Part III—Preparation I apologize. Last time I promised to disclose the closely guarded secrets of how to actually anchor a sailboat. Instead, I rambled on for a page about mental states and who knows what else. At the end of the day, the editors decided that including another few paragraphs on anchoring technique would be […]
Part II—Preparation This is the second part in my three-part series on anchoring. If you missed the first, go back and read it, because it is truly a spectacular read (in my humble and unbiased opinion.) You’ll find it here and probably the Library of Congress under “Works of National Significance.” In all seriousness, the first part […]
Part I—Preparation Anchoring is a topic over which much ink, more rum, and even some blood has been spilled. A surefire way to elicit a robust argument amongst any group of sea-going folk is to bring up any topic of anchoring. Like many topics in sailing, everyone has their own opinion, and most are mostly correct, but […]
Rocks and Hazards to Know, Love, and Avoid on San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a challenging place to sail in many respects. Throughout most of the year, strong winds – more than 20 knots on a typical day – blow acrossour waters. We have tidal currents that can match the top speed through […]
Just like many of you, | learned to sail here at Spinnaker Sailing School. When | graduated from Basic Coastal Cruising in late 2013, | had difficulty finding a crew to sail with regularly, so | started practicing sailing solo on theMerit 25s. | was hooked and never looked back. | love sailing solo, the […]
Sailing Tahiti: Pure Magic By Dave Russell Cruising in Raiatea’s azure lagoon, I first spotted the paddler about a mile away. No matter how I maneuvered our charter boat, the outrigger canoe steered a dead-on collision course to us. This area is tricky because of the reef that borders the island’s eastern side. It appeared […]
Getting There Kenneth Grahame got it absolutely right when he wrote “There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats.” Since I sail with the Potter Yachters, a dedicated bunch of small craft sailing enthusiasts who love their West Wight Potters, I had always assumed that […]
The BVIs: “THE” Sailing Destination By: Nicholas Halkowski Sunlight hits your face as a cool breeze travels across your bed. The lapping of water and the fragrance of a million types of flowers wakes you. Outside your hatch is an aquarium full of an unimaginable number of aquatic species waiting to be discovered and luscious green hills […]
The other evening seemed like a perfect time for an evening sail. Wind was robust, but not too robust, maybe 15 knots. The weather was warm enough for shirtsleeves. Not too many other boats were out — just one Merit 25 and a dinghy with a trapeze and two sailors on board. The wind direction […]
Each crash was not terrible, but the accumulation of thousands weighed heavily on my mind. Accidents at sea often happen in an instant, without warning, and each jolt threatened to break the small boat in two. But the alternative was heading out to sea, where the waves would be larger, the wind would be stronger, and the […]