Tabla de contenidos para December 2016 en SAIL

I bought Adele B., my O’Day 31, new back in 1985, so I’d have a dealer and a warranty backing me up if anything went wrong with the boat. Since I was making a big transition from a 16ft Prindle beach catamaran to my first cruising boat, I wanted a support system in place. I had read sailing books and magazines for years, and talked to more experienced sailors about their craft . The salesman spent several hours with me on the water showing me how to use the boat and its various systems. I even hired a sailing coach to come out with me a half-dozen times to make sure I was using the boat and, particularly, the sails properly. But despite all of this careful preparation, poor or…

TIME KEEPER Designed by a sailor with a love of maritime traditions and history, this clock and weather instrument combo, made of PVD coated stainless steel, will grace any home. With six different gift sets to choose from, you will be sure to find a top-quality and affordable nautical combination to suit the sailor in your life. $149.95. Master-Mariner, master-mariner. CARRY ON Owning the right set of tools is a must if you own or operate a boat, and you also need a well-organized, sturdy, easily accessible and multi-functional place to keep them. Something like the Nantucket Bagg. The first fully reversible and convertible tool tote, this masterpiece can convert to a backpack, rigger’s bag, tool roll or tool rack. Made from heavy canvas or durable polyester with 30-36 pockets,…

In Part 2 of our series, JEFF HARTJOY continues his quest to become the oldest American to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world. On board his 40 Baba 40 ketch Sailors Run, the intrepid 69-year-old sailor is now approaching Cape Horn… DAY 20 — DODGING SQUALLS 24hr run: 151nm. Position: 32°00’S, 115°47’W. Wind: SE 8-15kts. Seas: 2-4ft . Cabin temperature: 68°-72°. Barometer: 1022mb. My fresh produce and fruit is almost gone; I ate my last orange this morning. I still have lots of apples, cabbage, potatoes, onions and carrots, not to mention two very large squash. I’m not the greatest cook, and I’m sure once the last couple of bags of chips are gone my weight-loss program will kick in. I just hope that hunger doesn’t become a greater challenge…

I have often said the cruising community is a small family spread out over a large canvas, and as proof of this I can point to an encounter I recently witnessed in the un-nautical micro-nation of Andorra, high in the Pyrenees Mountains. This was in the home of Edward Allcard, a once well-known British solo sailor who is now all of 101 years old and has a birthday postcard from Queen Elizabeth to prove it. Among various notable voyages, Edward sailed the first singlehanded transatlantic race against Peter Tangvald in 1957 and later doubled Cape Horn alone in an antique wooden ketch. He ultimately became a family man and wandered the globe during the ‘70s and ‘80s with his wife, Clare, and daughter, Kate, aboard an old 90 ton Baltic…

Are you out there sailing, cruising and living the sailing life? If you are, share your experiences with us. Send your photos and a brief description to sailmail@sailmagazine.com with the subject: SAILING SCENE for a chance to have your sailing memory featured. Here we have members of the Western Carolina Sailing Club, in Anderson, South Carolina, going out for a Christmas sunset sailing parade. — Patrick Hopp You can’t beat the North Channel of Canada on upper Lake Huron for both sailing and anchoring. This picture was taken in the Benjamin Island group. What a wonderful place to while away the summer. Life doesn’t get much better than this. — Tom & JJ Scott, E. Grand Rapids, MI This picture was taken in New York Harbor from Rapa-Nui, our Seaward…

When Hurricane Matthew marched up the coastlines of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas in early October, its ferocity was mitigated by the evacuations of millions of people along its path. Still, hundreds of people were killed in Haiti before Matthew made landfall in Florida, and another 40 died in the strong winds and flooding along the coast and inland. The heavy seas and flooding moved channels and marks on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, sank boats, and demolished marinas and docks along several hundred miles of coast. Cruisers holed up in Annapolis during the sailboat show were apprehensive, wondering what Matthew would do to their plans to head south for the winter. Damage reports were filtering in even before Matthew made a right turn at Cape Hatteras, and online resources like…

