All Blog Posts (984)

After cruising in the Canadian Gulf Islands off the east coast of Vancouver Island for a week we are back in Friday…

So where are the "single sailors" who are looking for a soul mate? So many on the single sailors list are couples! I've been sailing for 8 years and would love to find a "soul mate" to enjoy the ride with for long term.

The past few weeks have been everything from ho-hum to downright explosive! Ho-hum is pretty self explanatory, explosive would be what happens when the clew tears right off the jib, the foot and leech open wide, and you still have 11 miles to make harbour in a 35knot blow and rather large steep seas! Just another day sailing in the caribbean during hurricane season! The sail got pieced back together, and (so far) has managed to hold together through a few more 30knot squalls. I guess my…

I get up this morning to read my e-mails and am immediately angered by someone misinterpretting something that was said. Admittedly I argued with myself as to whether I am splitting hairs or dealing with semantics. Either way, with my feathers ruffled, I wrote several seething e-mails, then deleted them when I realized I wasted my swimming hour steaming over trivial matters.

Being the glutten for punishment that I am, I read another e-mail. This one enthralled me. It was from…

In my last post I lamented about the challenges of selecting compatable crew. Having had three team members seek greener pastures, I was torn between frustration and disappointment. The disappointment arose when I questioned for a moment the consequences of my behavior which led to a divorce from a trio I had come to care about. The frustration was facing the challenge of seeking replacements. Fortunately, finding replacements was easier than I thought. Wtihin an hour any sadness I felt was…

How many times have you been so mad at someone that you swore you would never sail with them again? If you've sailed with half as many people as I have then you know what I am talking about. Although there is one man who I believe I will never sail with again. Sorry folks but his idea dwelled on the disgusting side. Other than that there are probably a handful who I would prefer not to sail with and certainly do not encourage our sailing together.

Then, there are those select…

Ever wonder why we do what we do?? Boating that is, for me it the "rush" every time I can get the rail in the water on a broad reach..or trimming the sails to get that last half knot going to windward. And there are the times when things happen that you have no control over at all, like "lighting strikes". A couple of weeks ago, not sure when, lighting hit something near the harbor, and we all walked around saying "sure glad that didn't hit me", well wouldn't you know many of us were…

Does anybody know that dangers the oil in the Gulf of Mexico presents to sailing?

1. Will it damage my hull, or paint?

2. Will it clog my engine cooling water intake?

3. Will it burn out my AC?

4. what is the best defense? Should I take the boat out of the water for the rest of the year? Or maybe take it up a river and moor it in the river?

What says you?

DJ

You probably have all heard the time analogy that goes something like this: when counting down to the start of an olympic race, five seconds can seem like an eternity; when you are 5 years old your birthday takes a lifetime to arrive. When you are in your sixties, holidays come around quickly. Similarly, I have learned eight weeks of vacation goes a whole lot faster than eight weeks at the office. Not that I am complaining rather I am just feeling like my summer at home is whizzing by. No…

If you haven't visited my Examiner articles lately, and you like big boat racing photos, check out my articles on the Louis Vuitton Trohhy matches in Sardinia on America's Cup Class boats, and the Copenhagen Cup races in RC44 boats. There's also a video of the complete first race in the finals match between Russions and Kiwis. Here's the link: http://www.examiner.com/x-7657-SF-Boating-Examiner. If that doesn't work Google…

Some of you know I have gone mad and bought another boat. She has been on the hard for 7 years in Reedville VA.

Larry Willson had pointed me to a few boats down there. I found this one by chance. Really like these boats and got such a deal just couldn't say no. It looks like i bought myself about a year of work.…