The best knot stays tied when you need it to, and easily loosens when you’re ready to untie it. Each knot has a special purpose and function. Knots that require tension, such as a sheepshank, will fall apart when slackened. A knot improperly tensioned will capsize or bend out of shape
Sailing A Serious Ocean
I can’t actually remember when I first learned about this crazy sailor guy named John Kretschmer. But I do remember that I instantly liked him. I picked up his book, Cape Horn To Starboard and read it faster than I had read any other book, besides Green Eggs & Ham. John and I met in person that same day I …
Sailing In The Fog – What You Need To Know And Do
Sound Signals and VHF Protocol in the Fog Our recent 3 day Morse Alpha sail training expedition in beautiful Maine offered a wide variety of sailing conditions. We saw gusts to 30 knots the first day out, thick fog the second, and light winds the third. The perfect course… a little bit of everything, couldn’t have planned it better myself. We had fun tucking in …
Our Journey Looking for the Right Boats
This is a ramble-on (and on) about some of boats we looked at… a bunch of folks asked about it, so thought we’d share… In 2006, when I (Ben) first began looking for a boat, I considered only 3 options: a Bristol Channel Cutter 28, a Nor’sea 27, and a Falmouth Cutter 22. When Teresa looked for a boat… it was …
Contest: Use Radar To Determine Position
UPDATE: The contest is closed. I posted all the submissions and messages I received via email or Facebook in the comments below. The winner was drawn at random from all the correct entries, congratulations to Alex Rook. Thanks so much for playing. And don’t forget to check out the creative problem solving methods everyone used below. The correct answer is: …
Rigging Simplicity & The Con of Leading Lines Aft
This is an op-ed piece. The opinions expressed here represent my current state of thought on the subject, and I make no claims of ‘best practice’ or attempts of conversion… and who knows, I may change my mind a few years down the road. The views in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of SSPH! ~ Ben (A …
Best Features of an Offshore Blue Water Boat – Part II – The Interior
In this post I want to talk about a few below deck features we really liked about our former boats — Elizabeth, a Bristol Channel Cutter 28 and Daphne, a Nor’sea 27. As we search for our new boat and peruse the boat sales websites, we find that the features listed below have subconsciously become features we seek in our …
Best Features of an Offshore Blue Water Boat – Part I – The Exterior
Our former boats — Elizabeth, a Bristol Channel Cutter 28 and Daphne, a Nor’sea 27 were fantastic blue water boats! Both designed by Lyle Hess, they are hard acts to follow. Both were built like tanks, and made to go anywhere. In this post I want to talk about a few of their on deck features we really liked, which …