Category: News
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) Most beginning boaters have heard the “Red, Right, Returning” rule, which tells you how to pass certain markers to avoid the dangers they’re keeping you off of. It’s a handy rule, and easy to remember, and will serve you well sailing in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and any other […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) Over the last couple of months, we’ve talked about air pressure systems and weather fronts. Now, it’s time to pull some of that together to learn more about reading synoptic weather charts. These charts are the data that meteorologists use to come up with forecasts, and we can use them […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) It’s that time of year again, when everyone in the temperate zones is scrambling to get their boats in the water. By April, the most hard core folks are already out there boating in their foulies, but for the rest of us aiming for Memorial Day, it’s commissioning season. And […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) Years ago, when I was shopping for my first set of foul weather gear after we got our first boat, I asked my wife if she’d like to go try some on too. “Absolutely not,” she said. “If we need foulies, I don’t want to be out there sailing.” We […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the U.S. and also has some of the nicest cruising and sailing waters on the east coast. It’s big – 200 miles from end to end, and thirty miles wide at its widest. Over 150 rivers and streams feed the Chesapeake watershed, […]
by B.J. Porter (contributing editor) Planning boat trips is a lot of fun, but there’s only so many chances to get time off and go – you really want to get it right! While organizing a boating vacation has the same basic considerations as a land vacation, the details are different for a week or […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) Who doesn’t love jumping off the boat for a quick cool off one hot sunny summer day? Swimming off the boat is such a good time, and an easy way to enhance your boating. Unfortunately, every year people get hurt swimming off boats. There are a lot of ways to […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) If you’re a sailor, you’ve almost certainly heard of Newport, Rhode Island. For years it was the epicenter of American sailing. It started as a commercial seaport, but eventually hosted the America’s Cup for decades. In the Gilded Age, Newport was the summer playground of the rich and famous, and […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) Last month we talked about standing rigging – the fixed, permanent parts of your boat. This month, we’re on to running rigging – the various lines that you move, pull, and release to sail the boat. Running rigging has at least one free end. For this article, we’re talking about […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) True confession – I always enjoyed clearing into countries. Not necessarily the bureaucratic parts, paperwork is paperwork. But I enjoyed pulling in somewhere new, getting a welcome to a new country, and making sure we were all legal and clear to visit where we wanted it. It’s that last step […]
