Sail Far Live Free

Most cruising sailors I know have an assortment of dry boxes and dry bags to keep valuable equipment safe from the elements. We've personally got a small cylindrical dry "box" on a lanyard for toting small stuff (keys, cash, etc.), a couple of slightly larger dry boxes for our phones, and two large dry boxes for tools and gear. We also use a large dry bag as our ditch bag. But until now we haven't had dedicated dry storage in one of the places where it tends to get the wettest - our dinghy. Who among us hasn't been swamped by a wave when nearing the beach on a dinghy? Or caught in a rain shower while on a shore excursion? We certainly have. The Amphibian Weather Defense backpack from Outdoor Products combines the utility of a backpack with the water protection of a dry bag. Essentially, this is a 20 liter roll-down dry bag with shoulder straps - perfect for toting gear, clothes and valuables around on the dinghy and to-and-from shore. The 20 liter main co

"Our anchor is our title deed to our real estate, and we can claim our property all around our coasts or in foreign countries, either if we like." - Frank Cowper from Sailing Tours: The Yachtsman's Guide to the Cruising Waters of the English Coast Quiet.    Gone is the cacophony of dock parties and the clinking of cocktail glasses at the restaurant. Calm. No more herky jerky motion from 6 docklines tugging in all directions. Distanced from the wakes of marina traffic. Simple. Cable TV connections and WiFi signals are delightfully out of reach. Water pumped from a foot pedal. A cockpit sundowner with my true love in the glow of solar lights and moonbeams reflecting off the water. Slow.   A dinghy ride to shore. A hammock nap over the foredeck. Morning coffee on the stove. The squeaks of the anchor rode on the bow roller are my kind of music. The bobbing of the hull simply feels different away from the dock. It’s almost like

Winnie the Pooh: "...it isn't just an ordinary sort of boat. Sometimes it's a Boat, and sometimes it's more of an Accident. It all depends." Christopher Robin: "Depends on what?" Winnie the Pooh: "On whether I'm on the top of it or underneath it." Have you been on top of your sailboat? Have you taken a trip up your mast? It seems like a sort of rite of passage for sailors.  When asked why he was attempting to climb Mount Everest, George Mallory once famously answered, “Because it's there.” Well, the mast is there, so why not climb it? Of course there are also plenty of legitimate reasons to take a trip high above your deck: rig inspection, changing masthead light bulbs, adding a new line, retrieving a lost/broken halyard, and taking the obligatory overhead photos. I’ve written before about our initial technique for mast climbing here , but we recently upgraded our mast climbing routine with the TopClimber solo mast climb

The Sail before the Storm (by K. Walters)

"Hark, now hear the sailors cry. Smell the sea, and feel the sky. Let your soul and spirit fly, into the mystic."   - Van Morrison I've always loved the smell of the sea. The scent of low tide is a powerful reminder of just how much life there is in the ocean. Even the air here on the Great Lakes has a distinctive and refreshing smell. Laying on our forward berth under an open hatch when a cool evening breeze is wafting aboard is one of my simple pleasures. But as with most yins, there's an equal yang to the pleasant smells of life on the water. Yes, I'm talking about boat odors. You know, the ones that accumulate in a small damp space like a bilge or head when multiple people live, cook, eat, pee, poop and play aboard a sailboat. Luckily, it seems like companies have been getting creative with deodorizing solutions for boats in the last several years. I've tried the tea tree oil products like Kanberra Gel and Forespar's Tea Tree Power , both o