U.S. Sonar Crew Scores Paralympic Silver U.S. Paralympic sailors Rick Doerr, Brad Kendell and Hugh Freund won their final medal race at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio to earn silver in the three-person Sonar class—capping off a strong eff ort by the entire American roster. “We came into today in a similar position as we had at the world championship earlier this year, with everything to play for on the final day,” said Freund afterward. “We really sailed the way the three of us know how to sail this boat.” “Rick, Brad and Hugh sailed a great series and earned their silver medal today by racing smart and fast in the final race on a difficult course and under pressure,” said Josh Adams, managing director of U.S. Olympic Sailing. “They’ve…

The Best Boats Class of 2017 might appear staid to some given the many radical innovations the boatbuilding industry has introduced of late, a kind of Thermidorian reaction, a la the French Revolution, following a period of redhot experimentation. What’s that, you say? You mean to tell me there are no lift ing foils on this skiff ? What kind of multihull has only one cockpit! However, anyone who thinks the boatbuilders and naval architects of the world are losing their edge couldn’t be more wrong. The latest generation of boats may not offer anything as radically different as the innovations we’ve seen over the last few years—full-foiling performance in a production boat, for example—but they are still very much breaking new ground, whether it be in the form of…

An understanding of the effects of set and drift is vital for coastal sailors; it can make the difference between an enjoyable passage or a struggle to reach your destination against a foul current. As an example, let’s plan a Gulf Stream crossing from Miami to Gun Cay, Bahamas. You know it is safest not to cross the stream in any wind with a northerly component, so you are excited to hear that south-southeast winds will persist for two days at a moderate 10 to 15 knots. Your course to Gun Cay is 114 degrees magnetic, making you confident that you can sail in the predicted 160-degree wind. With no seas, in a boat that points well, you may be correct—were it not for the Gulf Stream. The stream averages…

RISKING LIVES? In reference to “Thomas and the Mermaid” (Experience, September): The boat was six hours from port, and they risked the lives of the Coast Guard rescue team, and spent tax dollars, to avoid Thomas having a scar that he would have to pay out of his own pocket to have appropriately dressed by a plastic surgeon? His life was not in danger. —Robert Reyes, Treasure Island, FL I am the Thomas referred to in “Thomas and the Mermaid.” Brita Siepker did an excellent job of describing the events. I would like to highlight two other lessons. The first is that with a head injury, when in doubt evacuate, unless you have an MRI machine or a surgeon onboard. With about 36 hours left in the voyage, we were…

Got a good story to share? Send it to sailmail@sailmagazine.com The lifejacket was an afterthought. The visitor had motored his way up the river, and I’d waved him over toward a vacant club mooring nearby. Sitting in my cockpit sipping coffee in the morning sunlight, I’d watched him, solo, make two failed attempts to hook the pickup. There was no wind, a slack tide, but even stopped alongside he seemed unable to manage. He was clearly very tired. I called that I’d row across and help pass a line, and went to pull my dinghy up alongside. My old lifejacket lay on the cockpit seat so, rather than step on it—and remembering the promise I’d made to my wife—I slipped it on and fastened the clips. The dinghy, a tippy…

For decades, the focus for energy-intensive American cruising boats has been on expanding the battery bank and installing more powerful and better optimized charging devices: notably high-output alternators with multi-step regulators. It’s an expensive process that often requires signifi-cant alterations to the boat, which in turn will be expensive if done by paid labor. In Europe, however, there has been a focus on getting more out of the equipment already installed on the boat. It’s a much lower cost and easier to install approach for boats that require only a modest upgrade in performance, but it will not deliver the high capacity of many U.S. systems. A leader in the European approach has been Sterling Power. A look at its product line will flesh out the concepts that follow. The…

While skippering charters around the world, I’ve learned never to bypass the boat checkout or the chart briefing. While most charter-base managers are thorough with their briefings, be sure to ask about the following so that you’ll be armed with as much information as possible before setting out on unfamiliar waters. HIGHLIGHTS & TRAFFIC PATTERNS Hopefully, you’ve read up on your destination enough to have an idea of where you’d like to go and what you want to see. That said, guide books will only get you so far, so be sure to ask about local must-dos and recommendations. I once got a tip in the San Juan Islands—Orcas Island to be specific—about a wonderful organ concert that turned out to be the highlight of the trip. Also, ask about…