About.com Sailing

Caribbean 1500 Rally Sailing Halfway to Tortola

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:30:09 +0000

Waking to heavy frost this morning in New England, my thoughts naturally turn to those sailing south in warmer climates. Over 60 cruising sailboats in the Caribbean 1500 rally left Hampton, Virginia, earlier this week headed for Tortola in the British Virgin Islands—and don't I wish I was aboard one of them!

These are mostly sailors who will spend the winter cruising around the Caribbean, many to return homeward next spring before hurricane season, some heading for faraway waters. I've crewed in this fleet twice in recent years but didn't have the getaway time this year. It's a great way for people who feel more comfortable knowing there's likely another boat not far over the horizon to do a longer voyage.

So as I head off to the boatyard again this weekend, heat gun in hand, to shrinkwrap my boat for the winter, I'm thinking of all you hearty souls out there in the warm waters of the world! For fun I'll read your daily updates and follow your positions on the tracker. Ah, life on a sailboat! If you can't do it right now, at least you can read about it!

Caribbean 1500 Rally Sailing Halfway to Tortola originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 at 11:30:09.

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Winterize Your Boat!

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:13:42 +0000

If you're living in a northern climate and you've hauled out for the winter, better get moving soon on winterizing your boat's engine and water systems before the first hard freeze comes along. Don't make the mistake I once made and had to pay for in the spring with shock, expense, bruised knuckles—and almost sinking my boat!

The power of water's expansion during freezing is astonishing. Anywhere water gathers in your boat is vulnerable to damage. Follow your engine manual to winterize its cooling system. Then make a good winterizing checklist and pump antifreeze through every single waterline and hose in the boat, including some you may forget about. (Deck wash-down pump? Shower sump? Manual bilge pump?)

In my own case, in the first year with a new-to-me sailboat, I didn't forget or overlook as much as assume too much. I carefully filled every line and hose with antifreeze, and shrinkwrapped the boat for the winter. Launched her in the spring, excited on a warm but windless day, and motored to my mooring. Shut down, prepared to lock up and leave the boat ready for sailing come the weekend, and noticed the bilge pump running. It shut off, I turned away (thinking probably just the stuffing box drip), stowed a few more things, got ready to go—and heard the bilge pump come on again. Oh no! Read more...

Winterize Your Boat! originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 12:13:42.

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Dutch Court Bans Solo Sail

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:10:54 +0000

Here's the latest word on the story of Laura Dekker ... and I promise my last post on this (at least for many months to come).

Dutch Court Bans Solo Sail originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Friday, October 30th, 2009 at 12:10:54.

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Laura Dekker: Sailing Solo Versus Reality TV

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:09:25 +0000

The Dutch juvenile court should announce tomorrow its findings regarding the psychological fitness of 14-year-old Laura Dekker for sailing around the world alone—either to allow or prohibit her going. She is the youth poised to go after the world record for youngest solo circumnavigator, a record the older Australian teenager Jessica Watson is now at sea seeking. The latest wrinkle in Dekker's story, however, could make this even more of a media circus. The Dekkers have apparently signed a contract with a television station to produce a reality television-type show about her voyage. Apparently a camera crew would closely follow her boat around the world, filming her every move, word, meal, article of clothing, and—perhaps—sailing technique. Reality television! I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but reality TV generally trends closer to the superficial than to the sublime. Further, Dekker's lawyer has even argued to the court that her voyage will be less risky with all these people following so closely. Well, duh! Meanwhile, another sailor has offered also to sail beside her, and hotel rooms and other accommodations are being offered at all ports. You can just hear her lawyer opining, Why, she'll hardly be alone at all!

At the same time, Laura continues to say, "It's all about the sailing." I'm going way out on a limb here to suggest that this whole story is becoming less and less about what real long-distance voyaging can be all about. The sailing literature is full of stories written by voyagers, solo and otherwise, who speak eloquently about their love of the sea, their adventures, their meditations when alone with this incredible environment—and what's it's really like to sail with an independent spirit, self-reliant and self-discovering. Just check out the logs at sailblogs.com and tripsailor.com of sailors now cruising the world, for a taste of the many who have worked so hard to make their dreams come true, who understand that indeed it's all about the sailing. I'll wish the same for Dekker when she's able to accomplish that.

Laura Dekker: Sailing Solo Versus Reality TV originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 11:09:25.

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Sailing Across the Atlantic in a 4-foot Boat

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:31:02 +0000

Here's the latest in the No Comment Needed series of 2009-10 contenders for world records, in case you were growing weary of all the attention going to teenagers. British sailor Tom McNally plans to cross the Atlantic in both directions in his sailboat, the Big C, which is 3 feet 10 inches long. McNally is known as "the Crazy Sailor." No comment needed.

Undeniably a stunt, at least it's for a good cause: to generate donations for the charity group Sail 4 Cancer. His boat is so small that he's looking forward to crossing the Bahamas Bank where he can finally stretch out his body by walking alongside the boat through the shallows. He has so little room for gear and provisions that he'll depend on a hand-operated watermaker that he can operate only at night because in the sun the pumping exertion would cause him to lose water faster through sweat than he could make it. No comment needed.

At least with this entertaining attempt at a world record, the discussion won't focus on whether the sailor is old enough to face the risks and whether his parents should allow or encourage him. At least he's had a lot of experience crossing oceans in small boats, including a 1983 adventure in a 7-foot sailboat in which he had to be rescued between Newfoundland and England. Then again, maybe it would be interesting to raise the same question about his maturity (or sanity!). Though, one suspects, the answer just might be ... no comment needed.

Sailing Across the Atlantic in a 4-foot Boat originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 at 09:31:02.

