How-to: Seamanship

Imagine a boat show that is not a “boatshow” put on by the industry but a grassroots effort by people with something in common to roll up their sleeves, get some boats together, take people for rides, and share the love. I have a friend who likes to end a conversation with the words, “Now [...] …Read More

Anglers are usually the ones boating on the margins of bad weather, and most of them don’t wear the most basic of protection. Don’t want it to get in the way, is the common refrain against wearing life jackets. Just get an inflatable, man, and be done with it. Lenny Rudow has always advocated inflatable PFDs [...] …Read More

Team Finland treating arrival as triumph. Photo courtesy Clipper Ventures What a twisted piece of irony that a hard-luck boat finally makes it across the Pacific to re-join its round-the-world race just one day ahead of the start of the next leg, and what in most seasons would be a seabreeze forecast on San Francisco Bay, [...] …Read More

Marinalife, the online concierge and trip-planning service, recently partnered with Beacon Wi-Fi, the largest supplier of wireless Internet to marinas along the East Coast, to provide a 20% discount to its members. The new partnership extends to marinas as well, who will receive a 30% discount off the Beacon Wi-Fi wireless installation fee and 15% [...] …Read More

Fugawi recently announced the release of Navionics NavPlanner2, powered by Fugawi. The company also said it has released version 4.5.5 of its Fugawi Marine ENC. NavPlanner2 is an atlas of U.S. coastal waters, navigable waterways, and more than 12,000 inland lakes for use on a home computer for map viewing, searching, printing, waypoint planning and GPS [...] …Read More

The gaff-rigged Kate returns from the racecourse. Photo by Kimball Livingston Little-known factoid: Puma’s store in Boston, the U.S. stopover for the 2008-09 Volvo Ocean Race, is now the sports apparel maker’s hottest store. I got that small but meaningful tidbit out of a sit-down with Puma Ocean Racing skipper Ken Read on the final [...] …Read More

A You Tube moment affords us the opportunity to put in a good word for the Sail Through Cancer Foundation, whose mission is to encourage boat owners to volunteer time on their boats to enrich the lives of cancer victims and survivors. Founder Dick Drechsler came through stage three neck and throat cancer himself, with [...] …Read More

Last year’s “Baja Ha Ha,” the fleet cruise from San Diego to Mexico, provides yet another impetus for all ocean cruisers to reconsider their liferaft situation. You DO have one, right?  And it HAS been maintained, inspected and re-certified, right? And you actually know what’s stored in it and how to use it, right? And [...] …Read More

What could be finer than to wake up at Les Voiles de St. Barth (good mawnin’ tradewinds!) and find on top of my inbox a note from the Mayor’s office a few thousand miles away in San Francisco, advising that Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi has introduced a resolution to the Board of Supervisors, which goes on [...] …Read More

Kadey-Krogen’s recently announced 52′ is a classic example of a builder filling out a product line in specific response to customer demand. In this case, the company already had on offer its well-established 48′ and the new 55′ Expedition. The 55′ Expedition, however, is not really the “other” boat in this comparison — it’s the [...] …Read More