Sail Far Live Free

I've always said that my favorite boat is whichever one I currently own. Being able to call it "mine" makes it my favorite by default. My first boat was a $400 derelict that I loved (still love) deeply. And she loved me back. However, that doesn't mean there aren't other boats I love that I'd like to call "mine" someday. The following is my personal ranking of my favorite affordable (available for ~$50k) sailboats. I've rather arbitrarily set the price limit around $50k and called it "affordable" in hopes that one day one of these boats might fit my budget and help my family and I to sail far and live free. Also note that other than the top 3, these rankings change in my head almost daily and I really struggled to narrow the list down to just 10.   As you peruse my list, you'll notice that they're all bluewater cruisers . You won't find any modern designs, fin keels, spade rudders, sugar scoop transoms, carbo...

Gonna put the world away for a minute Pretend I don't live in it... Wishing I was knee deep in the water somewhere Got the blue sky breeze and it don't seem fair Only worry in the world is the tide gonna reach my chair Sunrise there's a fire in the sky Never been so happy Never felt so high And I think I might have found me my own kind of paradise Mind on a permanent vacation The ocean is my only medication Wishing my condition ain't ever gonna go away (From Knee Deep by Zac Brown Band) I have a daily ritual at our dinner table of asking my kids to tell me one thing they learned and one thing they enjoyed at school. I joke with them that I'll be asking the school for a refund if they can't come up with something they learned each day. But more times than not, they not only tell me what they learned but they also teach me something I never knew or something I long since forgot. It's great! I get to feel like I'm back...

"Our ship was now all cased with ice, -hull, spars, and standing rigging; -and the running rigging so stiff that we could hardly bend it so as to belay it, or, still worse, take a knot with it; and the sails nearly as stiff as sheet iron."   ( Richard Henry Dana from Two Years Before the Mast , 1840) I feel cold just reading that quote. Luckily, I'm quickly warmed looking out the window here in early March and seeing budding trees and an absence of snow. Even after one of the mildest winters I can recall, it's still incredibly energizing to get the first taste of spring. 'Tis the season for maintenance lists to take shape and local chandleries and yards to start crawling with shoppers and workers. If the weather wasn't enough to remind me, the giant catalogs from West Marine and Defender that arrived in the mail would do the trick. I'll be trying to stick with the two-blog-posts-per-week rhythm as sailing season quickly approaches. Here's what you...

The following is a reprint of an article I authored for SAIL Magazine's March, 2012 issue.  The pictures in the blog post are my own and differ from those that appeared in the magazine.  You can read our logs from this cruise by clicking here . Favorite Weekend Cruise: Beaver Island - An old Mormon kingdom off the coast of Michigan We left the hustle and bustle of Charlevoix, Michigan just in time to make the second drawbridge opening of the morning as we pointed the bow towards Beaver Island, an isolated destination about 32 miles offshore in the middle of northern Lake Michigan. There was a thick fog on the inland seas as a light drizzle fell from the gloomy sky. Thanks to our chartplotter, I knew our position and the proper heading to make landfall on the island, but I was weary of the fog without radar.  I also knew we were following the approximate route of the Beaver Island passenger ferry, so I raised the ferry captain on the VHF.  He confirmed he had us ...

When I first started sailing, I was easily seduced by the technology temptress.  If my budget would've allowed, my boat would have had a touch screen display for radar, gps, and satellite weather.  That screen would be flanked by some really cool individual speed, depth, and wind displays.  Most likely, these would be the  solar powered and wireless displays from TackTick .  But my dinghy-size budget said "No!" to TackTick and so instead I opted for the handheld WindMate 200 wind meter from SpeedTech. The WindMate 200 features a large digital display and sturdy construction.  It's pocket-sized with a cover plate that easily swings to the side when in use.  Obviously the unit will display windspeed, but it will also give you air temperature, wind chill, and digital compass readouts.  In addition to realtime/current windspeed, you'll also have the option of seeing the average over 10 seconds as well as the maximum speed.  All windspeed reado...

I've been on a bit of a blogging hiatus over the last week.  But I promise I have a legitimate reason.  The crew of s/v Island Bound just increased by one member (5lbs 15oz to be exact!).  Our third beautiful daughter was born on March 1st and will step in as "deckhand in training" this coming sailing season. Unlike many sailboats, she didn't come with a name so we gave her one: Soleil Saylor Walters.  With a middle name of Saylor, little Soleil (pronounced "so-lay") should fit right in.   Looks like we're gonna need one of these:  I think this poem by our oldest daughter Hannah (first mate aboard s/v Island Bound ) makes the perfect conclusion for this "New Crew" post. Soleil, by Hannah Walters Soleil small, cute eating, sleeping, cooing Soleil is my new cute baby sister crying, rolling, gazing gentle, soft Baby