Sail Far Live Free

Coming Home  by K. Walters I know my "Picture This" posts are intended as a purely visual, picture-is-worth-a-thousand-words experience, but sometimes I can't resist adding a bit of perspective, mostly for my own sake. This picture shows a Farr 395 coming back to port in Muskegon after an evening sail. The Farr 395, the epitome of a  racer /cruiser, is built by Carroll Marine and designed by Bruce Farr. She's based on the very racy one-design Farr 40, but features a few added creature comforts to keep a family crew happy. While I personally lean far to the cruiser side of the racer/cruiser continuum, I love the way the sun curves off the Mylar sails in this photo.

"Life is like a butterfly. You can chase it, or you can let it come to you." I can hear my powerboat buddies snickering already. As if it weren't enough that I'm a sailor, now I'm about to write a blog post about a butterfly. I have to admit, I was apprehensive when my daughters said they were going to intentionally keep an insect in our sailboat's head. First of all, I'm probably one of the most bug-averse biologists you've ever come across. Second, I don't like the idea of having something with more than two legs taking up residence in our sailboat. Third, s/v Island Bound is a mere 28-feet, so space is at a premium, even for insect guests. But I didn't fight it and I let life come to me. And so we played host to a monarch caterpillar that Izzy and Hannah captured on the shores of Harbor Island in Lake Huron's North Channel. The girls appropriately named her "Mariposa" and made a cozy microhabitat out of an ice ...

"Mothers are safe harbors for the storms of life. When the skies are dark, the wind howling and the water tumultuous, drop your anchor near mom, for the holding is always good there." - Me (I couldn't find a good quote mixing moms and sailing, so I made up my own.) I know this blog is about sailing, but I wouldn't be the person I am or enjoy sailing half as much as I do if it weren't for my own mother and my wife. Both have always allowed me the freedom to dream, the space to grow and the safety of a loving relationship. Happy Mother's Day! Thank you for all that you do! -Kevin Mom, Thank you for always cooking good food, keeping me safe, and teaching me to sail. My favorite thing to do with you is to draw. Thanks for being my mom! I love you! -Isabel Mom, Thanks for being the best mom ever. You are always helping me with anything and everything I ever need. You've taught me how to sail, cook, and have fun. I love spendin...

A Splash of Color (by K. Walters) The schooner pictured above is called America 2.0  and is owned by Classic Harbor Line out of New York City. Although she appears to be from a bygone era at first glance, America 2.0 launched in 2011. Her design was heavily influenced by a sailing icon, the schooner America , winner of the very first "America's Cup" in 1851. America 2.0 gets her "2.0" moniker from her new age construction techniques, materials and eco-friendly features. For example, her hull isn't fiberglass or steel as you might expect, but rather a 3-layer composite of cedar, balsa and epoxy resin on the upper 70%. The lower 30% (mostly near or below the waterline) is aluminum. Those spars that stand out so brilliantly in my picture above are actually carbon-fiber. All of this makes her much faster and more nimble than you might expect. When not under sail, she's powered by electric propulsion and a large battery bank fed by diesel generators. ...