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Spare Parts: Three Standing Rigging Essentials
If you’re planning to go offshore on your boat, you can expect gear will wear and sometimes break. And if you want to be able to fix a problem, you’ll have to carry the necessary spares and tools...
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Safety: Be Prepared for These Floating Monsters
Learn to spot and avoid objects at sea with this week’s tip from Captain John of skippertips.com… If you are anything like me, nothing beats standing watch on a sailing vessel or power vessel. Just you...
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Catamaran Docking Tips
This time of the year, a lot of us are headed to the sunny south to charter a bareboat for a week or more. Some (if not most) will be chartering a catamaran and will have to get the hang of handling...
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Develop a “Think Inverted” Mindset for Sailing Safety
Here’s another sailing tip from Captain John at www.skippertips.com… Now, none of us plan to face the ultimate storm at sea. Matter of fact, most of us will never set sail in an area where such storms...
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Is it Towing or Salvage?
Broken gear, engine problems or other mishaps can force you to call a towboat – but is it “towing” or “salvage”? If you’re ever in doubt, the safest bet is to ask the towboat crew. That’s because there...
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Which Overboard Recovery Side Should You Choose?
Here’s another sailing tip from our friend Captain John at skippertips.com… Not many sailing safety issues chill the blood like the thought of falling overboard. But, even more dangerous could be the...
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Dock Like a Pro – How to Warp Around a Corner
Here’s another sailing tip from our friend Captain John at skippertips.com… Docking a boat will always be a challenge. But what happens when you need to moor your boat in a space at the end of a pier...
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Tie This Super Sailing Knot in Seconds
Here’s another sailing tip from our friend Captain John at skippertips.com… What sailing knot could you use to tie off a main or headsail halyard, hoist yourself safe and sound aloft, tie off the foot...
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For Better Holding, Go All-Chain
When you take off aboard your boat to explore the coastlines and the world, you end up anchoring out a lot—if not most of the time. Relying on your anchoring system to keep you and your boat safe...
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How Masthead Lights Can Help You Pass Ships at Night
Here’s another sailing tip from our friend Captain John at skippertips.com… Nightfall. Calm, peaceful, light winds from the southeast. Picture perfect with an awesome canopy of stars above your head....
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Docking Tips: Seven Ways to Protect Your Costly Sailboat Hull
Here’s another sailing tip from our friend Captain John at skippertips.com… What sailing gear could protect your hull inside a slip, alongside a pier or wharf, if you lost an engine inside a marina,...
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Maintain Your Boat’s Steering System
The steering system may well be the most overlooked and neglected system on your boat. That’s because it tends to work. That is, until it doesn’t, which is usually in a narrow shipping channel or at...
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How to Properly Rig Your Jacklines
Here’s another helpful sailing tip from our friend Capt. John at skippertips.com… Learn to sail like a pro when you rig your boat for sailing safety. Not many things fill a sailor’s mind with terror...
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Ready, Set, Launch
Many sailboat owners haul out annually, either to store them for the winter or to perform routine maintenance and paint the bottom. If the boat has been out of the water for a while and you (or...
View ArticleUSCG: Five Easy Ways to Stay Safe on the Water
This time of year is when boating accidents and mishaps become more frequent in the US. Please ensure you take the necessary steps to make your time on the water as safe as possible. A USCG sector says...
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Avoid Sailing Near These “Ship-Killing” Nautical Chart Dangers
Here’s another helpful sailing tip from our friend Capt. John at skippertips.com… Could you glance at any nautical chart or GPS plotter and pick out the wreck symbols at a glance? Sail too close to...
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Three Tips for Trimming Your Sails Upwind
A few years ago while leading a flotilla of six boats in the Caribbean one of our passage days between islands ended up being a long beat to windward. My plan for the day was to leave early in the...
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Three Tips for the Anchorage
Anchoring out is one of the most rewarding parts of cruising on a sailboat. But with that reward comes some challenges and responsibilities when you get into the anchorage. Here are three tips for...
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Sailing Tips: Choosing a Sailing School
Back to School A Guide to Choosing a Sailing School By Andrew Cross Ask any old salt if they know everything about sailing—if their response is yes, they are not being honest. Learning to sail is a...
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3 Ways to Use Spring Lines When Docking
In difficult docking situations, spring lines can get you up to and away from the dock without a lot of bother. Here are three simple spring line maneuvers. 1. When the wind is blowing you off a dock...
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