The dangers of long term cruising
What are needs? Food, shelter, air and fresh water. That is all very well until your husband wants both of you to live on a yacht for many a long year. Who wants long years unless they are enjoyable? In…
Cruising
Dedicated to Cruising the world under sail including destinations, navigation, sailing tips, safety ideas, yacht & multihull reviews along with stories and insights for the sail cruising life in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Sea going clockwork: a fascinating history through time
It is almost a generation since 1994, when GPS finally relegated celestial navigation to being just an intermittent, time consuming and relatively inaccurate backup method of position fixing. It is true GPS was preceded by the Transit satellite system from…
Invitation to Inverloch Classic Wooden Dinghy Regatta
The South Gippsland Yacht Club working with local businesses, the yachting industry, Bass Coast Shire Council, Inverloch Historical Society and Rotary and Lions Clubs has now conducted three very successful Inverloch Classic Wooden Dinghy Regattas. Since commencing on Australia Day…
Australia gets a prostate cheque thanks to Shaggers
Back in 2015 Cruising Helmsman attended the weekend-long Shagger's Rendezvous as part of its continued support for the ‘exclusively, non-exclusive’ yacht club originally formed in 2009. While attendance numbers were down that year, countering its normal trend of rising each…
Nobody wants one but everyone should have one
When sitting around a cruisers’ campfire the mere mention of grab bags can certainly be one way to start a conversation. My grab bag was inherited from the previous yacht owner. Before moving my boat to its new home port…
Anchor drama – or how to earn a nice bottle of wine
Our boat was sailing on a piece of silk, the water so calm it looked like one massive piece of glistening cloth. The boat rose and fell as though the ocean was breathing. No faster than a walking pace we…
Spring in the Ionian
Greece has not had good press lately and the Ionian Islands, as one of the more traditional cruising destinations, might seem a bit unexciting in our fast world of newer, further, better. But, they are not Greece’s favorite cruising ground…
What happens with a helicopter evac at sea
I had been looking for a crew spot for an ocean crossing for a few weeks. An off-chance reading of the notice board in the Whangarei marina office started a conversation with the crew of an American ketch that was…
The eyes have it, sometimes too much
The human eye is exposed daily to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) with the main source our sun. Despite information campaigns, the general understanding of sun-related damage remains minimal at best. The aim of this short review is to highlight some of…
Feeling Superior with a Great Lake cruise
It was late in May and we found Pearl quietly floating in her pen awaiting her next charter adventure. It was terrific to be on a boat again and looking forward to a few days afloat. She was very clean…
ARC Europe 2016 comes to a close at Marina de Lagos
ARC Europe 2016 ended with a packed final prizegiving dinner at Marina de Lagos on Sunday 19 June where close to a hundred crew from twenty-three yachts enjoyed a celebratory end to what has been a memorable rally. Being a…
Indian Ocean second-most polluted in the world
The Citizen. By CNS reporter/Shiraz Habbib. A new study has shown that more than one trillion pieces of rubbish are floating around the Indian Ocean. The combined weight of plastic in the ocean amounts to more than 38 000 elephants, North…
Global weather GRIBs now available on Raymarine plotters
WILSONVILLE, OR – May 26th, 2016 – FLIR Systems have announced that the latest Raymarine LightHouse OS now includes a graphical weather forecast (GRIB) viewer app, which enables boaters to access Theyr global weather data on-demand directly on a Raymarine…
Bosphorus Cup offers sailing, socialising and history
The Turkcell Platinum Bosphorus Cup is as much about a location and people as it is about yacht racing. Three days of competition centred on Istanbul, a city steeped in history and that celebrates diverse cultures; a centre-piece race on…
Derwent Sailing Squadron opens $6.5m marina extension
The Derwent Sailing Squadron today officially opened Tasmania’s largest and most technically advanced floating marina, built on the western shores of the River Derwent at Sandy Bay. The Governor of Tasmania, Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Kate Warner AM, named…
Search for missing sailor off Port Stephens has been called off
Newcastle Herald. By Matt Carr. A SEARCH for a missing sailor off Port Stephens has officially moved from rescue to recovery, police say. Authorities on Wednesday night called off a search that combed the water from Nelson Bay to Stockton…
World-class fleet to line-up for 15th Samui Regatta
SAMUI, Thailand – Samui is ready to host a week of top sailing competition and tropical fun in the sun as hundreds of sailors from across Asia and beyond converge on Samui Island for the 15th Samui Regatta. To be…
Return of the Pineapple Cup and new Cuba Cup
Montego Bay, Jamaica (May 16, 2016) – The Montego Bay Yacht Club, the Storm Trysail Club and the Hemingway Yacht Club announced today the 2017 Western Caribbean Series. The Western Caribbean Series will include the 33rd edition of the Pineapple…
American man rescued after sailboat sinks in Lake Erie
Fort Erie Post. By James Culic. FORT ERIE – Port Colborne Marine Auxiliary Rescue (POCOMAR) members faced two metre waves and 15 knot winds on Lake Erie as they headed to assist a sailboat off of Point Abino Monday morning….
