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.
The MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival recently won the Tasmanian Tourist Award for 'Best major event or festival'. Announced at a gala dinner at Wrest Point Casino, the award, according to AWBF chairman Stephen Knight, “belongs to the hundreds of…
The New Zealand newspaper Marlborough Express is reporting that a mystery wreck found at the bottom of Picton Harbour may be missing yacht the Sioux,according to police. Acting Area Commander Senior Sergeant Peter Payne said images provided by the Navy…
The world’s largest luxury catamaran, Hemisphere, has found a fitting base this week in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. The 44 metre catamaran, with its 16.6m beam found a home within Airlie Beach’s Abell Point Marina. Abell Point…
AMSA Search and Rescue reports coordinating the response to a ketch taking on water near Melville Island in the Northern Territory. An Australian Border Force aircraft received a VHF mayday call from the vessel about 6am AEDT this morning and…
This November, over 260 boats and 1250 people including 40 children aged under 16 will take part in the 30th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers, which sets sail from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, heading 2700NM across the Atlantic to Saint…
The STS Leeuwin II is offering an exclusive opportunity to join an historical voyage along the Western Australian coastline to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first Dutch contact with WA made by Dutch sailor and explorer Dirk Hartog. On…
Two days out from Middle Island on our sailing around Australia adventures aboard Easy Tiger, we started sailing into choppy seas. The swell coming behind us from the southwest was about three metres high and there was a wind-wave or…
Our dreams recently enticed us to begin exploring the Solitary Islands. Named by Captain Cook from HM Bark Endeavour in May 1770, the Solitary Islands include five major islands and a scattering of smaller islands/reefs off the NSW coast between…
I had the good fortune to encounter a charming couple doing a circumnavigation in a rather large cat some weeks ago. Their boat is massive, an opulently appointed floating apartment that had me justifiably jealous. We got to talking about…
Never heard of it? I am not surprised, I just made it up. I use the term to explain my urge to explore and discover, like Columbus on his first voyage, rather than go somewhere I have been before, like…
As you will know from our previous reports, in July 2015, 52 Cruising boats of all shapes and sizes, from all over the world, came together for the start of the 2015 Multihull Solutions 2015 Sail 2 Indonesia Rally run by…
It is not everyone’s dream to sail an open boat down the Hawkesbury River in mid-winter but it was Rosco’s. Ross Pollard is a sailor, a carpenter and a lover of wooden boats. After reading Captain Cook’s journals he liked…
Those of you who attended Cruising Helmsman’s Captain’s Deck in Manly (Qld) last November, will have already been introduced to the Boomerang. Two people from that event were even lucky enough to become owners of the device. For those that…
The construction of the marina at Wyndham Harbour, a $440 million residential and marina development located in Werribee South, Victoria, is in full swing, with piles now in place and pontoons being installed this week. Significant infrastructure works have been…
Founded in 1938 on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Avalon Sailing Club has a proud history offering a family friendly environment. The club promotes all aspects of sailing for people of all ages and abilities, from learn to sail, to state and…
News 24. By Tammy Petersen Cape Town – The Frenchman and South African man who were reported missing at sea have been found. Both were found alive and well adrift at sea in a life-raft about 51 nautical miles off-shore of…
Newstalk. By Ruari Casey. The widescale hunt that took place off the coast of Cork after a distress call from a yacht has been deemed a hoax. The three-man crew of the 'Bluebird' said they had engine problems and were…
The Washington Post. By Thomas Gibbons-Neff. Almost 20 years after the last class of midshipman at the Naval Academy learned how to navigate by the stars, celestial navigation has once again entered the classroom. The renewed focus on the old has nothing…
Harrier approached by the rescue vessel. Photo BBC. An 82-year-old man who spent more than 18 hours adrift in the North Sea was forced to watch as his yacht sank while being towed back to safety in Norway. Julian Mustoe…
Are you a boater who uses a VHF marine radio in Australian Territorial Waters (within 12 nautical miles of the coast)? You are now able to apply for a more appropriate marine radio qualification: the Australian Waters Qualification (AWQ), which…
