Indholdsfortegnelse for November/December 2022 i Cruising World

MASTERING the Art of CONTROL Having had the privilege of messing about on boats for the better part of my lifetime, I’ve found (or, more accurately, placed) myself in a few precarious positions at the helm. There was the time I finally scored a date with the prettiest girl in school, who took me up on the offer of an easy daysail across Fishers Island Sound, just off mainland Connecticut. I had planned a picnic between the Dumpling Islands aboard my family’s Hunter 31, Ragtime. As it turned out, my attempt to will away some stiff forecast northerlies was futile. Hell-bent on not letting 30 knots of stink get in the way of puppy love, I forced my date to endure a white-knuckled shotgun drill, helping me frenetically tack back…

Electronic LIFE INSURANCE I still remember waving goodbye to my mom, as my dad, three of his buddies and I pulled away from the dock in Bar Harbor, Maine. We were bound for the Gulf of Maine and, eventually, our home port on Long Island Sound. The year was 1987; I was 10, and I had begged to go offshore. Consequentially, I had made my share of promises so that I might find myself—a mere boy—on a bona fide delivery. Among them were a promise not to venture forward of the cockpit and to wear an (awful) orange Type II life jacket with a homemade chest harness and safety tether. While my dad’s old C&C 37 got us through in fine form, I quickly learned that I hate being seasick…

Medical ADVICE: UNWARRANTED, UNPROFESSIONAL Edition I was 18 years old in 1970, sailing into Florida’s Tampa Bay aboard our 1932, 22-foot wooden double-ender, Corina, when three wobbly waterspouts came dancing out. As taught by my father, I immediately took a bearing on them—and again a few minutes later. The bearings didn’t change. They were heading straight for us. We had our light-air, hanked-on, $10 nylon jib tacked to the end of our bowsprit. I had to act fast to hand it. (Back in the day, you didn’t lower or claw down a sail; you handed it. And if you didn’t know such nautical nomenclature, you weren’t a sailor.) When I tried to return from the widow-maker, as bowsprits were commonly known, I slipped on the nylon fabric, and impaled myself on…

CHALLENGES ON Charter These tips will help you handle common problems while bareboating. Just because you’re sailing in paradise doesn’t mean you can let down your guard. Wise skippers (and crews) should be prepared for any crisis that might occur. These are boats, after all, and stuff happens. First, it’s important that you make full use of your charter briefing. Pay attention and ask questions. Your charter company’s briefer can point out the location of fire extinguishers (and how to operate them), life jackets, the propane stove, fuel shut-offs, bilge pumps (electric and manual) and the emergency tiller. Ask to be shown all the seacocks for the engine and heads. Understand everything clearly, or ask more questions. During the briefing, be sure that at least one crewmember (besides the skipper)…

FINGERPRINTS of Change Revisiting some of her favorite destinations from decades ago, avid cruiser and climate scientist Jennifer Francis chronicles her findings related to climate change from marine life and weather to water condition and geography. cruisingworld.com/fingerprints-of-change Bonus Features The Noob Files: Dream a Little Dream When noob cruiser David Blake Fischer first got his boat, he dreamed of heading out to sea on all sorts of heroic adventures. But in reality, after 18 months at the helm of his Cape Dory 25, he’s barely sailed beyond California’s Santa Monica Bay. And that’s just fine with him. Find out why in his latest installment of The Noob Files. cruisingworld.com/thenoobfiles Trauma to Triumph Cruising veteran Katherine Gonzalez recalls how she fought her own demons to get back to boating after disaster…

REBUILDING A BOWSPRIT At one point, the monster we created weighed more than 300 pounds, but we tamed it into a thing of beauty for bluewater sailing. SEAMANSHIP In 2020, our friends purchased a 1980 43-foot Hans Christian, Remedy, that had a compromised bowsprit. My husband, Chris, had reinforced it for the previous owner, but it was time to replace it entirely because it was suffering from severe termite damage and was the weakest link of the rig. Chris was asked to tackle the replacement job too, based on his reputation here in Southern California for delivering excellent results, even if it means putting projects aboard our own Cheoy Lee 41, Avocet, on the back burner. Hans Christians are pretty easy yachts to spot; many of the designs have a…

AROUND Alone Forty years ago this month, an eclectic fleet of international solo sailors was underway on the second leg of the inaugural BOC Challenge, a dicey passage through the wild Southern Ocean from Cape Town, South Africa, to Sydney, Australia. The BOC was the first singlehanded round-the-world race to begin and conclude in the United States, having set forth from Newport, Rhode Island, on August 28, 1982. On the occasion of the event’s 40th anniversary (where does the time go?), it seems like an appropriately nostalgic moment to reflect on not only what transpired then, but also what has unfolded in the sport of marathon ocean racing in the four decades since. The changes have been significant. The BOC was the brainchild of a burly offshore veteran (of both…

HAVE Kids WENT SAILING The idea was perfectly realistic: I’ll get a little pocket cruiser, we’ll take the kids sailing, they’ll be angels, and life will be perfect. I imagined sunset cruises, my wife and I canoodling in the cockpit, both of us giggling and drinking spritzers while the boat sailed itself and the kids never spoke. And if they did, they’d speak in nautical (read: British) accents. Look what I’ve spotted in the sextant! I’m just chuffed to bits you’ve taken us sailing, Mum and Dad. We’ve had a sailboat for a year now, and I still haven’t heard that. My wife and I haven’t had a single sail that felt like a date. And there isn’t a kid aboard who speaks at a volume lower than 80 decibels.…

Wild HARVEST: Salty Sea ASPARAGUS Remember when not a single grocery store in America sold pomegranate juice? When tofu was hard to find? When quinoa was almost unheard of? Well, let me introduce you to sea asparagus. My family and I were in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, on Del Viento, our Fuji 40, headed for Alaska. It was the beginning of what would be an eight-year Pacific cruise. A few nights before we left, cruising friends gave us a briefing. It included pictures, stories and need-to-know information from their multiple trips north. Then they told us about this thing called sea asparagus. They said we’d find it just at the high-tide line. They said to pick only the tender ends, and to pick around the edges of beds to avoid…