General Sailing
A Dip in the Bucket
What’s on your sailing bucket list? If Gallup took those sorts of polls, we’d expect to see high numbers for America’s Cup skipper, round the world racer, Olympic sailing and world championships in various classes. More »
Magnetic North Takes a Stroll
As liquid-hot magma boils and cascades beneath the surface of the Earth, the magnetic North Pole seems to be following the whims of subterranean flows. This has potential implications for sailors, or for anyone who uses GPS on their phones, and is a head-scratcher for the scientific community.
Swashing and Buckling with Captain Blood
Captain Blood is one of those movies that is so much of a classic, you feel like you've already seen it. But alas, we had not, and on a chilly night in early November at Spaulding Marine Center, we finally sat down to watch the 1935 swashbuckling classic.
Answers to Two Questions
Latitude Nation — Two things:
Mystery (Boat) Solved!
On the mystery boat ID, the consensus seems to be that it’s a Lyle Hess-designed Balboa 20. There were certainly a few other guesses — a Cal 20 and O’Day among them — but using a majority-rule standard, and after seeing some pictures of multiple vessels, we are calling it for the Balboas. More »
Photos of the Day: Boats in Winter
One of our readers, a Bay Area racer and sailing instructor, sent us photos from his three-week winter trip to Oslo, Norway.
Connecting the Dots of a Rescue and Wreck
A series of Coast Guard search and rescues two weeks ago and a washed-up vessel now appear to be related. On January 21, the Coast Guard rescued three sailors from the 20-something-ft sailboat Pau Mua after it dismasted just outside the Golden Gate, knocking one sailor overboard. More »
Synthetic Standing Rigging. Why Not?
We want to re-rig our 30,000 lb. Kelly Peterson 46-ft sloop Esprit with synthetic — yes, plastic — standing rigging, but almost everyone we talk to (except ‘young sailors’ and ‘old sailors’ who have it already) are telling us not to! More »
JLVDH Takes the Golden Globe Race
After almost 30,000 miles, 12 dropouts, something like four rescues at sea (are we forgetting one?), and the most grueling singlehanded racing in recent memory, the 50th Anniversary Golden Globe has a winner. More »
Can We See Some ID, Please?
Latitude Nation — Can you ID this boat?
Help Roger Krakow identify his Mystery 20. There have been many guesses but no matches. It measures 20-ft on deck and has a swing keel and an Odyssey sail. More »
Abandoned Boat or a Dream Lost?
It’s always unnerving when going for an evening stroll on the beach and discovering an abandoned sailboat. Is everyone OK? What led to this unfortunate beaching? It’s hard to know, but easy to worry about what might have happened. More »
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