Windshifts: Sailing Together Again
September 20, 2013
It was a beautiful afternoon for sailing out on the Chesapeake, and our non-sailing friends seemed delighted to be taking an active part.
It was a beautiful afternoon for sailing out on the Chesapeake, and our non-sailing friends seemed delighted to be taking an active part.
When two people decide to navigate life together as a married couple, it takes work to keep the relationship afloat. But Emma Creighton and Dan Dytch, who are engaged to be married in August 2014, already have the teamwork thing down, having navigated and raced extensively offshore as the sailing duo Momentum Ocean Racing.
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.
My wife, Carla, and I had no intention of going to the Berry Islands. I had never even heard of them. We were at anchor
The Bath Freight Shed is a long, low building that smells like wood shavings and is lit by twinkling strings of lights in the rafters.
Hélène de Pourtalès was the first woman to win an Olympic medal, sailing in the 1900 Olympics in the 1-2 Ton class. She was one
In Episode 9 of the Celestial Navigation series from the The Nav Station, put everything together as instructor Andy Howe covers a full problem from
Saying it stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they fight against the ongoing Russian invasion of their country, US Sailing has joined
Let’s talk about performance sailing. Specifically, women’s involvement on the big boats. The idea of inclusive sailing at the highest level is not a recent
The RORC Caribbean 600 is wrapping up as the final finishers make their way towards Antigua after five days of racing. The 600 nm course
Episode eight of The Nav Station’s Celestial Navigation series talks about how to set up a universal plotting sheet, as well as how to plot
I’m sure many readers have heard of the dinghy test, in which it’s considered important you be able to admire your own boat as you’re
