Archive for August, 2007

Blowback is the unanticipated consequences of your actions. Everything you do produces some blowback. Sometimes blowback can get serious. This is the story of some serious blowback from living the dream of sailing away. Stories about the trials of voyaging in small boats usually contain hair-raising accounts of life-threatening adventures and heroic deeds. Crews lash themselves... »

As a marine surveyor, I am required to bear witness to some sad events. In these examples, prudence and good judgment could have easily averted disaster. In coming articles I will discuss ways in which you can avoid events such as these. Joseph Rodgers, www.rodgersandassociates.com Note: Dates displayed in the photos do not reflect the dates of the incidents. (Click... »

Download Bahia del Sol, El Salvador Download Listen to story as a podcast Let us know what you think of the podcast idea   Here’s the story…   After a week of Tehuantepecers, a weather window finally opened and we departed Huatulco, Mexico in the company of several other boats bound for Costa Rica. We crossed the infamous Gulfo... »

Flowing northward at 4 to 6 knots, the Gulf Stream between the Florida mainland and Bahamian archipelago is effectively the largest river in the world. Even a mild wind blowing against it’s massive flow causes vertical waves to build, creating conditions that are dangerous. Marc Kraft, Owner and Operator of Pacific Yachting, remembers. (STC... »

Flying a spinnaker for the first time can be both exhilarating and challenging as LaLain, Yuka, Carl, and John discover during our Pacific Yachting class on the Monterey Bay. (Click image to view photos) Kiteology 101 ONLINE book coming soon! Check back. »

Download Night Watch In daylight, the watch is bounded by a vast circumference of ocean that stretches off to the horizon on all points of the compass. Daylight affords the comfort of the familiar—boat, sea, and sky. The pencil scratches on the ship’s charts lend reason and form to the seascape. We see what’s there... »

Download Las Canarias to St. Lucia The rhumb line from the Canary Islands to St. Lucia is about 2600 miles but in sailing, a straight line between two points is rarely the quickest. Ever since the Spanish began plying this route in search of plunder among the Americas, seafaring wisdom has dictated sailing southward on... »

When I was a young boy, my father and I would take walks along the seashore and he would quote “Sea Fever” from memory, thus infecting me with an archetypal imagery that has sustained me through life’s many trials. »