The brand new, and heavily updated, edition of Jan and Bill Moeller's cockpit cruising handbook for the ICW is now available. (The Intracoastal Waterway: Norfolk to Miami. The Complete Cockpit Cruising Guide. $29.95. The McGraw-Hill Companies/International Marine.) I was fortunate…
The brand new, and heavily updated, edition of Jan and Bill Moeller's cockpit cruising handbook for the ICW is now available. (The Intracoastal Waterway: Norfolk to Miami. The Complete Cockpit Cruising Guide. $29.95. The McGraw-Hill Companies/International Marine.) I was fortunate…
John Kettlewell has been voyaging and living aboard a variety of sailboats for about 27 years. In fact, he's owned eight very different voyaging sailboats and says, "I love trying out new boats." These boats have ranged from an Angus…
Routes from Florida to the Bahamas are as short as 50 miles, but they all involve crossing the Gulf Stream and hopefully arriving during daylight hours and early enough to clear Customs. For most sailors, this means an evening or…
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced sailing organizations around the country to adapt to social distancing guidelines and stay-at-home policies.
Oil is oil, right? Wrong!
We’re not quite there yet, but the era of Star Trek-like communicators is mostly here — though many of us are impatiently waiting for the day we can beam ourselves between home and the boat.
A voyager looks at the value of a home port in times of crisis
Alarm systems come in three basic varieties: stand-alone systems that utilize sound alarms to alert those nearby, cellular network-based systems that can also alert you, and satellite-based systems that can provide worldwide coverage.
While enjoying my usual evening libation in the cockpit, I often grab a cellphone or laptop to find out what is happening in the world, what messages may have come in that I can ignore, and whether or not thunderstorms are likely to wake us at the usual 2 a.m.
Most voyagers depend on an array of digital assets, from the basics like email, the Internet and assorted important documents, to more nautical essentials like charts, weather information and cruising guides.
Frankly, I am a bit of an experimenter when it comes to anchors.
I’ve anchored in Cuttyhunk Harbor, Mass., hundreds of times over many different seasons. I like to joke that I just drop my hook in one of my old holes and I know all will be well no matter what.
The old adage holds true: “One hand for oneself, and one for the ship.”
Like most cruisers today, I carry and rely on a smartphone for many things: email, maps, weather radar — even phone calls!
Gone are the days when I used to measure the length of the bookshelves on boats I was checking out for cruising.
You’re anchored securely in a tropical lagoon you used to dream about … then the “real world” drags you back.
Every year our team of judges looks at what’s new and innovative in the always-changing field of marine technology.
The master list of nominated products for the 2015 Chuck Husick Marine Technology Award and the final winner as determined by our panel of judges
OK — I just dated myself with that title, but "cool" is the only appropriate word, in my opinion, for this potpourri of charting goodness.
During and before hurricane season you will read and hear lots of information on what to do when a storm approaches, and how to escape and remain safe.
Remember when you used to read those magazine articles about voyaging off into the sunset to get away from it all?
Have you ever found the perfect waterfront boaters’ bar? I’m still searching, but I know what it looks and smells like.
One thing rarely written about in magazine articles and books on long-distance cruising and voyaging is the time problem. Relentlessly marching on, with or without us, time does not pause while we accumulate the right boats, skills, experience and crew to do the great things we read and dream about.
