tips

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

At its most basic, a “snubber” is a short length of non-stretchy cordage attached to the anchor chain and to a strong point on a yacht, with the aim of taking the load off the windlass or to stop the chain rattling on the bow roller. A windlass is not designed to take snatch ...read more

Vang Power A boom vang helps to control mainsail shape after the limits of the traveler have been reached. Without a vang, the boom will lift as the mainsheet is eased, opening the leech, and the top of the sail will twist off to leeward, spilling the wind. If you are sailing ...read more

I was originally drawn to sailing not by the pull of the water but by the pull of land, land beyond my horizon. The idea that one could step aboard a boat, hoist a triangle of canvas like a hitchhiker’s thumb and catch a ride on a passing wind to an exotic island, to a foreign ...read more

Your dog will likely enjoy being out on the open ocean as much as you will, but just like with human passengers, safety measures must be taken! 1. Create an Emergency Plan Make sure you consider an emergency plan of what you’ll do in the event that your dog falls overboard. ...read more

When I was younger and more invincible I didn’t think much about medical emergencies on boats. The first time I headed offshore on a boat of my own it never occurred to me to assemble a medical kit, until a sailing buddy of mine, a doctor, asked about it just a few days before ...read more

Thanks to Google, there’s very little you can’t find online these days. So why, you might ask, would you need an intermediary or agent to book a bareboat charter vacation? The answer is that you don’t need one. However, you may gain value by using one, depending on where, when ...read more

A pawl on the stemhead roller acts like a ratchet—it lets you pull chain in, but prevents it from running out while you have a rest. In waves, let a rising bow help pull in the chain. B. The “spring” that holds the pawl on the chain can be a shock cord that also acts as a ...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

WHAT’S WITH THOSE RINGS? Q: I’ve been seeing a bunch of boats at boat shows where each jib sheet passes through an aluminum ring, which is then presumably used to pull the jib sheet inboard. What exactly is going on with this kind of arrangement? Is it like a barber-hauler? ...read more

Captain’s log, Different Drummer, Swansboro, N.C., 6-10-2011: “Well, well, well…limped back into Swansboro, tied up at Casper’s Marina. Sam’s alive, but sick. Heading back to River Dunes.”Sam’s our port engine, Dave’s our starboard engine; twin Yanmar three-cylinder diesels. Sam ...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

Since the advent of fiberglass boat production, sailors have had a love-hate relationship with teak decks. On the one hand, they provide a good nonskid surface and add a feeling of warmth to a boat’s appearance. On the other, teak is expensive and time-consuming to maintain. By ...read more

The season is upon us and all manner of cruising sailors are wandering about trying to find interesting places to park their boats. Maybe you’re a novice eager to explore but are daunted by the mysterious art of securing your boat to the bottom of the sea with a curiously shaped ...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

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

If there is one thing that sailors of any stripe—racer, cruiser, anything in between—can agree upon, it is that they universally detest holding tanks. There is no upside whatsoever to sailing around with a tankful of poop in your boat, and the number of holding tank horror ...read more