Sail Far Live Free

"I hate those cute names like “slutter” and “cutter rigged sloop” or the worst one, “cutter rigged ketch”. We already have all the terms we need to describe rigs that have been around for 200 years.  A sloop is a sloop. If someone chooses to add a staysail it’s still a sloop."  - Bob Perry (see below) Sailing can seem pretty intimidating if you're bound to learning it from a book. All of the rigging jargon, varieties of sails, and especially the rig types can feel overwhelming. Luckily, once you're on the water ghosting along on a summer zephyr, none of it seems as complex. But if you insist on figuring it out through reading, Bob Perry's words can fill your intellectual sails.  Once again, it's my pleasure to welcome Bob back as a guest blogger here at SailFarLiveFree.com. Recently I asked Bob to share his insights into sailboat rig types. What follows is his thoughtful response. [Thanks, Bob! If you haven't read Bob's previous guest posts

"Those of us who sail aboard her are the lucky ones, the quixotic ones, the knights-errant of the sea." - John Kretschmer from Sailing a Serious Ocean I write as much as I can, most of it here on  SailFarLiveFree.com . But when I’ve got free time (not often enough!), I’ll also spend time reading. Sometimes I read for motivation when I’ve got writer’s block. Sometimes it’s when I’m trying to research and learn. And occasionally, I get a chance to read for pleasure. John Kretschmer’s latest book, Sailing a Serious Ocean , was a rare find that combined all three occasions. What more could you ask for in a book than to be motivated, educated and entertained? I've read Kretschmer’s other books and found them to generally be worth the time, but his latest is a real crown jewel. John (or his editors) found a great balance between personal sailing stories, technical offshore sailing advice, and honest assessments of specific sailboats and gear. At first glance, the c

Deck work ALWAYS beats desk work! (photo by K. Walters)

"I have learned for the first time that the fastest yacht does not win the race."   - Charles Nicholson (British yacht designer) I learned to sail through simple trial and (mostly) error* on our first sailboat and while crewing during the local Wednesday night races and a few longer distance races. The racing was fun and often exciting, but I was there for instructional gain. I was raised a boater, so I felt I knew some basic seamenship, yet sailing seemed technical and more involved than most of the boating I had done previously. I'm pretty sure I shared the common misconception that sailing was overly difficult. My experiences while racing did little to dispel the misconception. Whether doing laps around the cans on a short 0.5 mile course or crossing Lake Michigan during the Queen's Cup, we were constantly trimming sails by adjusting the cars, fiddling with the backstay, messing with the topping lift, tweaking the vang, and easing the outhaul only to then ti

Just how cold has it been in the Great Lakes this winter? Cold enough that I'm actually blogging about ice instead of telling sailing stories. And cold enough to produce more ice coverage over the inland seas than has been seen in the last 20 years. Believe it or not, that's good news for Great Lakes sailors who were ailing during last summer's historic low water levels. As of the beginning of 2014, Great Lakes water levels were still about one foot below average despite the above average rainfall last summer. The above average ice on the Great Lakes this winter should translate to reduced water loss from evaporation and allow water levels to continue recovering. Great Lakes ice cover for February 12, 2014 (White is actually open water, while grays/blacks are ice) The all-time record for total ice coverage on the Great Lakes was set in 1979 when 94.7% of the lakes were covered. The record low ice year was 2002 when just 9.5% of the Great Lakes surface was