Wax your bottom (April 2006) We sail in the Pacific Northwest and use our inflatable dinghy year round. We had a real problem with marine growth on the dinghys bottom until we tried waxing it. Weve found that waxing the bottom lets us keep the dinghy in the water for up to four weeks without problems. Then all we need to do is lift it out, wash it clean, and, after it dries, rewax
Chart Smart (July 2006)We arrived off Suva, the capital of Fiji, after a 10-day passage from New Zealand. While we knew the island of Viti Levu was about 5 miles off our bow, we couldnt see it because of a heavy rainstorm. My husband, Bob, turned on the computer and looked at the electronic charts we had added to our navigation suite a few weeks earlier. We wanted to use them to
This month: rafting safety; making a chain collar; waxing your dinghy; and the Flemish coil.SeamanshipAvoid Damage AloftOne potential danger when sailboats lie alongside one another for a convivial night is that if they roll to a wash or begin to move in an unexpected sea, the spreaders can clash together and suffer catastrophic damage. Always look aloft
A Cutter that Cuts It (August 2006) For many cruisers, a cutter rig is the one that works best—so long as the staysail is cut for windward work, fairly flat with its draft well forward. A staysail also needs a good sheet lead. Sheet tracks and leads for many staysails seem to be placed more for convenience than effectiveness and often fail to take into account the staysail’s dual
Raising/Lowering Your Outboard (July 2006) If you store your motor amidships or forward near the mast, you can use a spinnaker or jib halyard and any convenient winch, including the regular halyard winch, to help you raise and lower an outboard to and from your dinghy. You also need a harness for the motor; you can make one from the strong webbing material sold at any sporting-goods
Signal Advantage (March 2006)If you have an on-the-water emergency during the day, keep in mind that a mirror is a very effective signaling device. If the weather is clear and there is sunlight, the reflection from a mirror can be seen up to 100 miles away. While it does need sun, a mirror doesnt depend on batteries, satellites, or the electronic watchkeeping of a potential
Tripped by the Trip Line (August 2006) If you ever have your anchor catch under a rock or other obstruction, youll be glad you rigged a trip line. But if you ever have someone elses anchor buoy and trip line wound around your propeller, youll curse trip lines and all who use them. In crowded anchorages, trip lines often cause more problems than they solve. It is not unheard of for
Karate corner (March 2006)Good communication between people on the bow and helm is very important when coming into a crowded anchorage or harbor. My wife and I used a system of hand signals for many years, and communications had been pretty successful other than the occasional confusing momentfor example, are your fingers pointing because thats the direction to steer or because
This month: “talking” with signals; using signal mirrors; great-circle for GPS.VisibilitySignal AdvantageIf you have an on-the-water emergency during the day, keep in mind that a mirror is a very effective signaling device. If the weather is clear and there is sunlight, the reflection from a mirror can be seen up to 100 miles away. While it does need sun, a
Like a sparkling jewel pendant, the Andaman and Nicobar islands angle below Burma in a turquoise sea, studded with coral reefs, rich with sea creatures. But surprisingly this archipelago of some 570 islands, measuring 700 kilometers from north to south, does not belong to Burma, but to India far to the west.For hundreds of years the Malays, the Chinese, and even Marco Polo visited these
When I boarded Fountaine Pajot’s new flagship, the Alegria 67, at the Cannes boat show last September, the first thing I noticed was that several
“Ready to take the dink ashore?” Never had those words invoked as much anxiety as when my husband, Jeff, and I first moved to the
So, you want to find a great deal on your next charter vacation? Sure, you can scour the internet, hope for Black Friday deals or
The rigmarole of stretching a cover over a dinghy in choppy water prior to hoisting it on davits can become a very wet business if
It was after midnight when I realized my daysail with Tony Bullimore aboard his giant record-breaking catamaran, Team Legato, was not going to plan. The
This past fall SAIL magazine had a chance to capture some onboard sailing video of the Figaro Beneteau 3, the world’s first large production foiling one-design
In keeping with its mission of building an all-American team, Stars + Stripes Team USA, challenger for the 36th America’s Cup, has unveiled an open
Whether because of the voyages they’ve made or the people who have sailed them, some boats have achieved near-legendary status. We tracked down some of
Boot Camp Next to a dry bunk, dry feet are high on a sailor’s wish list. Look no further than Irish boating footwear specialists Dubarry,
We recently shared a somewhat hair-raising video of a Beneteau First 27 (formerly the Seascape 27) setting a new class short-distance speed record. However, the boat is
