Is this a panic attack? In Miami International Airport I sat at Gate 24 questioning whether or not I could get on my final flight taking me home to Simon, Sienna, and Britican which was moored in St Martin. My heart was thumping so hard I could feel my body jerk forward and backward. Each[Read More]
We left the island of St Lucia in the Caribbean heading north for Antigua – a 27 hour/180-mile passage. Unfortunately, due to our buddy boat experiencing a massive sailing disaster, we didn’t make it very far. The good news is that everyone is okay. The bad news is all the damage that was done. Our[Read More]
One of the scarier things about navigating by sailboat is dealing with cargo ships and cruise liners. As you’ll see in our avoiding ship collisions video we offer a situation where things didn’t go to plan. If you have an AIS system on your plotter navigating is easier because you know the CPA, or Closest[Read More]
Did you know that there are several steps you can take to ensure that you’re not bulldozed over by a ship while out sailing? Avoiding ship collisions is an important part of being a confident sailing cruiser. Quite a few new sailors get nervous when tankers or cruise ships are in the area. Tankers are[Read More]
One of the first things you’ll learn when becoming a sailor is how to tie onto a cleat. Like most things in sailing there are options. There are two main recognized knots used for fastening a line to a cleat. The first is the cleat hitch and the second is called the OXO method. American’s[Read More]
Here’s how to make your boat shine – we demonstrate the best way to make your metalwork sparkle, remove rust from your Gelcoat, and make your engine nice enough to eat off of! How To Make Your Boat Shine Video Links to Products Mentioned in the Video Autosol Marine Products (From Autosol) Star Brite Rust[Read More]
From time to time we break things, or things break on the boat, that just can’t be fixed while in the water. One of those ‘things’ is a thru-hull fitting. My husband Simon did an engine service having to close a few thru-hull fittings. When he went to open all the stopcocks one of them[Read More]
Boats leak from a variety of places, the mast being one of them. In this video, Simon will demonstrate how to fix a leaky mast using amalgamating, or self-bonding, tape. You can purchase this kind of tape on Amazon, at a boat chandlery, or any hardware store. The great thing about self-bonding tape is that[Read More]
One of the initial worries that new sailing cruisers have is tackling their first overnight sailing trip. Our recommendation is to either sign up for a few night sailing experiences or, if you already have a boat, hire a professional skipper that can join you on a long voyage or two. Sailing at night can[Read More]
We often get asked by aspiring sailing cruisers, ‘What tools to have on my boat?’ One of our guests wanted to bring his land-based man cave with him. He spent his life building up his tool collection and felt very attached to it – especially his lathe. This is totally understandable but ultimately not practical.[Read More]
