Sail Far Live Free

[UPDATE: Island Bound has sold and we're now sailing aboard s/v Bearly A-Wake ] The time has finally come and we're ready to move up to a larger sailboat. Island Bound has helped us grow into a very tight family and has opened our eyes to beautiful sights and our spirits to great adventures. She's a beautiful boat that demands very little but gives a ton. The simple fact is that, as a family of five including three young daughters, we've outgrown Island Bound 's accommodations and could use more space for future adventures. If you or someone you know is looking for an affordable family cruiser, contact us . Most of the information about Island Bound is below, but don't hesitate to ask questions or come and inspect her in person. (My personal review of the Irwin 28 can be found here , for those seeking more details.) FOR SALE:  1977 Irwin 28 MkIV: $6,500 She's a sloop rigged fin keel sailboat with good manners and plenty of features to keep sa...

"Post nubila maxima, Phoebus." ("After the greatest clouds, the sun.") -Alan de Lille Is there anything in your life or mine so constant as the sun? It rises everyday regardless of season, clouds, rain, cold or any number of factors in our personal lives that bring out our own inconsistencies. Lately I've been witnessing the power and consistency of the sun in small doses. While we've yet to go "full cruiser mode" and install large solar panels on our sailboat, I am impressed with a few smaller, purpose-specific solar panels that help us meet energy demands while on the hook. One such product is the Xcellerator solar panel from Solio . This little solar panel (8.5" x 5.5" x 0.35") comes with a Hub battery pack that connects together via a USB cord (included) and stores enough energy to charge about 2 smartphones. Simply hook 'em up and set them in the sun to charge the Hub battery pack. My own experience shows that the ...

"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life." -William Morris Check out the details in the scroll board on this schooner from Key West (photo by K. Walters)

"As a sailor judges his prospective ship by a 'blow of the eye' when he takes interest enough to look her over at all, so I judged the Spray , and I was not deceived." -Joshua Slocum from Sailing Alone Around the World  ( Spray was the name of his sailboat) Now that we've got 3 little sailors to raise, we're slowly starting to explore the idea of a bigger cruising sailboat. I say slowly because we're content to take our time and really assess our needs and wants for the next boat. As we move through the process, I thought it would be good to explore the sailboat inspection process, both as a resource for you, the reader, and as a reminder for us, the prospective buyers. The following information about inspecting a sailboat was adapted from an excellent post and thread over at the forums on Sailnet .  The original post and most of the content below was written by Sailingdog (aka Dan) but is being shown here with his permission (Thanks Dan!). I'v...

Beach fishing in Boca Grande by K. Walters " Sometimes fishin' and sailing are the same: Even when the fish aren't biting and the wind isn't blowing, it's still good to be on the water. " -Me

"From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to Earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free." -Jacques Yves Cousteau As a child, nothing inspired me to dream more than when I took trips to the ocean. My senses were overwhelmed with the scent of sea air, the sound of crashing waves and the feel of salt drying on my skin. I'll never forget the first time I dipped my face below the surface of the sea in Key Largo, Florida and watched a whole new world of colorful fish, ornate invertebrates and geometrically beautiful coral thriving together. My time spent as a marine biologist is deeply rooted in sights my parents showed me through the polycarbonate lens of my snorkeling mask. Over the last week, I had the amazing experience of sharing these same experiences with my two oldest daughters. While we spent plenty of time relaxing on the beach and soaking in the south Florida sunshine, I feel most blessed and energ...

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay (Boothbay Harbor, ME by K. Walters)

"Island, I see you in the distance I feel that your existence is not unlike my own Island, they say no man is like you They say you stand alone Sometimes I feel that way too" -Lyrics from Island by Jimmy Buffett Uninhabited (deserted) islands have been the setting for some of history's most intriguing stories. For example, consider the familiar story of Alexander Selkirk, a castaway who was marooned on lonely Mas a Tierra island for four years. Don't recognize Selkirk or Mas a Tierra? Daniel Defoe made them forever famous when he used Selkirk as real life inspiration for the novel Robinson Crusoe in 1719. Interestingly, Mas a Tierra was officially renamed Robinson Crusoe island in 1966 but is no longer uninhabited. Even if you're not into history, uninhabited islands still find a way to impact modern pop culture. Remember the television series Lost and the 2000 Hollywood hit movie Castaway ? Other shows like Survivor and Dual Survival also often ...

From Under My Lone Palm (by K. Walters) "From under my lone palm I can look out on the day Where no bird flies by my window No ship is tied to my tree Love is a wave building to a crescendo Ride if you will, ride it with me" Lyrics from Lone Palm by Jimmy Buffett

Sailors in salty parts of the world concern themselves with tides and moon phases, but Great Lakes sailors have mostly been immune to such navigational particulars (We do have seiches in the Great Lakes, but they are mostly unnoticeable). However, this coming season promises to make all of us who sail the inland seas study up on our charts and pay particular attention to chart datums, depth and boat draft because water levels are at or below all-time lows in all of the Great Lakes. It's starting to look like a perpetual low tide in many of the ports and harbors around the lakes. If you're interested in more details, you can read the  short news piece I recently wrote for BoatUS Magazine highlighting the record low-water levels in the Great Lakes and some of their impacts and causes. Low water has rendered this boat ramp useless (L. Charlevoix - By K. Walters) The cause of the extremely low water levels is a complicated equation likely involving warmer/dryer than usual ...