Messing About In Sailboats

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How Do You...?

When I speak with folks who aren’t familiar with sailing, I often get asked “How do you” type questions. Here are the answers to some of these: Q: Where do you stop at night? A: You don’t. You keep sailing in the dark. When conditions are benign, sailing at night is a beautiful thing. The night sky is truly awesome in the real sense of the word, not awesome like a good sandwich. You can see the Milky Way and the blackness is almost silver as you can make out clusters of millions of stars that you would never see on land due to light pollution. There is phosphorescence in the sea is stunning and the boat leaves a trail of luminescent pearls behind it. But, also the Night is Dark and Full of Terrors. When the boat is sailing fast, heeled over in high winds and bigger waves, it... Read more →

Sailing from Bermuda to Newport Part 3 - The Passage

A Log of Our Passage To Newport In Part 2, we covered the crew and the boat, now for the passage itself This shows our course. Our goal was to get to Newport by Friday evening, and we had a plan that we thought would make crossing the Gulf Stream easy and possibly speed up our passage with a favorable current. Freebird’s top speed was around 8 kts. Given that winds and currents make that hard to achieve when planning you expect to cruise at 5 kts, possibly 6kts while motoring at a speed that does not burn up the limited fuel too fast. In addition, you have to consider that currents (and there are lots of them) can slow you down or speed you up. On Monday, June 27th, we filled up the fuel tanks including an additional 20 gallons in tanks tied to the lifelines. This would give... Read more →

Sailing from Bermuda to Newport Part 2 - The Boat, the Crew and Preparation

In part 1, I shared a bit about why I want to sail offshore so badly and how the opportunity came, went, and came again. Three Men in a Boat The return crew of three were Phil, skipper and owner, Jack (a great name for a sailor) the navigator from the race, a highly experienced offshore sailor, and me aka “Roger the Cabin Boy”. As Phil and Jack are of an older persuasion, I was responsible for semi-skilled manual labor. Basically, if a line needed pulling or something needed attention outside the cockpit, that would be my job. To be honest, I love that stuff! Captain My Captain The skipper has a vast responsibility in offshore sailing. First and foremost, the captain is responsible for the safety of the crew in what can be a very dangerous environment. He or she is also responsible for the preparation of the boat,... Read more →

Sailing from Bermuda to Newport Part 1 – An Incomplete Sailor

One of my greatest passions in life is sailing. I didn't sail growing up and very few of my friends or family sailed so I am not really sure where the interest came from. Early in our marriage, my wife and I decided that it would be good to have a common interest. Neither of us liked golf and both of us were intrigued by sailing. We took some lessons and bought a small boat that we could sail on Galveston Bay. We loved it and it has been a shared passion that bonds us. Over thirty-three years, we have sailed in many places, on multiple types of boats, and in many conditions. We have sailed up and down the Atlantic coast, Texas, Southern England, Turkey, all over the Caribbean, Hawaii, and even on Lake Dillon in the Rockies. We have owned three boats, the last was Cadence, a 38-foot... Read more →