Messing About In Sailboats

Welcome To The Neighborhood Sunovertheyardarm

Some new New York area waterbloggers have joined the gang. Welcome SunOverThe YardArm. Claire and Gianmaria, recently wed Brooklynites are learning to sail and blogging about it in partnership with Offshore Sailing School. They have rather impressively introduced themselves in this video. Read more →

An Interview With Gary Jobson – Characters Welcome

Thanks to the nice people at Sailing Spoken Here, I had the privilege of interviewing the great Gary Jobson. Gary is reporting for Sailing Spoken Here, covering regattas, sailing issues and everything in between over the next two months. There were a million things I could have asked Gary but what interested me most was his perspective on the state of sailing media, in particular TV. Coincidentally, this was also the week that NBC announced that it would be covering the America's Cup. Gary has covered sailing on TV since the 1983 America's Cup, There is no one better qualified to talk on the subject and he doesn’t mince his words. In his view, sailing on TV attracts an audience when three things happen: Close racing with lots of lead changes There is a great story behind the racing Compelling characters are involved Close racing is a tough one. Match... Read more →

Seacocks Bloody Seacocks

One thing that is not intuitive to the uninitiated in sailing is the importance of seemingly mundane boat parts. The seacock is the perfect example. To the landlubber, it's nothing more than a few rusty faucets placed in incredibly inconvenient places. Bits of plumbing really. Talk to an Old Salt and the seacock is up there with texting drunk, while driving and the construction of Japanese nuclear power plants in terms of peril, anxiety-creation and volume of discussion. Take Yachting Monthly (In my humble opinion the finest publication on the planet). They ran a campaign for six months focusing their ire on how certain boat-builders were cutting corners by installing cheapo brass seacocks. Rightly so, as they recounted several tales of boats sinking as the cheap pieces of crap sheared off. They even showed what happens when "Seacocks Go Wild". Watch the first few minutes of the video below and... Read more →

Normal Service Has Been Resumed

"So where the bloody hell have you been, Turinas and why have you been neglecting poor Messing About?" First of all, to anyone who cares and may have have wondered why I stopped posting (a club big enough to meet in a phone box), I apologize. It wasn't a premeditated decision to stop blogging. Nothing terrible happened. I just got preoccupied and and forgot to blog. Last April, I teamed up with great friend, sailing buddy and now business partner, Phil Asche to develop a business I have admired for many years called Relationship Audits. I have entertained entrepreneurial aspirations forever and although I started a couple of firms about 10 years ago it was a little half-hearted first-time round. These last six months have been all-consuming and while things are starting to pick up again last year was a tough year to become a small businessman. There was no... Read more →

Fifth Blogaversary

(No clue who Ewan is) I am frankly amazed this blog lasted five weeks let alone five years but believe it or not I started this dang thing on August 19th 2006. It is now got to the point where I wouldn't know how to pull the plug on it if I tried. The original post is here featuring some handsome devil posing it large in the Solent. My intention is to be acquired before my tenth blogaverasry. Any offers? Read more →