Sail Far Live Free

One of the great joys of owning a boat is anchoring out, whether it be for one night, one week or some portion of a lifetime. I love the -isms of life on the hook: escapism, minimalism, hedonism, tuism. Yes, tuism is a real word. It's the theory that individuals have a second or other self. So I think I'm using it correctly when I say I'm a different person at anchor. Life is slower. My mind is clearer. It's here that I live in the moment. But I digress, so let's get to the point of this post, which is to review an option for a portable, battery powered anchor light. Obviously, we've got a masthead anchor light on our sailboat, but it's the only remaining bulb on the boat that's not LED. This bothers me. I'm a big proponent of LED bulbs on boats because of their energy efficiency and long life. And I admit to neurotically losing a bit of sleep at night thinking about the incandescent bulb eating up juice from the house battery bank. I know the

"Peace is not found in a calmer storm, it's found in a better boat." - Travis Meadows I don't know what Yachtworld.com's web traffic stats are, but I'm guessing they pull huge numbers from both keel kickers and serious buyers trying to answer one basic question: What sailboat should I purchase for cruising? There's already been a lot written on the topic by sailors far more accomplished than me. For starters, I can't recommend these enough: Charlie Doane's The Modern Cruising Sailboat , John Kretschmer's Sailing a Serious Ocean  and Beth Leonard's The Voyager's Handbook . So I'm not going to reinvent the wheel with this post nor am I going to try to create the definitive source of information about choosing a cruising sailboat. Instead, I'm going to share a few simple tips I've picked up through reading, sailing, purchasing 5 boats of my own, and interacting with online sailing communities and some old salts on the doc

"Always look on the bright side of life." -Monty Python And what better way to literally do so than with a quality pair of sunglasses that are built for life on the water? After all, some of the most intense, bright light you'll ever encounter will be sun glare reflected off the water while sailing. I've recently been trying out  Hobie Polarized Cruz sunglasses  and Gill's Sense bifocal sunglasses . The first thing you'll notice about both is that these are from companies that knows active watersports and sailing in particular, so already I'm feeling a connection. But are they worthy of respected sailing brands? First lets start with the features. Both are a wrap style frame, meaning they're a bit curved, sleek and form-fitting for your face, as opposed to other styles that "sit" on your face/nose and don't offer much in the way peripheral protection from glare and wind. Both  Hobie  and Gill market these as multi-use for waters

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." -Martin Luther King, Jr. I began my review of " The Fin " shoes from SoftScience on Martin Luther King Day, and since SoftScience strives for ultimate comfort, I thought the quote was fitting. Are your knees and faith shaken when you're challenged, or are you on solid ground? But on with the review... First, let me say that these shoes are different. They look different - like a Sperry/Crocs hybrid. They feel different - like a soft but supportive slipper. But I suppose the look shouldn't come as surprise once you learn who's behind SoftScience. The top two SoftScience executives have deep connections to Crocs. Scott Seamans is the Crocs founder and former chief designer while John Duerden is Croc's former CEO. Their goal at SoftScience was to create shoes that provide ultimate comfort