Before heading out into the open ocean we do a variety of tasks to prepare ourselves and Britican. In this pre sailing passage preparation video, you’ll discover what we did prior to sailing from Hampton, Virginia across the Atlantic Ocean, to Bermuda. The voyage to Bermuda is estimated to take around 100 hours and around[Read More]
Videos
Sailing Family Separate
Things feel very official now – sailing family separate. Two days ago Simon and I went to the boat and offloaded the few remaining things that signified Britican as a family sailboat. Watching the Christmas tree and festive collection bag leave the boat felt poignant. It wasn’t much, but it provided years worth of monumental[Read More]
5 Reasons to Attend a Boat Show
Aside from wanting to buy a boat, why do people go to shows? In this video, Simon outlines 5 reasons to attend a boat show. Some of the reasons you may already know but I’m certain that there might be one or two that are new to you. Enjoy the video! 5 Reasons to Attend[Read More]
What Experience Do I Need To Be A Sailing Cruiser?
One of the biggest questions we get asked is, ‘What experience do I need to be a sailing cruiser?’ The quick answer is any experience and as much as you can possibly get BEFORE you actually buy a boat. In this video, Simon covers what a typical day is like as a sailing cruiser. He[Read More]
A Visit to Portsmouth Naval Museum
Most sailing cruisers sincerely appreciate all water vessels, especially those that made a mark on history. While visiting our home base in Gosport, we paid a visit to the Portsmouth Naval Museum, in Portsmouth, UK otherwise known as the National Museum of the Royal Navy at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. Within the museum, you are able to[Read More]
Open Ocean Sailing Passage
What’s it like to experience an open ocean sailing passage? The preparation and first couple of days of sailing are hard work but after that, it’s usually easy-going, relaxing, and non-eventful. Our longest open sailing passage was from Gran Canaria, off the west side of Africa, to St Lucian in the Caribbean. Crossing the Atlantic[Read More]
Boat Rules of The Road – The 10 Most Important Things to Know
It’s important to understand the sailing basics and the boat rules of the road—avoiding collisions with anything that might damage your boat. What do you look at before you leave an anchorage or port? Once you’re underway and sailing, how soon do you pay attention to known obstacles, like reefs and channel markers? What about[Read More]
Sailing Disaster – 50 knot gusts, shredded mainsail & snapped steering chain
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]
Avoiding Ship Collisions Video
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]
How To Tie Onto A Cleat
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]
