Due to provisioning delays and a charter briefing recommendation against overnighting in Dickenson Bay given the prevailing swells we wound up leaving for Barbuda from Five Islands Harbor so the passage would be about 5nm longer than anticipated. Barbuda was the most ambitious passage of the trip so some planning had gone into it. Want […]
Antigua Bareboat Day by Day
Join us for 9 days and 8 nights chartering in Antigua. Day One – Saturday: All 17 of us made it to the Sunsail base around 4pm. Even though the boats weren’t technically ready until 6pm we were allowed to move gear aboard. Shere Khan was the 50’ monohull carrying 9 souls and Teranga III […]
“We were only three but we three were sailors”
It’s a moonless, pitch black night and I’m battling quartering seas trying to maintain course. The only lights within view are on our boat, some airplanes in a holding pattern for Logan airport, the occasional fishing boat working traps and the stars. The compass and GPS lag make it impossible to use either to keep […]
Quixotic Catamaran Anchoring
Anchoring confidently is always a challenge on a charter boat. You’re dealing with ground tackle that you haven’t selected, setup or tested. Add the complications of being new to catamarans and unfamiliar with chain rode and we had an unfailing recipe for drama. That said we anchored four of our eight nights in Antigua and, […]
Automatic PFD: Manual Inflation
What do you do if your inflatable PFD doesn’t inflate when you hit the water? During last week’s safety at sea seminar I discharged my HIT inflator. While putting the PFD back together I kept thinking it would be very challenging to try to figure out how to inflate it while wearing it treading water. […]
Personal Gear Requirements: Ocean and Offshore Racing
Update: Since my first Offshore race I’ve kept this up to date for crew of other offshore racing programs I’ve participated in. Although most of the quotes are from the 2015 Marion to Bermuda race requirements the gear listed has been updated for 2018 ocean/offshore races. Last updated November 30th, 2019. I took charge of […]
A glimmer of hope from snow covered Boston
This morning instead of putting on my long coat and waffle stompers I just threw a jacket in my backpack and headed out. The first thing I noticed was that the air no longer hurt my face. Then there was this blindingly bright light in the sky; luckily I had these darkened glasses amongst my […]
Film Making for under $1000
DISCLAIMER: This article is nearly five years old; that’s practically ancient where camera gear is concerned. The last five years I made plenty of videos that you can use as inspiration but these recommendations are very dated – you probably can’t buy most of the gear recommended below and even if you could you shouldn’t. […]