Bridgetown, Barbados (23 September 2015): Now is the time to sign up for the Mount Gay Round Barbados Race Series (16-24 January 2016), as preparations to mark the 80th anniversary, and to commemorate 50 years of independence for Barbados, are…
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has given beacon owners more choice, with an improved online beacon registration system that went live on 15 September. The registration system on the AMSA website is mobile-optimised, handy for renewing beacon registration from a…
The fourth annual Multihull Solutions Whitsunday Rendezvous wrapped up on 13 September and was resolutely declared Australia’s best social regatta by its participants. Fifteen multihulls and more than 40 participants took over the Whitsunday Islands with a week of idyllic…
Boston, MA September 17, 2015 – Boatbook has reached a milestone of 100,000 boat owners and sailors around the globe using the automatic log book mobile app during the first months of the 2015 sailing season. BoatBook is an application aimed at…
From Island Cruising Association's John & Lyn Martin on SV Windflower – Pacific Circuit Rally: When we started off from Fiji on the Pacific Circuit Rally leg to Vanuatu we had waited a week to let a Tropical Depression in…
Independent.ie. By online editors. A yacht owner's hopes of being reunited with his abandoned boat were dashed when the Irish Naval Service sank it. German sailor Thomas Mallanut was forced to desert his 25ft boat after his wife became ill…
The NSW Government has made last minute changes to its legislation controlling parking of trailers on public streets that imposes rules that are much tougher than those originally flagged. The NSW Boat Owners Association report that while a compromise had…
A new report published today in the United Kingdom shows that foreign illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in Somali waters by foreign fleets is reducing fish stocks. Once again it is causing widespread resentment among Somali coastal communities, threatening…
mysailing.com.au and Cruising Helmsman received a wonderful letter from renowned pioneering multihull sailor and designer James Wharram: This year on May 15th I was 87 years old. 60 years ago, on the 27th September 1955, I set sail from a…
Following the successful launch at the Southampton Boat Show on 13th September, World Cruising Club are pleased to announce that entries are now open for ARC Channel Islands 2016. More than 50 people gathered at the RYA lounge to…
The frigate HMNZS TE KAHA went to the aid of a yacht in the north Tasman Sea. The yacht MAHI was on a voyage out of Brisbane when it got into trouble on Wednesday night with a leak around its…
Whitsunday Times. By Charlotte Lam. In a matter of minutes, Rob McVey lost his home Proud Mary when she crashed into the rock wall off the Whitsunday Sailing Club on Thursday afternoon. Photos, food and possessions danced up and down…
Jack Hargraves, an Auckland-based yachtie who spends a lot of time in Fiji, has posted on Facebook the story of an old Swan 57 that ran aground on a reef near Musket Cove. Apparently the owner was sailing single-handed, coming…
Organisation for the 2016 Wooden Boat festival of Geelong is well advanced at the Royal Geelong Yacht Club. The festival will be held over the Labour Day weekend commencing on Saturday12th March and running until Monday 14th. Over 150 entries,…
Is it the journey or the destination? Yachties who, like us, are part-time cruisers live on a limited time schedule. This can often lead people to be too defined about where they want to go and when. They head off…
I do not know about you but I like hot showers. I like hot water to wash up with and sometimes, to save gas, I will fill the kettle with hot water before I boil it for coffee. Problem is…
The Shag Islet Cruising Yacht Club annual Rendezvous has finished once again. Cruising Helmsman attended the weekend-long party as part of its continued support for the 'exclusively, non-exclusive' yacht club. Over 160 boats anchored in the Whitsunday waters of Gloucester…
Billed as one of the best cruising destinations in Australia, the Tasmanian Government's Marine and Safety Tasmania (MAST) organisation has launched an online resource for visiting cruisers. Cruising Tasmania is chock full of checklists and resources to get you safely…
News.com.au FOR 16-year-old Mara Stransky traffic lights are a fascinating concept. After all, when you’ve lived most of your short life on a boat, including the last five sailing the world on a 50-foot catamaran, there’s not much need for…
Participants in this year’s Multihull Solutions Wonderful Sail2Indonesia Rally have arrived in Indonesia after clearing out of Australia at Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, and experiencing a dream run across the Arafura Sea. The 48 participants will spend the…
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