I have a lot of experience boating. Mostly power and mostly small. The biggest I have owned was a 28' twin engine cabin cruiser. The biggest I have skippered is 37'. 45 years experience boating, the last 6 years learning to sail... barely. All that confidence, knowledge and skill got me was a scratc...

I have been champing at the bit for a while now for exactly that reason. I ordered all my standing rigging and a batten set online a little while back and was wondering if it was getting made or not. I didn't want to bug anyone so I just kept checking my order status online. Now my tail is wagging b...

Pssshh, to lazy to build an elevator? Not even an escalator? Way to phone it in man...

Great job! That thing will pay for all your efforts to build it in the first season.

Thanks Tom, I think I agree with you on this. These boats are not high performance enough to mandate the perfect elasticity in the rigging. All my rigging is in fairish shape but it is coming on 20 years old, so piece of mind... It will be nice to have brand new, reasonably tuned rigging at the begi...

I seem to recall my standing rigging is fairly loose. I aslo have a few broken strands in the upper forestay eye. I am going to replace all my rigging this season, probably from BWY unless some one in San Diego points me elsewhere. My first instinct was to get the upgraded forestay, stronger is bett...

When you thinking so far why not using a remote control for the AP, so you could conduct your boat back to you... maybe... :D Mostly because I don't have a remote. I also don't know if they are waterproof. The last issue would be, how well I could control it. I would hate to miss a badly steered fa...

Yeah Jimmy, I know I'm gambling big time if I end up in the water. Always assume that if you go into the water unplanned you may stay there. I have an auto pilot that fairly reliably holds into the wind. The fuel line holds 5 minutes of fuel plus or minus. Presumably I would have used a significant ...

Wow! The only foil was the trampoline, dragging a sea anchor of full mast and sails and it still almost got past you. It is always good to reflect on unusual situations if only to remind us how quickly things can go South. We or at least I tend to get comfortable when things are too good for too lon...

Hi Jimmy. I'm in San Diego so the seas are deep enough for 30+kts most of the time. Confused and or steep seas happen but are fairly infrequent. I will be tethered when single handing in any weather. The drag line is obvious now that it's been said. Can you imagine swimming fairly hard to intercept ...

buck_justice wrote: ↑Sun Mar 01, 2020 6:22 am Trail a line with a float attached
Buck

That is a good idea Buck. Thank you.

Wow! That's a very clever plan. Well thought out.
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Thanks Russ

Bob, Next time it’s blowing 20-30knts put a double reef in the main dockside and if you can hoist it at the dock and motor sail out if your marina/dock allows for it (ie straight run into the wind out to your sailing grounds. Leave the headsail furled and just play with the main. You’ll be surprise...

You sail single-handed right? How do you secure yourself in those conditions? I know this is off topic but I single hand a lot and still have to raise and lower the main at the mast. The kill tether won't reach that far so I don my pfd, set the autopilot into the wind, drop the swim ladder and pull...

Yeah, that 550 is awesome when you challenge it but when you insult it with a light load expect some feedback. :| That Dodge will be perfect. Most 1/2 tons nowadays are pretty confident to 10,000 lbs well equipped. When you add a little diesel to the formula, that's pert near cheatin. If I ever get ...

I have several tow vehicles. A 2002 F550, a 2002 GMC Yukon and a 2011 Chevy Silverado 1/2 ton. I have only towed my 2002 Mac :macx: with the Silverado and it was great, soft and smooth. The Yukon is my wife's daily driver but available to me and has the same 5.3 V8 and 1/2 ton suspension as the Silv...