Table of contents for July/August 2021 in SAIL

As I write this, it’s springtime in New England, and I’ve begun sailing out on Boston Harbor again, getting warmed up for the summer sailing season. As I’ve been doing so, I’ve been struck, not for the first time, by just how awesome it is being aboard a well-found sailboat. Not only that, I’ve been struck by just how awesome it is being aboard a well-found sailboat with a keel. For better or worse, there’s something about sailors that all too often seems to pit one against the other with respect to the types of boats they sail. Among many multihull sailors, for example, it’s gospel that “if it’s not a cat, it’s a dog.” The biases of those who sail, design, build or just admire boats made of wood,…

DROPPING THE BUCKET When you need a bucket of clear seawater, make sure you have a longish lanyard and tie it to the boat. The pull can be considerable, even at speeds of as little as 5 knots, if you achieve the result you are looking for. To secure a full fill every time, gently throw the bucket rim-down into the sea. Too many people just drop it in and hope for the best. Also be sure and buy a quality bucket from a quality merchant. Lightweight plastic rubbish is fit only for the kitchen. Go for heavy rubber. A good bucket is a friend for life. A QUICK FIX Here’s a quick fix when your position is changing rapidly relative to your surroundings or your GPS is down in…

Vacationing and good eats go hand-in-hand, and when you’re on a boat everything just tastes better. Maybe it’s the fresh air or the appetite you work up sailing and SUPing. Whatever the reason, the simplest fare seems to tickle the tastebuds in new ways when you’re on the water. Because food is such a big part of our leisure-time experience, it’s important to plan how you’ll provision your charter boat. Whether you’re a foodie or can survive on SPAM, careful preparation will be time well spent. DO THE MATH Before you even arrive at the dock in a foreign land, you’ll need to decide whether you’ll let someone else do the provisioning work for you, or if you’ll be pressing your crew into service. Most larger charter companies provide full…

Are you out there sailing, cruising and living the sailing life? Share your experiences with other readers. Send your photos to sailmail@sailmagazine.com And don’t forget to sign up for our free eNewsletter, Under Sail, via our website sailmagazine.com The outgoing Containership MSC FLAVIA meets two Cal 20s inside the breakwater of Los Angeles Harbor before the start of the CBYC Point Fermin Inverted Race— Volker Corell, via sailmail@sailmagazine.com The nose of my Hunter 27 anchored as dawn broke near the eastern entry into Hotham Island, North Channel— Bruce Conron, via sailmail@sailmagazine.com From the helm of my 28ft Ericson after a Southern California winter storm heading back to the marina in Long Beach, California— Dean Atkins, via sailmail@sailmagazine.com A hot July morning waiting for the fog to burn off. I rowed…

Squalls are well known to sailors who cruise the middle Latitudes. Eventually you become complacent to their bluster. But squalls vary in magnitude, and while crossing from Tahiti to Oahu, our 47ft Custom Stevens sloop paid the price for carrying too much canvass as we were batted over by a sudden punch of wind and a hammering of rain that damaged our headsail. It was a star-filled night, and I had failed to notice the clouds creeping up from behind us. Salubrious trade winds became instant mayhem. My wife, Ivy, and I rushed to disengage the windvane steering and douse our headsail. Struggling with the furling line, we tried rolling up our headsail, which was now shaking our boat like a chew toy. Our Yankee usually furls with little effort,…

Bluewater sailing is 25 percent actually sailing and 75 percent learning how to live on a boat at sea, in constant motion and with no chance to get off the roller coaster. I cannot over-emphasize how difficult normal daily functions become at sea, even on nice, calm days. Walking around belowdecks when the boat is heeled is like maneuvering on an alien planet with more gravity than you’re used to on Earth. The simplest daily chores, like brushing your teeth, become arduous, complicated tasks. Cooking a nutritious meal can feel impossible even for the iron stomachs among us, and if you feel the slightest bit seasick, you simply won’t do it. In short: off shore sailing is far more physically demanding than you can imagine, so make sure you’re mentally…

In this age of the smartphone, everyone has a timepiece in their pocket at all times. As a result, like so much else in the past 20 years, the watch is now teetering on the brink of technology’s endangered species list. Out on the water, though, watches are anything but obsolete. Having the right watch for the job can be a huge asset to your sailing, especially since a marinized watch won’t drown if it gets wet, be difficult to read in bright sun or run out of charge in a matter of hours like a phone will. It also (hopefully!) won’t ever go overboard, being securely strapped to your body. Whether you’re living up your nostalgia for the pre-GPS era and need the exact time to use your sextant…

It was a simple craigslist ad that started all the rumpus. A guy named Milo in Belfast, Maine, listed a well-worn 1969 Tripp 29 sloop for sale for $6,000. A young acquaintance of mine, Emily Greenberg, who maintains an intriguing sailing blog at dinghydreams.com and sometimes writes for SAIL, was on it like a dog on a squirrel. Grabbing it by the neck and shaking for all she was worth. First, she sent Milo several e-mails, to which he didn’t respond. Then she called me up and ordered me to send Milo an e-mail saying I wanted to buy the boat. Her thinking was that maybe he’d respond to me, since I’m a rich-and-famous whatever it is I am. Sure enough, he did. He explained he was overwhelmed with responses…

CRAB TURNS 30 The article The Kids Are Alright (May) by Lydia Mullan was an enjoyable story about the various community sailing programs around the country doing great things to encourage a wide variety of youth to get on the water and learn to sail. The story occasionally touched on adaptive sailing for people with disabilities, but certainly more could be written on this topic. Generally, adaptive sailing is a small part of community sailing. However, there are a few organizations, like Chesapeake Region Accessible Boating, that strictly serve people with disabilities, wounded warriors and youth from underserved communities. CRAB is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and we have a multi-million dollar initiative underway to build the premier adaptive boating center in the country in Annapolis, Maryland. — Paul…

BOOK REVIEW Bocci the Sailorman By Kimi Aoyama with illustrations by Tadami Takahashi 52 Pages, ¥1,980 (around $18) amazon.co.jp (search “Bocci” under “Japanese books”) Once upon a time in Tokyo, there was a boy called Bocci. In grade school, he played the piano well and was skillful in calligraphy, but he was not good at all in gym classes… Thus begins the story of lifelong sailor Bocci, as told in the beautiful new picture book Bocci the Sailorman, written by Kimi Aoyama and illustrated by Tadami Takahashi. Readers of SAIL may recognize Tadami as the artist who creates the illustrations for our “Experience” section. And as beautiful as his work for SAIL may be, the artwork he creates to help tell the story of his late friend of over 50…

If experience has a tone, it would sound like three-time Olympian and 470 sailor Stu McNay—steady, measured, with a positive, almost Mr. Rogers feeling. “Each Games has a unique flavor,” he says, the day before last spring’s 470 European Championships, one of the rare events he and crew, Dave Hughes, have been able to use to prepare for this month’s delayed 2020 Olympic regatta in Enoshima, Japan. “It reflects many things and who you are at that time.” McNay and the rest of the U.S. Sailing Team have spent the last year doubling down on their campaigns, creatively analyzing the mental and mechanical elements in the context of a global pandemic. Not surprisingly, this has been no easy task in light of the spattering of on-again, off-again events this year…