Cruising gadgets, knowledge, and ideas for the cruising sailor
Learn it, Earn it, Return it. I learned this mantra from a fellow sailor, Rick Peterson of Palmetto, Florida. We had run into each other again in a marina in Gibraltar and we were both heading to Morocco. Rick and his wife Julie sail a beautiful Hylas 49 named “Believe”. Rick and Julie live this philosophy. He is a retired
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Managing the Mail When Out Cruising This is a way to see what mail is being delivered to your home while you are gone. The post office sends you a picture of each envelope being delivered. They do this every day. While cruising in the Bahamas for a few months we received a letter from the IRS. It began, “you
» Read morePublished in Southwinds Magazine in the Fall of 2019 While in town on Martinique I ran into a cruising couple with a good tale about their boat taking off without them. They had anchored their boat, set the hook and gone into town that morning. Upon returning they looked out in the anchorage but didn’t see their boat. “There must
» Read morePublished in Southwinds Magazine winter of 2019 I’ve found that it is far better to have the lesson before the test, but unfortunately in sailing a lot of us get the test first. I’ve gotten a lot of my sailing knowledge by having the test first. I’m still at it after 50 years, and still learning. Here are a
» Read morePublished in Southwinds Magazine in the Fall of 2019 I read something long ago, I can’t even recall when or where, but it stuck with me. It said that we need to thank people for things they have given us. Not necessarily physical things, but events or lessons that have changed or influenced our lives for the better. We need
» Read moreI’ve shared this tip with many a cruiser, and several have told me that I need to mention it here. It has to do with using your whisker pole. I use my pole a lot, probably more than others do. I do not carry a “cruising chute” because I simply do not want to sacrifice the huge amount of storage
» Read moreIf you plan to sail offshore please consider doing this one. I’ve been on several trips on my boat and others where the toilet seat hinges either break or the hinge screws pull out of the seat. The seat becomes unusable. If it’s a long trip, this will be a real pain in the ass, literally. The way that this
» Read moreHere is an idea on how to keep bottom paint on your prop longer. I generally get 14-18 months of a clean prop here in Florida which is about as bad as it gets in the marine growth department. After this time I’ll begin to get barnacles, and when removing small barnacles, I tend to also remove the paint on
» Read moreTying up the boat using “Dockside Math”, A2+B2=C2 When tying up along side a dock, you will more than likely hang a fender over the side at amidships up against a dock post. You will want to keep the boat in place on the dock post, yet allow for the tidal drop. If you try to do this with bow
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