Sunken ferro yacht could cost City of Vancouver big bucks
By Rafferty Baker, CBC News The City of Vancouver could be on the hook for thousands of dollars in salvage fees if the owners of a submerged sailboat in Vancouver's False Creek can't remove or fix their vessel. According to an emailed…
Is the Philippines a safe place to cruise?
Cruising around the Philippines has been a fabulous experience – it really is a cruising paradise with 7,107 islands to explore. The country offers a huge diversity of amazing landscapes, from ancient rice terraces and formidable rugged rainforest mountains to…
Dates announced for Key West Race Week 2017
Larchmont, NY – The Storm Trysail Club is pleased to announce dates for the next edition of Quantum Key West Race Week: January 15-20, 2017. The event will feature the same successful format as in past years: one day…
ARC Europe and ARC USA set sail
Yachts sailing under the flags of sixteen different nations set sail on Saturday 7 May for their offshore adventures as part of two World Cruising Club Spring rallies; ARC Europe and ARC USA. Venturing west to east across the Atlantic,…
Tales of the unexpected, cruising fraternity repair a rudder out of nothing
When your boat goes up on a reef in a remote atoll the last thing you expect is your VHF call to be answered at four o’clock in the morning. Off Ile Boddam there is no beautiful soft sand to…
It might be a Moody but this is one Happy Dancer
We secretly dreamt of the prestigious Nordic brands when we first sold up and left Sydney for Europe in search for a safe and comfortable blue water cruiser. Our hopes were set on our budget miraculously tripling or a Hallberg-Rassy…
Need a daily fix? Then learn how to get cheesy with it
For those of us who live on a cruising yacht you can be away from shore for extended periods. You will probably have a small and restricted fridge and you may enjoy yogurt, but ensuring you can have a constant…
Unravelling the dark art of provisioning, mystery managed!
Having good food on passage is most important in order keep energy levels up as well as morale, especially in adverse weather. But it also adds another dimension to the enjoyment of being on the ocean waves. Provisioning is actually…
You need to polish your fuel: here's how
In our early years of cruising, we learned the hard way about how important clean fuel is. I did not worry about the fuel as long as the primary fuel filter looked clean. On one offshore passage, however, the seaways…
Take a ride across the Bight in a 28 foot catamaran
Esperance Western Australia is just one of those wonderful places that is rarely visited and then only by boats travelling east or west across the Great Australian Bight. It is not to be missed. There is a friendly and welcoming…
Going on a long cruise? Provisioning planning is essential
When we first bought Kate seven years ago I found myself standing over our esky-sized Engel fridge wondering how we would ever manage to keep enough fresh food on board, let alone cold beer. I had sailing experience and professional…
Twice rescued US novelist still bent on circumnavigation
PORTLAND, MAINE – A novelist who was twice rescued from storm-battered sailboats hopes his next adventure lacks in such drama. South Carolina author Michael Hurley plans to sail around the world after using the experience of scuttling his sailboat on…
Cruiser of the year nominee – Rob Lovelace
How does circumnavigating Australia in a Top Hat sound? How about doing it singlehanded? Robert Lovelace was nominated by a reader and, after contacting Lovelace to congratulate him he sent CH the following story of that remarkable cruise. Well it…
This month's 'Cruiser of the year' nominee – Heather Sutton
Cruising skipper, racer, mentor, sailing instructor and instigator of a huge relief effort for the victims of Tropical Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu, Heather Sutton is one of the nominations for the inaugural Cruiser of the year award. Ideas locker editor…
Does there come a time when form overrides function?
As boat building capabilities overcome more and more engineering roadblocks, does there come a point when the design of such large yachts begins to hit the ridiculous (“totes ridic”, as my hipster son says)? Make your own mind up and…
Will Brunswick Heads marina expansion plans not get through?
Local residents of NSW town Brunswick Heads have expressed concerns that development plans for the boat harbour do not fit in with ethos of the area. Providing facilities for sailing, and maintaining a profitable business, are quite often constantly at…
Sign up for a Seabbatical with Multihull Central
Catamaran agency and marina, Multihull Central will be holding its first 'Seabbatical summit' to help inspire, educate and provide experience to those who attend. Two summits have been planned so far for Brisbane on the 18th and 19th of June…
This is no cruise – scientists join in Antarctic circumnavigation to study plastic invasion
Australian scientists are joining a privately-funded circumnavigation of Antarctica to investigate the impact of micro plastics and conduct a detailed whale survey. The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition is a philanthropic project by polar explorer Frederik Paulsen and coordinated by the Ecole…
Dolphin numbers increase as pollution in SA's Port River declines
The Advertiser. By Amelia Broadstock. PORT River dolphin numbers have increased tenfold in two decades — an environmental triumph experts attribute to improved water quality in the long-polluted industrial area. In a new study paper soon to be published, Port…
Completing the circle: World ARC 2015-16 ends in Saint Lucia
Fifteen months ago, the World ARC 2015-16 fleet set out from Saint Lucia to sail around the world. Amongst the crews were many nationalities, backgrounds and reasons for taking part. Since then, they have sailed well over 26,000 nautical miles,…
Sailing in the middle of the Australian desert
Driving hundreds of miles through the Australian Outback with a boat in tow to a regatta in the desert is not an adventure for the faint hearted. But that was exactly the challenge taken up by the 20 rugged yachting…
