Bareboating Basics

Choose a Captain

Most charter companies will require a sailing résumé before renting you a craft. Though it’s not necessary to have owned a yacht, they will be looking for boating experience. If you’re a relative novice, a skipper may join you for a test run, or you can hire a captain for the whole trip, usually an extra $125 to $175 per day. It is advisable to have an experienced sailor on board for your first charter.

Sailing Tips Essentials - Ten Tips to Make You a Better Sailor!

What top ten sailing tips will help you enjoy sailing in the most fun and safe way? You might be surprised to know that it all starts long before you step aboard your sailboat. Use these little known secrets for day sailing, weekend cruising, or for coastal and offshore sailing. 

1. Pack the Right Clothes.

There's a saying that goes something like this "There is no such thing as bad weather-only bad clothes". Makes a lot of sense-in particular in a dynamic environment like sailing. Put together a small duffel bag with the "must have" sailing gear. Include a foul weather jacket, complete change of clothes, wide-brimmed hat. That way, if you get spray or rain or stay out longer than expected, you will stay dry and warm (or cool) in most any sailing weather.

A DIY Solution to Tired Standing Rigging

By Sebastian Smith • Posted: Mar 17, 2014

The entire job was done with the mast still standing.
Photo courtesy of Sebastian Smith

Along with a watertight hull and robust steering gear, there’s a third prerequisite for seaworthy sailboats: strong standing rigging.

Before the round-Atlantic voyage we’re now partway through, I worked hard to ensure our Valiant 40 Moon River was up to speed in the first two departments. But I dreaded the expense and difficulty of changing the rigging on her 55-foot mast for a couple of reasons.

First, I had zero experience with wire rigging, but could not afford to bring in a professional rigger at $100-plus an hour. Second, the Morris Yacht Club on City Island, New York, where I kept Moon River didn’t have a crane big enough to pluck out the spar. I’d have to do everything with the mast up. 

Judging Distance at Sea!

Lt. Angelina Hildago, commanding officer of the 

CGC Kingfisher, views a vessel spotted by her 

crew through binoculars. USCG photo by PA3 

Beth Reynolds.

Photo by: Courtesy of the United States Coast Guard

By Mario Vittone

When standing at the wheel of your boat, do you know the height of your eye off the water? You should.

I once sailed with a quartermaster who had two uncanny talents that were perfect for his particular line of work: spotting things in the water and judging their distance. Both are quite useful skills on the bridge of a Coast Guard patrol boat, and to date I’ve never met or heard of anyone better at those two things than Will Absher. Will’s ability to see things on a vast expanse of blue was impressive enough, but what was remarkable was his ability to tell you exactly how far away something was just by looking at it.

Heavy weather sailing

By Bob Pingel

Practice heaving-to and forereaching before the storm clouds gather

A strong line of thunderstorms will reach you just after dark,” is exactly what you don’t want to hear as you are preparing to round Cape Hatteras. A few years back I was delivering a Beneteau 461 from Connecticut to Tortola, a classic fall milk run. Insurance required that we use a weather router and we chose longtime routers Dane and Jenifer Clark. The Clarks gave us updates every day via satellite phone and things were good until that storm came up.