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. ...

[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...