Reviews and Opinions about Sailboats and Sailing
The 36th America’s Cup will see Emirates Team New Zealand attempt to defend the ‘Auld Mug’ against a fleet of exceptionally strong and well-resourced challengers in the new AC75 class sailboats in Auckland, New Zealand, from the 6th to the 21st of March 2021.
Many have asked the question; What is the expected lifespan of my sailboat?. The short answer is it depends on the maintenance put into the boat. In general, how well you take of your sailboat will dictate how long it will live.
I bought this little Laguna Windrose 22 sailboat on Craigslist last year and it has been setting in my RV Storage building. Now that it is springtime and I have time because of the Coronavirus pandemic I will start the restoration.
In general, springtime is the most expensive time of the year to buy a sailboat because it is the beginning of the sailing season. Here are 6 boats from 32-foot to 35-foot LOA that are under $7,000. They will need some work.
The Sandwich Marina in Sandwich, Massachusetts is known as the Gateway to Cape Cod and points north. It's a seaside community of about 22,000 residents located in the northwest corner of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts.
This marina is located inside Canada on the Niagara River and is a check-in point if you are going to use the Welland Canal between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.
To set sail is to propel a craft on the surface of the water over a chosen course, which is often part of a larger plan of navigation.
I sailed a Catalina 25 in the San Diego bay for a few hours and I liked this little sailboat. She was fairly agile in the bay and although it did not have a Knotmeter gauge but she move fairly swiftly for a 25 foot sailboat.
Whitehall Bay, on the west side of Chesapeake Bay and has general depths of 13 to 6 feet. A lighthouse at Sharps Point, on the west side of the entrance to Whitehall Creek Entrance Light 2W, provides a well-marked approach to the channel between North Shoal and Whitehall Flats.
I have only visited this marina once and had trouble making it in with my 5.5 ft draft. The entrance a bit shallow, the charts says the approach depth is 7 to 8 ft but I bottomed out just after the entrance had been drudged. Also the approach has a strong cross current so be careful when...
Hugh Angelman's 36 foot auxiliary ketch, the Sea Witch – a boat that not only became a classic, but (in spite of the relatively small number that have been built), went on to win the Trans Pac race and become a "class" in itself – known as the "Sea Witch Class."
French sailor François Gabart beat the previous solo around-the-world record of Thomas Coville by six days and 10 hours. The 98 foot trimaran crossed the finish line on December 17th, 2017 setting the new solo around-the-world record at 42 days, 16 hours, 40 minutes and 35 seconds.
Tilghman Creek is an excellent place to drop the hook if you are looking for solitude. This honey of an anchorage is sheltered from all directions, although houses and docks surround the cove. Normally not too crowded and offers Good holding.
I captained a C&C 36 sailboat from this Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum to Port Huron Yacht Club. It took about 3 days to prepare for the long journey so I spent a few days exploring the marina and surrounding area.
I first discovered the PPY Marina when my brother bought his Columbia 8.7 Sailboat which was on the hard in the PYY Marine yard. We worked on the engine, replaced the fuel tank and painted the hull of his boat before the PPY team used the boat lift to put the "Defiant" into the water. ...
While tidal current tables report the current at the entrance at 2 knots, old hands know that the current across the entrance can be substantially greater. More current is experienced at the far end of the basin where a small stream enters.
Yopps Cove is located in an area of Virginia known as the "Northern Neck." In the 18th century, it was dubbed the "Athens of America". Steeped in history, three presidents, George Washington, James Madison and James Monroe, were born on the Northern Neck of Virginia.
The PY 26 design was first built by Paceship Yachts in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. At the end of 1977, the company was bought by AMF of Connecticut, who built the design between 1978 and 1981. Tanzer Industries bought the mold and rights to the design in 1981 and produced the boat as the...
Rum Point Basin anchorage has good holding and plenty of room. You can leave your dinghy in the Trump marina/ state marina between F and E docks for 3 hours for free. Bus comes every 10 minutes to take you to town.
If you are going to be sailing on the east coast you need this resource. The Waterway Guide comes both online and in the book form. Whenever I have internet access I always consult the online database but when I am in areas with no cell service then I consult the book. Either way...
I bought a 1976 Columbia 8.7 sailboat and is in the process of refitting the ship from top to bottom. The ship's user manual is about average for information and helps understand the ship.
I have been to Cape May Harbor twice in my journeys, once I stayed in a transit slip at the South Jersey Marina and once at the Anchorage: Cape May Harbor East. Both times were pleasant experiences but the Marian, as expected, was much more expensive.
The C&C 36 Sailboat is an exceptional ship with an impressive pedigree. By far it is the best ship I have sailed. They are high performance ships with attractive interiors that can sail well in a variety of conditions.
Located at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay this cove does not offer any anchorage but it does have an excellent marina named Little Creek Marina. This marina shares the The Little Creek Inlet with the US Navy and a commercial fishing fleet. When you enter the inlet you must keep a sharp...
Flag Harbor Yacht Haven is a hidden treasure, a safe haven, nestled among the wooded Calvert Cliffs on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Slips are available for sale or rent. The marina amenities include heated/air conditioned bathrooms/showers, a swimming pool, a covered picnic...
This is a racing boat, built with an oversized rig and a long keel but it has surprising amount of comfort. The Irwin 30 Competition is designed to race first and double as a daysailer. She is fitted with a tall rig, deep keel, Atomic 4 engine, stack pack for the main, self tailing...
Rock Hall is billed as "The Pearl of the Chesapeake", and this unique waterfront town is located on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay. It is definitely a tourist town but it's small with a population of only 1,310 people and never seems to be crowded.
Who was the first to circumnavigate the world? The answer you receive will depend on who you ask. If you ask most of the world they will either say Joshua Slocum or Ferdinand Magellan, however both answers are wrong. If you ask someone from Spain they will say Juan Sebastián Elcano but...
This past spring Stephen bought a 28 ft Columbia 8.7 sailboat. He asked me to come and help him move it from the hardstand in Baltimore to his new marina on the Chesapeake Bay. His sailboat needed quite a bit of work before it could be put into the water.
Joshua Slocum was the first man to sail solo around the world. He was born in Nova Scotian and a naturalised American citizen. He was a sailor, adventurer, and a noted writer. In Fairhaven, Massachusetts, he rebuilt the 36′ 9″ gaff rigged sloop oyster boat named Spray. In 1900 he wrote a...