Navigation is fundamentally about discovering the rules that govern nature. Unlocking these secrets is one of the most gratifying aspects of sailing; from observing the physics of weather to revealing our position relative to the celestial bodies. Another one…
At the start of the year, I purchased a 3D printer for my Valiant 40 boat, Ursa, and I’d like to share some of the experiences I’ve had with it. First the why: I’m based in Mexico right now,…
Recently, I completed an offshore trip that included periods of heavy weather. We were aboard Nostos, a 2001 Sabre 402, departed from Jamestown, RI on…
While essentially the entire world was on lockdown and almost all…
Orcas have battered sailboats off Spain and Portugal and the behavior of these large marine mammals has baffled experts. Sailors along Spain and Portugal’s Atlantic coastlines…
The wheelhouse was scattered with guidebooks extolling the virtues and sites to behold in and around the Baltic — fjords in Sweden and Norway, Danish in Denmark, history-laden Poland, and enough lager to sink a barge in Germany. The chartplotters…
It’s been a tough year for the businesses of the world. There was no precedent for the COVID-19 pandemic and no instruction manual on what to do.…
It’s a misty day in the photo and the sand is brownish gray, setting off the white paint of the derelict hull as if the boat were lit by a ray of sunshine.
Commercial fishing operations abound with heavily-loaded lines.
I recall periodically gaining computer access to the Nautical Almanac’s daily pages by simply typing “Nautical Almanac online” into Google’s search engine.
Our passages up the Pacific coast of Mexico have been hard going as they were mostly into wind and against current.
For six years, I spent a lot of time floating around on the surface of the ocean — something like 50,000 nautical miles worth.
Many sailors who make short-handed, offshore passages — we have a two-person crew — love the notion of electric-energy-free wind vane self-steering.
To the editor: In the summer of 2009 my son Christopher and I were spending a lazy afternoon wandering around our local boatyard in Port Jefferson, N.Y. We were in the “bone yard” section, investigating the old abandoned boats, when…
To the editor: The Americans we’ve met call it bioluminescence. When we crossed the Atlantic we talked about it as nightly green fireworks. Without doubt, one of the biggest changes we’ve felt since going from one ocean to the next…
To the editor: Telling this story I feel like a fisherman talking about a big fish that got off his hook. It was Sunday, Nov. 3, 2013. We were on a non-stop trip from Huntington, N.Y., to St. Maarten. Joining…
To the editor: In May I was in New Orleans frantically finishing a two-year refit of my 1975 Cape Dory 28. Then, just a few months later, I had put 2,000 miles under the keel on a passage north to…
To the editor: As a long time subscriber I read with great interest the communications articles in the November/December 2013 issue. It had excellent coverage of the many devices and services available to sailors. I would like to add one comment, however. As…
To the editor: Many cruising sailboats have worked out an electric-energy system that works for them; too many others are continually trying to find the right mix. Kathy and I have done the same on our vintage Tartan 34.5 CB…
It was about mid-day when I asked the dockmaster in Jersey City what she had been hearing about weather for the next few days.
Voyaging under sail has many pleasures, but a major reward is experiencing the beauty of the natural world.
A little more than a century ago, Joseph Conrad sat for his mate and master’s tickets in the British merchant service.
Haul outs are de rigueur for big displacement boaters; the old fun machine must be pulled out regularly for a scrape and a fresh coat of ablative bottom paint.
A sailmaker gave us some advice one time when asked how we should care for our mainsail: “Sail hard. Put it away wet. And come see me in a year.”
