All sailing today. The sky is gray and low. Small fronts are blowing through, wave after wave from the west. Wind is 10 or 25. I’d reefed and unreefed the main four times by lunch....
#248. Bryan Rolfe is a grass-roots 30-something cruiser with big dreams and a small budget. Hes been documenting his adventures aboard his 27-foot Albin Vega TARKA on YouTube, and is currently in the Caribbean. Mia & I have followed Bryan from afar since he started his trip, and my conversation with him ended up being a very inspirational look at how someone takes a dream and turns it into reality. Longtime fans of the show will know how excited I get talking to other young folks out there cruising, but this episode is truly for anyone who dreams of heading ...
Sky: Complex cloud formations. Feels like a front coming.
10ths Cloud Cover: 10
Bar(mb): 1014, falling
Cabin Temp(f): 72
Water Temp(f): 67
Relative Humidity(%): 70
Sail: Big genoa and main, close hauled.
Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 106
Miles since departure: 4515
Avg. Miles/Day: 129
At noon I wrote in the log, “Light and contrary. Ug.” All night we ran dead downwind on poles and I star gazed through sparse, cottony cumulus before dinner. Orion ...
While the functionality of multifunction marine displays has obviously been moving rapidly beyond navigation to include most any boat system that has (or can have) a digital interface, the pace is actually quickening. In fact, I’m pretty sure that next year we’ll finally see boats nearly as easy and pleasurable to use as a modern automobile, or least showing off significantly greater system integration.
This entry covers a hodgepodge of integration developments I’m aware of, but be forewarned that I often have more questions than answers. That’s largely because whole-boat system integration is being marketed mainly to boatbuilders, and that’s ...
Jeanneau Owners in 2016 on the beach at Pirate’s Bight on Norman Island
If ever there was a year not to go to the British Virgin Islands (BVI), this year is it. Or is it? Yes, the BVI got trounced by Hurricane Irma back in September. Yes, there was a huge number of boats lost. And yes, many of the areas best known resorts such as The Bitter End Yacht Club and Peter Island Resort and Spa, have been forced to close their doors and sit out the season until repairs are made. Despite all this, the British Virgin ...
The newly refitted Maiden setting sail from Southampton
I have always been a huge proponent of women in sailing. I guess it started when as a kid I got thumped on the race course by some girls in our cub and I figured that I had no right to ever think I was a better sailor than them just because I was a male. They ...
Wind has tailed off and gone SE. We’re cruising the top of a high, and, sadly, we’re giving up much of the easting made over the last weeks. Another day of this and then becalmed a day ...
For the most part, the boating season here on the Chesapeake Bay is pretty much toast. Oh, there are still a few boats running around and of course the diehard racers are still out there but for all practical purposes the season is over. Last week however, we had a nice stretch of indian summer with unseasonably warm temps in the mid-seventies, clear blue skies, and plenty of sunshine. This, along with the fall foliage being just about at its peak, served up the perfect conditions to head out onto ...
Early morning shadows stretch across the gravel lot of Cabrales Boatyards hardstand where Perro Negro (black dog) holds court. Mairen and Siobhan get the first of today’s Spanish vocabulary from the night guard as we’ve affectionately come to call maestro (teacher) for his enthusiastic lessons before he heads off duty for the day.
Boats in many parts of the northern hemisphere haul out for the season at this time of year; boats on the hard here in Puerto Peñasco are waking up from a hurricane season respite. Tucked onto jackstands for a long winter nap or summer away, maintenance or ...
