Recently on our NauticEd flotilla with the Moorings to the Kingdom of Tonga we wanted to pass through the Fanua Tapu Pass which is a gap in the reef to get to the eastern islands of the Vava’u archipelago. Normally the gap is marked by a series of buoys, however the latest storm ate them. The […]
Next week we’re going to Tonga and the island of Vava’U for a week long NauticEd Flotilla sailing trip amongst the archipelago. After a rainy and relatively cool winter in New Zealand this year its going to be a welcome and fun trip. We’re bareboat chartering three catamarans from the Moorings. 21 adults and 3 […]
Most sailors already know how to heave to so I’ll give the quick part of this tip up front. The Quick Bit When heaving to, and if you have the choice, do it so that your boat is on a starboard tack. This way you are the “Stand-on” vessel in an approaching situation with other […]
Oh My Goodness This story is, almost unbelievably, one hundred percent real – included here is a pic of a southern right whale who, it seems, accidentally breeched on to a sailboat in Capetown, South Africa. I actually think it was, most likely, just jealous. I believe it simply wanted to get in on the […]
Join us on an 80 ft Maxi Yacht in the Rolex Regatta. In the movie “Hunt for Red October” the XO came to Sean Connery and said: “Captain, it is time”. It was the time to make the decision to go for it – or not. And it is now one of those classic movie lines […]
Here’s a great tip for yacht charter vacations. Problem: You buy provisions at the start of the trip. You load them carefully into the top loading freezer with the best intentions of using everything. Through out the week every thing gets messed up. Stuff ends up at the bottom. At the end of the week […]
As you learn to sail, you should be also learning about anchoring. There is more to tossing the hook so to speak. After doing some research on the internet and looking at some of the tests performed on holding power, I’ve made a quick summary of what I learned. Anchor types are selected based on […]
As a new sailor, just learning to sail, the thought of figuring out how tides work can be quite intimidating. Let’s talk about them.
I once sailed with an ex-submarine captain who would turn the boat through a tack extremely slowly. When asked why, he had several good reasons. (1) Look behind you as you come about. If you are leaving swirling water eddies behind the rudder, these are a sum of kinetic energy that was previously in your […]
Leeway is just one of those things that is a law of the universe that we have to put up with. It’s just like gravity. Still with gravity – the advantage is that it’s highly predictable. And so then is leeway. Leeway is the sideways slip motion of our sailboat downwind from the pressure of […]
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