help you?

Good question and I'll try to explain.

The increased exposure your eBay item will get will lead to further sales in your eBay shop. Yes, it really will. What you're doing is making up for the lack of sales on your 'lame' product by using it as a huge PROMOTION tool for your business. This will increase sales of your other eBay items. If your auction product doesn't sell or you only receive low bids or maybe you might just get your money back on it with no profit, it doesn't matter, it's served it's purpose. Try this, it really works!

Another way to get rid of 'dead stock' (and stock sitting there not selling is your worst enemy) is to add it to another product you are selling as a 'FREE GIFT'. Make sure you use the term 'WITH FREE GIFT' in your item headline. eBay buyers love a bargain and anything with 'FREE' in the title will also attract huge attention. You get rid of you're 'duff' stock and eBay buyers are chuffed because along with the item they've purchased off you, they have their 'FREE' gift. Chances are they'll be back for more.

So, from a point of having stock that you can not sell you've turned the whole situation round and used it to your advantage.

I've used these techniques many times and they DO work!

Thanks for reading and i'd love to hear your comments and views on this,

Mark Davies eBay Powerseller

Solar Water Heaters - Save Money and the Environment

With the every growing cost of energy and the alarming issue of global warming, solar heating has become a great way to save money and also save the environment. Unlike solar photovoltaic which converts the sun's energy to electricity, Solar water Heaters use the heat radiation of the sun directly. This means there is very little loss. As an example, a solar heating system can be 97% efficient versus a PV cell which is typically 8-14% efficient.

How does it Work?

A Solar heater uses a special coating that absorbs the sun's radiation. This is very similar to how a black car heats up in the sun. The absorbed heat energy is then transferred to a heating medium such as water or glycol. Glycol is normally used when the home owner experiences freezing conditions. The heated liquid is then moved via as small energy-efficient pump to where it is needed. The heat is then transferred to the home or hot water via a heat exchanger.

The most common use of solar water heaters is to heat domestic hot water. A typical solar heating system comprises 5 key elements.

Solar collectors - capture the suns energy Piping - holds the heating medium that is heated in the solar collectors (usually copper or stainless steel) Pump - that moves the solar heating fluid from the collector through the piping to where it is needed Solar Tank with an internal heat exchanger- this is where the heating fluid transfers its energy to the domestic hot water through the internal heat exchanger inside the tank Solar controller - this calculates when the heating fluid is hotter than the water in the solar tank. If it is then it activates the pump so that the heating fluid can circulate through the heat exchanger in the tank

Solar Water Heaters can typically provide home owners 60-70% saving on their water heating bill. With the Federal Energy Tax credits being applied, a typical solar water heater cost about $3000-$4000 and can have paybacks in less than 5 years in some states. This makes them very popular for home owners. In fact in some states such as Hawaii and European countries, new home construction must have a solar water heater as part of the build.

As energy cost are sure to continue to rise and energy management solutions' continue to gain in popularity, so will solar water heating. Next time you see a black looking solar collector on a neighbour's roof, thank them for helping save our planet!