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media type="custom" key="10541684"John Wahlstedt

Ever since I was a small child, I have sailed with my father; I always let him rig and launch the boat while I sat back and watched. Unfortunately for me when I went to a sailing camp and was asked to rig a boat, I was lost. You might have found yourself in a similar situation when you first learned to sail. I am here to inform you on how you can rig a 420 sailboat by first //rigging the Jib, then rigging the Mainsail, and finally launching the boat and hoisting the sails to get underway//. Using these three steps you can successfully rig a 420 sailboat. To begin rigging the 420(sailboat), you will first need to move the sailboat (usually on a trailer) out into a wide-open space where you can begin. Then one person must go to the sail shed and get a rudder, a Jib, and the Mainsail. Then you will need to tie the jib sheets. The jib sheet is a rope that you must thread through the clew of the jib (the hole in the lower back of the jib). Then you must tie figure eight knots on both ends. To tie, first make a circle with the end of the rope, then loop the end under the rope and make another circle. Finally you must pull the end of the rope through the first hole. This knot will prevent the jib sheet from pulling through the Jib Clew. Now you are ready to start rigging the Jib. The Jib is the small triangular sail on the front of the boat. To begin you must first connect the Jib Luff (the hole at the bottom front of the Jib) to the bow where there is a small hook. Next you must connect the Jib Head (the hole at the top of the Jib) to the Jib Halyard (the hook on a pulley running up the front of the Mast). Finally, pull and hoist up the Jib and lock the rope on the hook at the foot of the mast and lock the Jib Sheets on the hooks on either side of the boat. Now you are ready to begin rigging the mainsail. The first step to rigging the mainsail is threading the Main Foot (the bottom of the Mainsail) down the boom (the long horizontal metal beam) .You will need first feed the car (a metal piece on the back of the Main Foot) down the top of the boom all the way to the end. Then you pin the Main Tack (the hole at the bottom front of the mainsail) to the front of the boom. After you have completed those steps, you must tie the outhaul rope (a rope at the end of the boom) to the hook on the car and cleat it to the bottom of the boom. The outhaul rope prevents the Main Foot from slipping out down the boom while you are sailing. Lastly, hook the Main Head (the hole at the top of the Mainsail) to the Main Halyard (the cable running up the mast) and feed the beginning of the Mainsail Luff (the front of the sail) up the mast. You are now ready to launch. The rigging of the 420 sailboat is almost complete. Lower the trailer into the water and slowly unwind the crank at the front of the trailer until the boat eases off the trailer and into the water. After you are finished with that you can now tie the boat up at the dock and pull the trailer back out of the water. Now walk out on the pier where the boat is tied and slowly climb into the boat. Once seated in the boat you should lower the centerboard (the long narrow plastic board in the center of the boat). Next you need to mount the rudder on the back of the boat by locking it into place in metal clamps mounted on the hull for this purpose. By this time, you are ready to hoist the mainsail. Have an adult or a friend pull on the Main Halyard while you feed the Mainsail Luff up the Mainsail. To end with, you can secure the Main Halyard by locking the rope at the lock at the bottom of the mast. You are now completely finished with rigging the boat. After you have completed all these steps you are finished and ready to sail. Never again will you have to worry about having to be embarrassed next time you go sailing. Although it may be slow going the first time, you will slowly become faster with practice. Be proud of yourself, you have successfully rigged a 420 sailboat and all you have to do is sail off into the flaming sunset like Captain Orange Beard with your sails billowing in the wind.
 * The Hardest Part **
 * By: John Wahlstedt**

=The Gateway to the Future=

**By: John Wahlstedt**

Nuclear Energy has been a safe and reliable source of energy for America, and I believe the United States government should actively promote the further development and construction of Nuclear Power Plants. Although coal, gas and oil have, and will, produce the majority of U.S. electrical power, Nuclear Energy has a bright future. Nuclear Energy decreases our dependency on fossil fuels, is a safe and clean form of energy, and is an amazingly cheap source of electricity. These advantages make Nuclear Energy the best and most efficient form of energy around.

Sixty-Eight percent of the United States electrical energy comes from fossil fuels, primarily coal, natural gas, and oil. The environmental cost of obtaining the necessary fuel is huge. Nearly half of all U.S. electricity is produced from coal-powered plants. According to a coal industry trade association in 2006 this required 1,026,636,000 tons of coal for just that year. The environmental impacts of mining this required coal are massive. Surface mining of coal can destroy vegetation, damage the soil, displace wildlife, and to some extent permanently change the topography of the area mined. Underground mining is one of the most dangerous and dirty jobs existing today, killing an average of 30 U.S. miners per year according to Environmental Health and Safety magazine. On the contrary, the Uranium mining industry has resulted in only one death since 1998 (because of safe mining and the cleaner air) and its environmental impact is comparatively insignificant.

In addition to cutting our dependency on foreign resources, Nuclear Energy is also a safe and clean source of energy. One **epidemiological** ( The branch of medicine that deals with the study of the causes, distribution, and control of disease in populations) study estimates that 500,000 people per year die prematurely in the United States from causes directly related to air pollution. Burning coal is a leading cause of smog and acid rain in the U.S. according to the Union of Concerned scientists and its effects range from cardiopulmonary disease to pneumonia. In contrast, Nuclear Power Plants only release harmless non-radioactive water vapor into the air from their cooling towers. Remarkably, the burning of coal ash actually releases more radioactive material into the air than the mining and generation of nuclear power.

Nuclear Power Plants are fueled by the radioactive element called Uranium. Uranium is a readily available resource inside the United States with deposits in Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. After construction costs are covered, Nuclear Power Plants are also an amazingly cheap source of electricity. The cost to run a Nuclear Power Plant as of 2011 was $1.68 per kilowatt-hour. This cost is the cheapest of all other power sources except hydropower. At this low cost Nuclear Power plants can run for decades without major refueling. Solar Panels and Wind Turbines were among the most expensive to run. Although they do not emit any pollution, they are expensive to build and maintain. It would take an estimated 173,541,127 wind turbines to replace the 21% of U.S. electricity that Nuclear Energy accounts for. Nuclear Energy has proved to be a source that could replace the fossil fuels we currently use. Taken together, these things, in my opinion, make Nuclear Energy the best source of electricity operating today.

The current unpredictable regulations and high construction costs have prevented the constructions of any Nuclear Power Plants in the U.S. since 1979. In order for us to realize the benefits of Nuclear Power Plants that I have stated, two main problems need to be overcome. First, the federal government should decide on a set of clearly stated and unchanging regulations that power companies and investors can follow. No one will invest their hard earned money if they fear that the regulations will change or legal challenges will occur while they are building the plant. The second problem is the high construction costs of Nuclear Plants compared to coal or gas plants. Although Nuclear Power Plants are cheap to run in the long term, the cost to build the plant itself is too high to pay. Power companies find it easier to finance the construction of coal of gas plants. Government needs to provide loan guarantees to protect the investors and encourage the long-term investment in Nuclear Power rather than the short term costs of Coal of Gas Plants.

These advantages of Nuclear Power make it one of the best forms of energy around. I firmly believe that Nuclear Energy is the future source of electricity for our world. I hope that in my lifetime we adopt this efficient form of energy as our primary source of electricity. Nuclear will provide America with a clean and bright future.

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