Presented by Vetus-Maxwell. Got a tip? Send it to sailmail@sailmagazine.com Fall in line In the days before GPS, the best trick outside the book for finding a harbor in dense fog went like this: if it’s surrounded by rocks, forget it; if not, in you go, but never try to hit it ...read more
An understanding of the effects of set and drift is vital for coastal sailors; it can make the difference between an enjoyable passage or a struggle to reach your destination against a foul current. As an example, let’s plan a Gulf Stream crossing from Miami to Gun Cay, Bahamas. ...read more
Radar remains the single most important collision-avoidance device available to both leisure and commercial sea-going vessels, and now that a clutch of high-performance, instant-on solid-state radar systems have come onto the market, sailors can buy high-definition radar at a ...read more
My first solo offshore passage was marked by sunshine, gentle breezes and easy sailing. But there was nothing gentle about my return to land. Tempestuous head winds stilted my landfall as my little boat crashed through waves. By the time I was nearing the entrance to the ...read more
There's a right way to communicate via VHF radio—and many wrong ways. The reason for VHF protocol is to avoid ambiguity and ensure that messages are kept on point—your safety, and that of your crew, may depend on clear communication. So we've worked up this useful VHF protocol ...read more
A. If a quick maneuver doesn’t spin her off, try reducing the draft by heeling her over with a backed sail and shifting some weight. B. In tidal waters, though, don’t continue heeling her too long, because she might end up lying downhill. C. Feel around to get an idea of the ...read more
If you have your boatyard help out with repairs, upgrades and routine maintenance, you can often be one of the first to launch in the spring. But you’ll quickly run aground if you don’t understand boatyard service departments and their standard operating procedures. Having both ...read more
We are always told when outfitting our boats for cruising that we need to make sure our onboard electrical system can handle our projected daily power usage. But that raises an important question: what sort of day are we talking about? Is it a day spent at anchor, the day we ...read more
Without question, fog is the biggest reason sailors cite for avoiding the Maine coast in summer, despite the fact that it is otherwise an excellent cruising ground. Although sailing in Maine can indeed be quite opaque, this need not be too disconcerting. Instead of being ...read more
Every crewmember on a boat should know how to coil and accurately throw a 50-foot length of 1/2" dock line. Skippers who will be asking new crewmembers to throw a dock line to someone on a fuel dock should show them how to do it well before the moment arrives. Throwing a line ...read more
Choosing a proper vehicle to tow your boat will reduce wear and tear on your engine and drive train and will minimize the possibility of a major breakdown or collision. A good towing combination won’t guarantee a trouble-free journey, but it will certainly diminish the chances ...read more
It doesn’t take much of a genius to read water like this (above). Obviously, there’s a tide rip in progress as the current sweeps around this headland. It’s a lot trickier to see the tiny wind-ripples. These run at right-angles to the true wind (try blowing onto a big bowl of ...read more
Download VHF Guide If you’re one of those sailors who reckons everything should be done by the book, then you’re doomed to go through your boating life constantly enraged by two things—the incorrect use of navigation lights and inane prattle on VHF Channel 16. ...read more
In planning for the upcoming 2016 Pacific Cup—a race that takes sailors from San Francisco to Oahu, Hawaii—I was interested in tools for predicting the optimal route. Depending on the location of the Pacific high-pressure system and El Niño, sailing the rhumb line may not be ...read more
It’s true that I don’t navigate on paper charts anymore, but I appreciate them and I use their electronic equivalent—raster charts, which are basically an electronic scan of the paper originals—more than ever. One reason for this is what I learned last January while preparing ...read more
April 29, 2010, began as a day full of promise as I set sail at 0830 from Marina Real on the Sea of Cortez in San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico. Heading out on My Traveling Star, my Bayliner Buccaneer 22, I enjoyed perfect weather and a fair wind. It was the best day of sailing I had ...read more
I woke from a deep sleep to the sound of my 8-year-old daughter, Asha, exclaiming: “Daddy, we are really close to the rocks! I can step out onto them!” That was enough to get me out of my groggy, dreamlike state, and I leapt out of bed and headed for the companionway with my ...read more
Sailors have always been a self-reliant bunch. Now, here are two tips for producing and preserving your own provisions on board. 1. A Little Culture Live cultured foods taste good and are good for you. From sourdough to yogurt to mozzarella cheese, these foods are low tech and ...read more
Being Clewless There are two reasons for leaving a scrap of genoa unfurled when you’re not sailing. One is the mistaken belief that by tightening up both genoa sheets and applying tension to the clew you’re somehow stabilizing the forestay and stopping it from vibrating in the ...read more
1 Flame Tamer We find that our gas stove burners can’t go low enough to simmer sauces or slow-cooking items like rice without burning them. Until we started using the Flame Tamer (the generic term is “heat diffuser”), we usually burned our rice and singed our sauces. This round ...read more
When sailing close to the coast it often seems that NOAA’s wind forecasts are maddeningly inaccurate. How could NOAA get it so wrong? The answer, of course, is that they didn’t. NOAA’s forecasts refer to prevailing winds, but as sailors we need to account for how the land ...read more
<< Back These days, digital photography makes it so that just about anyone can fancy himself a pro. Still, there’s a big difference between the iPhone photo you shot last Wednesday and the professional image captured from a helicopter using a Nikon D800 at the St. Barth’s ...read more
Picture This: How the Pros Take Sailing Photos These days, digital photography makes it so that just about anyone can fancy himself a pro. Still, there’s a big difference between the iPhone photo you shot last Wednesday and the professional image captured from a helicopter ...read more
My ketch Silverheels didn’t have any cockpit canvas when I bought her, just an old two-bow dodger frame. I had visions of installing a hard dodger and bimini, but a lack of time, patience and skill caused me to opt for a hardtop for the dodger frame instead. I wasn’t confident ...read more