SAIL.SailMagazine

Gear and Reviews A Sail for RidingMost boats don’t behave as well when anchored with rope rode as they do when lying to chain. They tend to sheer about much more, especially in wind-against-tide scenarios, which is bad for your nerves—and those of your neighbors. One way of coping with this is to set a riding sail on the backstay to help keep the bow pointed into the wind. You could make one of
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Navigation 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 couldn’t 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

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Cruising Tips This month: rafting safety; making a chain collar; waxing your dinghy; and the Flemish coil.

Seamanship

Avoid 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

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Cruising In July, my husband, John, and I and our son, Jack, sailed across the English Channel, and motored through 176 locks, taking seven weeks to travel from Le Havre in northern France, to St. Louis, on the Mediterranean, on our Moody 38. Below are some notes for a successful canal cruise.

Bicycles. Useful for riding to the bakery or just exploring the countryside: The steep hills

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Sails+Rigging Most boats don’t behave as well when anchored with rope rode as they do when lying to chain. They tend to sheer about much more, especially in wind-against-tide scenarios, which is bad for your nerves—and those of your neighbors. One way of coping with this is to set a riding sail on the backstay to help keep the bow pointed into the wind. You could make one of these yourself, or you could order
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