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Sailboats in �High Seas Rescue� Coming on Weather Channel

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:29:43 +0000

For sailors who can't get enough visual stimulation and entertaining disastrous sailing stories, the Weather Channel is premiering a new series called High Seas Rescue starting this Sunday, October 25, at 8 p.m. ET. Three hour-long episodes will be aired back to back, offering enough adrenalin and fear to keep you up half the night afterwards (using their "Storm Stories" hyper-dramatic approach). Each episode apparently includes three or four separate stories, of which at least three involve sailboats:

One U.S. Coast Guard swimmer responds to a mayday call that becomes a high seas mission when a family must abandon their sailboat in threatening waters during Hurricane Gordon.
A small yacht on course to Australia is disabled at sea with a dead engine, broken main mast and a hole on deck. Help comes from a passing container ship in a risky rescue.
Sailing for Bermuda, turbulent waves force three friends to abandon their sailboat and wait in the windswept ocean.

In addition to the fun, I enjoy programs like this because it's interesting to speculate, from a safety perspective, how you might have avoided getting into the emergency situation to begin with—or have improved your odds for coping once it started. What great sailors we are with such hindsight!

Sailboats in �High Seas Rescue� Coming on Weather Channel originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 at 06:29:43.

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Worth Dying For?

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 19:39:33 +0000

OK, I promised myself I wouldn't post further about Jessica Watson, the 16-Australian who set sail today for a solo circumnavigation through the dangerous southern oceans, unless there was real news about her voyage. I wished her well, as I trust we all do, and said it was time to put the controversy behind us and hope for the best.

But then today I read a story in the Australian press that paraphrases her father as saying, "it would be worse to deny his daughter permission to sail solo around the world than to lose her in the attempt."

I admit I'm emotional about this at the moment. I'm thinking about my own 18-year-old daughter. I'm thinking about how children can indeed accept their parents' restrictions as they grow older and more mature. And I am outraged by this statement attributed to her father. Nothing is worth losing one's child. Nothing. Period. I'm not going back into the debate about what age it becomes appropriate to attempt such a voyage alone. That's not the issue for me here—the parents' attitudes is what I'm reacting to.

OK, I've vented. Feel free to comment here if you disagree—but think first what it would be like to lose a child because you encouraged a risky behavior. Remember how there once was a race to see who could be the youngest pilot to fly the U.S. coast to coast. That race stopped when a boy crashed his plane and died along with his father and flight instructor aboard. Thereafter, those whose who kept those records agreed no longer to keep such a record, to avoid encouraging ever younger pilots to make the attempt. Death does sometime happen, after all. And I do believe in my heart of hearts that parents have a certain responsibility to work to keep their children safe until they've reached a certain level of maturity where they can genuinely make those decisions by themselves.

Worth Dying For? originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at 19:39:33.

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There She Goes! Jessica Watson to Sail Tomorrow

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:21:26 +0000

In a matter of hours Australian teenager Jessica Watson will set sail from Sydney in her quest to become the world's youngest solo circumnavigator.

Controversy has swirled around Jessica and her sailboat Ella's Pink Lady since her planned voyage was first announced, intensifying about five weeks ago when on a trial run she collided with a large cargo ship during her first night at sea. While her boat was being repaired, the debate raged whether this 16-year-old has the experience and maturity needed to face potential dangers at sea. Respected world-class sailors urged her to gain more experience before attempting the feat, while her supporters remained steadfast—like Jessica herself—in their belief that she is ready. Read more...

There She Goes! Jessica Watson to Sail Tomorrow originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Saturday, October 17th, 2009 at 17:21:26.

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Sailors for the Sea

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:18:52 +0000

The sailing vessel Ocean Watch pulled into Charleston, South Carolina, a couple days ago after cruising down from New York City, her most recent port of call in a planned circumnavigation of North and South America. The 64-foot ship left Seattle last May and passed through the Northwest Passage en route north and east, and after some routine maintenance she'll continue south and around Cape Horn, returning to Seattle next July. The Around the Americas voyage is an educational and scientific expedition sponsored in part by Sailors for the Sea.

The overarching goal of the circumnavigation is to gather scientific data and "increase awareness about the fragility of the worlds oceans in the face of climate change and help us understand the changing face of our earth." The crew are now giving public presentations in Charleston and will again in their next port, Miami. Boaters can learn much about how even individuals can make a difference with their actions. Read more...

Sailors for the Sea originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Friday, October 16th, 2009 at 15:18:52.

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Australian Sailing Tragedy

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:40:16 +0000

The international sailing community is shocked to hear of yesterday's tragic accident in which the 80-foot sailboat PriceWaterhouseCoopers struck a reef and skipper Andrew Short and crew member Sally Gordon died.

The boat was sailing in the 92-mile nighttime Flinders Island Race off New South Wales, and reportedly rounding Flinders when without warning in breaking waves it struck a reef. Grounded, at the mercy of strong waves, the boat spun and was dismasted, while 2-meter waves broke over the cockpit. Short and Gordon were swept overboard into the dark water.

The rest of the crew managed to escape by leaping overboard after another big wave lifted the boat toward the island.

It is too early to know why the boat had gotten so close to the reef while rounding the island. Short was a very experienced sailor and racer and must have had a chartplotter [LINK] on board to show their position, though electronics can always fail. He reportedly was holding onto the wheel when the big wave struck, ripping out the wheel as it took him overboard. Gordon too was an experienced crew would likely have been tethered in unless she had released the tether in an effort to save the boat after it struck. But with extreme forces, this safety equipment too can fail.

While the sailing community mourns their loss, we know we will learn more about the accident after investigation--and what we learn will hopefully help save other lives in the future.

Australian Sailing Tragedy originally appeared on About.com Sailing on Sunday, October 11th, 2009 at 19:40:16.

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