Earlier this week, I sailed s/v Pretty Gee down to Cuttyhunk to visit with my friends Ed and Chris on their Endeavour 42 s/v Freedom. They’re on the southbound leg of a cruise down to the Caribbean. They set out a while back from the Great Lakes and don’t really have a set ending date [...]
If you want to upgrade the electrical system on your boat or add one to a boat that really doesn’t have one you will need a few things. Before I mention what you’ll need, I would point out that it is often far less expensive and faster to rip out the entire previous system and [...]
Just curious, how many of my readers consider a good anchor an important piece of emergency safety gear? There was a recent story about two boaters who were rescued after their boat ran out of fuel and was forced by seas and wind on to the rocky shore. Now, it seems to me that if [...]
One of my major projects from this past winter was adding some additional stowage to the main cabin of s/v Pretty Gee. Stowage is very scarce on most trailerable trimarans and the Telstar 28 is no exception. My aim was to make the boat more comfortable, safer and more seaworthy while also giving the boat [...]
During the last winter, I pulled the holding tank from my boat, s/v Pretty Gee. The tank had difficult to trace leak that turned out to be due to a couple of cracks in the side of the tank. When I pulled the tank, I noticed that there is a fairly large space in front [...]
Tomorrow, I head down to Connecticut for the annual summer cruise on my friend’s boat s/v Slight Breeze for a nine-day cruise. This will be the second year I am participating in his summer cruise. He asked me along last year when one of his normal crew, and the only other sailor in the crew, [...]
I spoke with Antoine, the new captain of s/v Avalon Explorer, and they are planning to leave for France tomorrow. I wish them luck and hope they have a fast, safe passage. I am asking that my weather goddess watch over them, because I think they will need all the help they can get.
One of the most important pieces of safety gear are distress signals. There are many kinds of distress signals, but they fall into three categories as a general rule. Visual Distress Signals: These include flares, smoke, flags, mirrors, waving your arms, strobe lights, etc. They are designed to attract attention to you or your boat [...]
Lately, I’ve been helping my friend Glenn out. He sold his Jeanneau Sun Leisure 34 to three French guys, who are planning to sail it back to France in about a week. He asked me to keep an eye out for the three French guys that had bought the boat. I decided that helping them [...]
Recently, on a sailing forum, a post came up about buying foul weather gear. That brought up the subject of dressing for foul weather conditions and lead to this post. First, dressing appropriately for sailing requires a fairly wide wardrobe, especially if you are making a passage from a tropical climate to a temperate climate [...]
One common question for people buying a boat is whether they should USCG document the boat or state register it. Now, in some states, you don’t have to do anything further if you USCG document the boat. Massachusetts is such a state. From the Massachusetts state website: Boats exempt from registration requirements include those that [...]
On a recent sailing forum post, the OP asked what to do if your boat starts to sink? That’s a very good question. Initial steps to take include: Getting everyone awake and into PFDs or survival suits Getting the engine started, especially if it is a diesel, since diesels will run even if the electrical [...]
I dread this time of year. This Saturday, I will be hauling s/v Pretty Gee out of the water for the season. That means no more sailing on her until sometime next spring. There will still be work to do—winterizing her for the long cold dark of winter—doing the various maintenance projects that have to [...]
On the Sailfar.net sailing forum, there was a thread on the apparent prejudice that seems to exist against smaller sailboats, which seems to show up in some marinas. Over the last two decades, there seems to have been trend towards larger boats for the cruising market. Now, I can understand why the boat manufacturers have [...]
Recently, the question of safety gear, specifically jacklines, tethers and harnesses came up on one of the forums I’m a regular of, so I thought writing about it, especially as we head into the colder weather would be a good idea. I’m a firm believer of using harnesses and tethers to help keep the first [...]
On one sailing forum, someone asked about replacing the rigging on their boat… that lead to this article. This article is intended for cruising boats from 28-35′ LOA or thereabouts. It does not address the needs of larger boats or racing boats. It can probably be applied to smaller boats, within reason, if you downsize [...]
2010 Delivery of s/v Felix from Stocking Island to Marion, Massachusetts This spring, I was asked by my friend John if I would help deliver his boat, s/v Felix from Stocking Island, in the Exumas, back to Marion, Massachusetts. Being fairly familiar with s/v Felix, I was happy to help. The delivery was supposed to [...]
A friend of mine was asking about installing bilge pumps on his boat. So, I thought I’d write about that today. My recommendation for a full bilge pump setup has a small “maintenance” bilge pump down in the lowest part of the bilge. The float switch for this pump can be integrated or separate, but [...]
Earlier this year I was asked by John and Lorie if I could help them with moving their boat, s/v Felix, south for the winter. Since the sailing season here in New England was over, and they are good friends, I volunteered to help with the leg from Norfolk, VA to Belhaven, NC. After discussing [...]
s/v Felix has made it to Norfolk, which is their first major stopover point on their winter cruise south. I understand that John, Lorie and Chris will be staying in Norfolk for a few weeks, outfitting the boat and getting her ready for the next leg of their trip south. They’re actually only a few [...]
I’m happy to report that s/v Felix is headed south for the winter. John, Lorie, and Chris have headed for Norfolk, VA, as their first major destination, with plans of heading south to Florida’s Gulf Coast eventually. Norm, my friend who captained a section of the delivery from Annapolis to Marion back in May, is [...]
I was over on s/v Itinerant, helping Joe with his WiFi setup, and decided to write what I did. Joe had bought a NanoStation2 based on my recommendation and was having some trouble with it. The equipment I’ve been recommending for cruising sailboats are either the NanoStation2 or the Loco2 for monohulls and the Bullet [...]
My friends Charles and Hilary were going down to Cuttyhunk for the Fourth of July and asked if I was going down. I told them I would see them there. We had invited my friends John and Lorie as well, as we thought this would be a good introduction to cruising for them. John, being [...]
Well, this past weekend, had me working on three different boats on three different days. Three days and three different boats—Saturday: an O’Day Javelin; Sunday: an O’Day 302; Monday: a Gemini 105Mc Catamaran. It started out on Saturday, when I was helping my friend’s son and a friend with the O’Day Javelin that they bought [...]
This past Christmas, I received a SPOT Messenger. I didn’t activate it until just recently, when I was helping deliver a sailboat from Annapolis to Marion, Mass. The reason I decided to activate the SPOT service was so that several of the families and friends of two of my fellow delivery crew would be able [...]
Last Wednesday, I took the Acela train down to BWI. I went down to help my friends deliver s/v Felix, a Gemini 105Mc Catamaran from Annapolis, MD, to her new home port of Marion, MA. I stayed with my friends Mary and Chuck, who also own a Gemini catamaran. Mary would be joining the delivery [...]
On a sailing forum, the question of what tools should a boat have aboard came up. While the tool kit would vary, depending on what boat you have and what area you’re sailing in, as well as what kind of sailing you’ll be doing. If you’re just day-sailing or weekending, or sail on a landlocked [...]