We were halfway into a three-week summer cruise through the San Juan and Gulf islands in the Pacific Northwest. Aboard Hannah, our Hunter 356, were my wife Chantil, my 15-year-old daughter, Sierra, my 11-year-old son, Aaron, and our dog, Jack; also with us were my nephews Andrew and Zack, who are 13 and 12. Our vacation was going so well I jokingly considered calling work and asking for
The great thing about sailing in a new location for the first time is that you have no idea what to expect. Without a laundry list of hot-spots-we-always-visit, your itinerary is a blank canvas, ready to be painted and repainted as you see fit.This was the case last April when a crew of comrades and I chartered a boat from Annapolis Bay Charters in Annapolis, Maryland, for a week of
The great thing about sailing in a new location for the first time is that you have no idea what to expect. Without a laundry list of hot-spots-we-always-visit, your itinerary is a blank canvas, ready to be painted and repainted as you see fit.This was the case last April when a crew of comrades and I chartered a boat from Annapolis Bay Charters in Annapolis, Maryland, for a week of
July in Lake Hurons North Channel is a special time. The cruising season is in full swing and what is normally a quiet wilderness area begins to come to life with cruisers looking for the perfect anchorage. Last year my family and I spent nearly a month in the North Channel visiting sleepy ports, rugged islands and one of the worlds largest freshwater fjords.The 1,000-mile round trip
INGENUITY: Tackle and WinchIn the words of the great Bernard Moitessier: Incredible, the power of a tackle on a winch. I feel I am going to start crying, its so beautiful These were his thoughts after he used a four-part block and tackle with its fall led back to a primary winch to straighten out the steel bowsprit on his ketch Joshua after she was hit by a freighter.
Sailing around the world in a modified 21-foot Mini Transat 6.5 to set a world record for the smallest boat to circumnavigate non-stop is one thing. Doing the part around Cape Horn with a jury-rigged mast is quite another. In recognition of these impressive feats, the Cruising Club of America is awarding its Rod Stephens Seamanship Trophy to Franco-Italian solo sailor Alessandro di Benedetto in a
I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy, but here I am sampling octopus salad. When I grab it’s usually a Bud, but today I’m enjoying a Karlovacko. I usually anchor in monosyllabic places like Gore Bay, but tonight the hook is dropping in Starogradski Zaljev. My chartplotter has always read longitude west of Greenwich, but this screen says 16 degrees east. Where am I?Croatia,
I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy, but here I am sampling octopus salad. When I grab it’s usually a Bud, but today I’m enjoying a Karlovacko. I usually anchor in monosyllabic places like Gore Bay, but tonight the hook is dropping in Starogradski Zaljev. My chartplotter has always read longitude west of Greenwich, but this screen says 16 degrees east. Where am I?Croatia,
As if the recent murder of four American cruisers wasn’t enough to shine a huge spotlight on the Indian Ocean’s Somali piracy problem, the big crisis now is that the Somalis have grabbed a Danish family of five, including three kids (ages 12 to 16), who were en route to the Red Sea aboard their 43-foot boat ING. Jan Quist Johansen, his wife Birgit Marie, their two boys Rune and Hjalte,
The notion of a cruising couple conjures up a pair of stereotypes. In one, a pair of kindred souls broad-reaches off into a sunset of wedded bliss. In another, a thunderhead pours down as two people butt heads, break boats and abandon ship.Jeff Grossman and Jean Levine, founders of Two Can Sail, have seen both extremes during the more than 20 years theyve been coaching cruising couples
It’s hard to be sure when things started to change, but I am pretty sure it was the evening of April 20, 1993. As the
Q: I have a new-to-me Gulfstar 41 Ketch and would like some advice on bonding the through-hull valves. They are not bonded to anything or
After this season’s sailing calendar was dismantled by myriad COVID cancellations, many race organizers have gotten creative about how to keep the spirit alive. The
CHOOSING THE BEST JIB SHEETS Q: I need to replace the jib sheets on my 35ft performance cruiser. I keep hearing about how high-modulus line
New England Ropes’ “Viper” line of lightweight cordage provides a combination of exceptional strength and flexibility, in the process providing better performance than an all-polyester
Following up on its popular form-fitting Sta-Plug emergency plug, marine equipment manufacturer Forespar has now come out with an even smaller version that it calls
It’s easy to assume accurate mainsail trim is only of concern to racers, but nothing could be further from the truth. Aside from increasing boatspeed,
The Hylas H57 will impress discerning yachtsmen and women. The flowing lines of the latest hydrodynamic hull design offer comfort and speed during trans ocean passages.
First, there was the retro, solo Golden Globe Race 2018 (GGR)—a tribute event held in honor of the legendary 1968 Sunday Times Golden Globe Race
