Category: Sailing Tips
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) It’s hard to believe we’re already past the Fourth of July. It feels like we were just taking off the shrink wrap up in the cooler climes. But don’t despair, even though it may feel like summer is on the wane, there’s plenty of time left for some spectacular weekend […]
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) If you watch a weather report, on a national level, you’ll often see the meteorologist standing in front of the national map, waving their hands at the various red and blue curves with spikes and lumps on them. They’ll talk about “cold fronts” and “warm fronts,” and show them moving […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) We started our kids on the water young, and they spent most summer weekends on the boat. They weren’t always into it every weekend, but we did our best to make it memorable and exciting. In the end, it was worth it because they still recall all those summer weekends […]
by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) And more importantly, do you know how to use it? Even the simplest boat with no electrical system has things which can break and ruin your weekend. And a complex boat with refrigeration, air conditioning, and an engine? There are a fair number of things which can go wrong. Preparing […]
Part I, of iNavX’s Multi-Part Weather Series by B.J. Porter (Contributing Editor) Barometer, n.: An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having. Ambrose Bierce If you just look at a barometer once, it’s pretty much as satirist Ambrose Bierce described. The needle on the front of that old school brass barometer […]
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 […]
