Anxiety is fear of what might happen. It’s that feeling of unease you feel when you’re about to leap in; unsure of how it will turn out. It’s that feeling in the pit of your stomach before you step off the dock into difficult conditions. Usually for my offshore “pick up” trips there isn’t time […]
7 Ways to get Offshore Sailing Experience – Without Buying a Boat
I was convinced I needed to buy a boat. I’d spent the last two years skippering club boats as far afield as they were allowed to go; another year of membership simply wouldn’t help me grow as a sailor. I needed to get offshore to progress and to get offshore I needed to buy a […]
Safety Offshore: Evaluation and Preparation
Mr. Safety nudges you toward the Danger Zone Dana called me out, loudly, “if there is anyone who embodies one of the stereotypes in that video it’s you; you’re ‘Mr. Safety.’” We were at the bar after an uneventful evening circling cans and haranguing each other using the latest sailing video to make the rounds. […]
Boston Sailing Conditions Links
Last updated 6-Jan-2018 There are some great free resources available to scope out the sailing conditions around Boston. And by “around Boston” I mean most of New England. These resources are even better if you tweak their parameters and can get to them directly, especially on a mobile device! Here is my take on those […]
Satisfying Bareboat Charter Skipper Requirements
If you’re new to sailing or you’re thinking about chartering my friend Ikay and I gave a presentation on how to go from new sailor to charter boat skipper; you can watch a recording of this talk here. If you’re merely trying to fulfill a charter company’s requirements to skipper a charter read on. Simple […]
SavvySalt’s Ultimate Guide to Dockline Handling!
Watch this video to learn dockline handling’s key techniques and concepts; become invaluable to your skipper when pulling into the dock. This video that doesn’t allow embedding shows you why you should never sacrifice yourself to save the boat: the boat will be OK! Slides: SavvySalt’s Ultimate Guide to Dockline Handling from SavvySalt Transcript Docking […]
Raster vs. Vector Charts: Why I don’t trust vector charts
I believe a well constructed Raster chart is always superior to a vector chart when constructed using the same underlying data. More specifically for US waters I would never rely on NOAA vector charts when NOAA raster charts are available. The main difference is that raster charts were ‘rendered’ by a skilled human using a […]
Our Atlantic Gale: Chip is Not Impressed
I got to crew on a delivery from Nantucket, MA to the Annapolis Sailboat show this year. The GRIBs indicated that if we went far enough south that we’d miss the worst of the low crossing our bow, we even delayed our departure to help it pass. That didn’t work out; the wind never clocked […]