Sail Far Live Free

Sailing the Lunar Seas, by K. Walters Lunar Maria (Seas of the Moon) from Wikipedia

" There are no words to express the feelings that induce a sailor to offer fervent prayers when he sees this mark of sympathy expressed by his fellow men. Suddenly he sees that he is no longer alone in the midst of the ocean waves; he sees that people are caring for him with paternal solicitude." -Lavrentiy Zagoskin, on sighting the lighthouse at Sitka, Alaska in 1839 Waugoshance Lighthouse in the open waters of Lake Michigan (photo by K. Walters) [I had a version of this post published in BoatUS Magazine (April/May 2013) as " U.S. and Canadian Lights Dimming ", but I prefer this version] The sun was on the rise to reveal the horizon when we left Beaver Island in the middle of northern Lake Michigan bound for Mackinac Island in Lake Huron . That day's sail covered a stretch of open water from the Beaver Island archipelago into the Straits of Mackinac, an area characterized by shoals and boulders broadly known as Gray's Reef. The navigationa...

" Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm,  but to add color to my sunset sky. " - Rabindranath Tagore Adding Color to Life, by K. Walters

"Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler." -Albert Einstein Traditional bungee cords and shock cords are about as simple as it gets. Given Einstein's words above, in some ways they're too simple for use on a boat. Whether I use the thick type that is made from cheap rubber or those that have braided elastic rubber sheathed with a thin layer of synthetic fiber, they always seem to suffer from UV rot fairly quickly.  Both of these types are also not up to jobs requiring more strength and stretching power, such as snubbing an anchor line. But fear not, the same innovative company that makes a boat-specific solar light has taken on the challenge of making a shock absorbing product that can withstand the rigors of the marine environment on a cruising boat. Shockles come in a variety of lengths and sizes, some of which have a tested breaking strength of over 2,500 pounds. They also feature very high quality stainless steel captive carabiner clips o...

"Today is a smooth white seashell, hold it close and listen to the beauty of the hours." -Unknown Shells on the Beach (photo by K. Walters)

"The trunk cabin is “streamlined” akin to a Buck Rogers rocket ship but, to me, such radical streamlining seems to be somewhat unnecessary on a vehicle that will rarely travel faster than a man can run." - Ted Brewer (see below) As you may recall, I started a series of guest blog posts late last year featuring some of my favorite sailboat designers, including Ted Brewer and Bob Perry . This particular post is a continuation of my "Question of the Month with Ted Brewer" series. This month, I asked Ted, "Do full keel boats and classic designs still make sense for cruisers today, or have these boats run their course?".  Ted's response below is an excellent historical perspective on cruising (and racing) sailboat evolution over the past 50 years. Whether you're a fan of classic designs featuring full keels, skeg rudders, and heavy displacement like myself, or you favor today's modern thin fin keels, ultra-short overhangs, and light displac...

"Islands belong to the sea like the dark sands of my memories. When the morning comes they are stepping stones to the sun. And the mighty blue ocean keeps breaking on every shore. Like the spirit that binds us together, we are so much more than islands..." -John Denver, lyrics from Island It's a gripping disease, but not one you'll find shown on WebMD or even in the pages of most dictionaries. Islomania is an obsession and an extreme partiality for islands. But it's more than that. Islomaniacs crave isolation from something . Sometimes it's isolation from society, sometimes isolation from technology, and sometimes isolation from reality. Garden Island (left) and Hog Island (right) breaking the horizon in northern Lake Michigan (photo by K. Walters) Were islomania better known, I'm sure those afflicted with it would be labelled as escapists, or some other -ist or -ism. What the labelers don't know is that escapists and islomaniacs are al...

For this week's Picture This post I'm giving you a quick 2012 season review slide show...

"I resolved to have a thoroughly good sailing boat -- the largest that could be well managed in rough weather by one strong man, and with every bolt, cleave, sheave, and rope well-considered in relation to the questions: How will this work in a squall? On a rock? In the dark? Or in a rushing tide? A crowded lock? Not to say in a storm? She was to be first safe, next comfortable, and then fast." - John MacGregor from The Voyage Alone in the Yawl Rob Roy , 1867 While we were docked in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin this past summer, we ran across a very interesting cruising sailboat. At first glance you may say that Falcon II  is simply large, but then question what makes her so interesting? And to that I would volley back with several responses. First, Falcon II is an aluminum hull from one of today's superyacht builders, Palmer Johnson . Next I might mention her trio of helm seats, complete with wedge-shaped cushions that can be adjusted to compensate for either a port or ...

Laundry Day on a Cruising Sailboat (by K. Walters in Beardrop Harbor, Ontario, Canada)

Earlier this summer I reviewed several good options for sailing shoes in this post .  As it turns out, the variety of shoes suitable for sailing is just about as varied as the boats on which they may end up.  The following are a couple of sailing shoes I tried out during this past season and can recommend as good choices. Sperry SeaRacer GripX3 : I absolutely love this shoe. It's become my "go to" shoe for times when I want maximum grip, support, and comfort while on deck. The styling is admittedly avant-garde, with plenty of color and a funky geometric rubber pattern over the mesh body. They look edgy and get plenty of comments on the dock. But how do they function? Sperry uses terms like "Hyrdo-Grip Rubber" and "Adaptive Wave Siping" to describe the sole, while I'll just say they're a darn sticky shoe on a wet deck. The sipes don't look like traditional sipes, but they seem to channel water away effeciently. The drawstring laces, runni...