Running
Sail with Capt. Marc
Capt. Marc, veteran of multiple ocean crossings, and instructional pro, invites you to join him for lessons and/or excursions under sail. By special arrangement only.
- Up to six sailors aboard J/42, Songline
- Develop skills and confidence
- Offshore passage-making opportunities
- Performance sailing for speed and safety
- Skippered charters in exotic locations
- Shakedown on your boat
- Deliveries
Tag Archive
Blowback 5 – In the Middle
We landed in Saint George Harbor, Bermuda, in late May of 2002 after a boisterous and eventful five-day crossing from Norfolk, Virginia. There we met the crews of other eastbound sailing vessels, all closely monitoring daily weather forecasts. Every afternoon we gathered in a little waterside pub to talk about the 1800 miles of... »
Blowback 4 – Sailor’s Status
Two years into our voyage the Yucatan current catapulted us northward in a great arc toward the east coast of the United States. From the Keys, we snaked our way in and out of the inland waterway toward the Chesapeake Bay. Along the way we used the few anchorages we could find between $100-a-night... »
Running the Bar at Bahia Jiquilisco
Most cruising guides tell you that stopping in El Salvador is not a very good idea. They say that the place has no safe harbors and has been at war for a long, long time. But we’d been at sea for almost five days, including the night we spent hove-to off the entrance to... »
Blowback 3 – Entropy Rules
We achieved escape velocity on a foggy September morning. Songline, ship-shape and bristling with new boating gadgets, loped southward on a light westerly. Over the days and weeks that followed we grew accustomed to the rhythms and routines of voyaging. For the first month life seemed idyllic. Then the Second Law of Thermodynamics (Entropy)... »
Blowback 2 – The Trip Takes Us
Like you, the idea of voyaging under sail infected me at an early age. I don’t think I took it seriously. It was a fantasy. People who actually did push-off were wild-eyed adventures or rich jet-setters. The reality of voyaging crept up on me slowly after years of day sailing, racing, and weekend cruises. One day... »
The Rules
The Skipper always makes the RULES. The Rules are subject to change at any time without prior notice. No Crew can possibly know all the RULES. If the Skipper suspects that the Crew knows all the RULES, the Skipper must immediately change some or all of them. The Skipper is never wrong. If the... »
Blowback 1 – Coming Home
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... »
Bahia del Sol, El Salvador
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... »
Romance of the Gulf Stream in Winter
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... »
Night Watch
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... »