We have an extra solar panel we keep unmounted on deck so we can move it where the sun is brightest. This leaves us with two loose wires running across the deck that are easy to trip over. My husband, Dave, found this unacceptable and decided to sheath the wires with an old piece of doublebraid rope.
Finding a place to locate solar panels on a small boat is a challenge. We wanted our two 50-watt panels to be adjustable, but secure. Ultimately, we were able to meet both criteria by mounting them on the lifelines of Eurisko, our Creekmore 34.
Negotiating a reef inlet, be it in the Bahamas or the South Pacific, requires precise navigation and skilled seamanship. Detailed charts are essential, and you should always consult any local sailing directions you have onboard in advance.
They didn’t hoist the Jolly Roger or fire a shot across my bow, but their intentions were worrisome. I was 80 miles off the coast of Nicaragua, on a rhumb line course from Panama to Key West. The seas were sloppy and felt more like Mother Maytag than Mother Ocean. My Spanish is bueno, and I had been trying to raise my visitors on the radio for 20 minutes. Surely the four hombres aboard the 70-foot rust museum weren’t blasting through these dreadful seas just to sell me a fish.
A sailor’s perspective of a mid-Atlantic drama
It’s been said before, but it bears repeating: one of the great things about sailboat racing is the fact that there’s a place in the sport for competitors of all ages.
Hugh was an orthopedic surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he specialized in hip and knee replacements. He and Betsy took up sailing together on a boat called REEB (“beer” spelled backward).
Rich Wilson is a sucker for punishment. One solo round-the-world race isn’t enough for the New England sailor, who at the tender age of 62 has set his sights on the 2016-17 Vendee Globe—arguably the world’s toughest sailing event.
Anchored off a fishing village on the Pacific coast of Mexico’s Baja peninsula, my daughters, Eleanor (8) and Frances (6), sat at the dinette, manipulating small piles of found objects and plastic pieces into spiral shapes as part of some kid of game.
It is surprising to me that so few sailors are also fishermen. When joining a new boat for a passage, I often ask to see what kind of fishing gear the crew has on board. Almost always, I receive a puzzled look, or perhaps a mildly apologetic one, as my fellow sailors wonder where they last saw the jumbled mass of line, hooks and lead weights they call “gear.”
Have you ever wondered how sailors navigated before GPS? Do you want an analogue backup if your electronics fail? Are you just curious about navigating
Imagine a sailboat under 60ft with private en suite accommodations for five couples plus professional crew. Add to that enough space to allow those same
. The Rolex Sydney to Hobart is one of the toughest ways to ring in the New Year, covering about 725 miles from Sydney, Australia,
To subscribe for free and have it delivered directly to your inbox every weekday, click here. Need for Speed Named for the author of “Around
This spring, two double-hulled canoes, Hōkūle‘a and Hikianalia, will set off for what organizers are calling the Moananuiākea Voyage—a 41,000-mile, 42-month circumnavigation of the Pacific.
The SAIL e-newsletter is off for the remainder of the year, but before we go, we wanted to wish you and yours the very best
The Ocean Race will get underway early in 2023 after a five-year hiatus and a number of changes to the race’s formula, most notably the
Hanneke Boon, one of James Wharram’s longtime partners, has announced that the famed catamaran pioneer passed last week after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He
For offshore racing fans, this past autumn was an exciting one, with scores of solo sailors and doublehanded crews crossing the Atlantic in the Transat
