The picture of a beautiful boat anchored in an idyllic tropical bay often evokes thoughts of warm breezes wafting across tranquil blue waters. What the image doesn’t show is how that same warm breeze can cause the interior temperature of a boat to soar past 100°F.

While portholes and hatches can be opened to let air drift into the cabins, they are often too small or poorly positioned to make a significant difference. One common solution is a wind scoop—a canvas bag fitted over hatches to direct airflow. However, wind scoops require adjustment when the wind shifts, which can be inconvenient, especially at night in a marina or dock.

Enter the Breeze Bandit, an innovative product from Cruising Solutions of Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Specializing in practical solutions for boaters, they’ve designed a simple yet effective tool. The Breeze Bandit is a four-sided nylon pyramid that attaches around a hatch using included press-studs. Unlike traditional wind scoops, it doesn’t rely on a single large opening to face the wind. Instead, wind hits the cone and is deflected through a pocket into the cabin, adjusting automatically to shifts in direction. If it rains, the cone can be quickly removed, and the hatch closed.

This concept is so straightforward that I wonder why I didn’t think of it myself during sweltering Florida summers in a marina. Instead, I installed two AC units—a solution far more expensive than the Breeze Bandit’s $65 price tag. A clever marina strategy would be to loan these out to incoming boats; once people experience the comfort, they’d never want to leave.

Watch a video of installing the Breeze Bandit below:

The post Shooting the Breeze appeared first on Cruising World.

Wondering what to get the cruising sailor (or liveaboard) in your life this holiday season? Most of us boat folk are minimalists, which makes us notoriously difficult for gifting. There’s no room for excess on board!

We took a break from publishing a gift guide last year, sending it only to blog subscribers—which generated some email so we’re back, baby! We hope this guide with our handpicked recommendations helps relieve a little holiday stress. Remember, Amazon’s Black Friday begins early.

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. No cost to you, and super helpful for us. Learn more at our values statement; we only make recommendations that we support 100 percent. And if we know of a small business you can support instead, you’ll find that linked here, too. If we miss one, don’t hesitate to let us know!

Clever Cameras

Night vision security camera

Motion-activated cameras with sound and alarms. Notifications gave us peace of mind during travel for Annapolis and the low-light image capture was amazing. Bonus: microphone and speaker let you talk (to your cat, even) through the camera!

Thermal infrared camera

Troubleshoot a diesel engine or wiring issue by identifying hotspots with Flir’s One Gen 3 camera. (Also fun for cat pics!) Caveat: Our friend and surveyor Marga Pretorius points out that this model is not strong enough to see into laminates and detect moisture in the hull of a boat.

Insta360 GO 3S

Great cruising vlog features: Level the horizon (for that sunset time-lapse from the cockpit). IPX8 rating means you can take it snorkeling. Way easier to mount with magnetic attachments, and more! Leveling up POV video with this on Totem.

Low-light, weatherproof camera

Security and a nav aid. Spend $2k (or $20k) on a fancy-schmancy marine version, or about $60 for this copycat and use your MFD as the display.

Quality of Life

Nordic Icebreaker

Perfect cubes even if it’s tossed around the freezer. Our friend Susan says “We’ve gone through a lot of ice cube trays with lids but none have worked until this.” Count us in!

No Eggs, No Worries

Easy methods to substitute for eggs, plus a selection of classic egg recipes re-interpreted to be eggless. Why cruisers need this: It may not be possible to buy eggs in remote locations. The eggs you can buy might be bad (the last dozen eggs I got in the Marshall Islands were moldy inside the shell) and are probably costly. It’s at least a month before I may find eggs for sale. And why not be healthy and compassionate? You don’t need to be vegan to appreciate this cruiser-created cookbook.

Malizia sunglasses

By sailors, for sailors, perfect for this sailor! I was gifted a pair earlier this year, and they now live on my face whenever I’m outside. Polarization lets me see into the coral-strewn water here, optical clarity is #chef’s kiss, coverage is excellent (super sensitive eyes here), and grey tint is perfectly dark in the tropics. Bonus: The frame is 85 percent recycled fishing nets. The Vallon store has a pre-holiday 25% off sale, sitewide, until December 3.

Stick-on bifocals

Hydrotac means I can wear Malizias and read a book at the same time. Less than $20 for a pair, they adhere inside lenses with a drop of water. A second pair converted my snorkeling mask. Way easier and cheaper than prescription lenses.

Water Time!

Prescription mask

Vision more complicated than my stick-ons? SeaVision masks are made in St Petersburg, Florida, and get rave reviews. Built to last, they can adapt lenses to your fave mask, too.

Dive clacker

Needed this a few days ago to get Jamie’s attention underwater about a shark swimming nearby (because sharks are gorgeous, and I didn’t want him to miss it). This makes either a rattle (for snorkelers) or clang (divers tap on the tank). Thumbs up on this and the mask from the dive aficionados aboard SV Motu.

Go Green

UNPaper Towels

Washable, reusable replacements for paper towels, these do exactly what they are supposed to, plus they come in fun colors and prints. I haven’t used paper towels in over a year and don’t miss them a bit! We’re linking to the maker site, Marley’s Monsters, so you can peruse the other goodness they have.

Compressed air fan

Koonie makes another product better! “I got tired of looking for compressed air cans,” said our friend Travis. We’re tired, too: Ditch those refrigerant/propellant cans for good.

On-Board Toolkit

Mini soldering iron

The size of a pencil, this charges via USB. Fortuna crew connects it to a power bank for portability.

Universal funnel

May not sound sexy but it’s incredibly useful. Our workaround in the past has been a thin, flexible cutting board held in place. This is much better!

Digital electronic level

Make your installs look pro-level! This clever device from Klein Tools is a level, an angle finder, a relative angle reference. Its magnetic bottom keeps it in place.

Better cable stripper

Jonard’s wire stripper has an adjustable wire depth. Get it right the first time when stripping small-gauge (large-size) wires for, say, battery bank wiring. This and level (above) tips from the current refit underway on Atargatis.

What’s Jamie getting?

I’ve fallen in the habit of sharing Jamie’s gift in this annual post. This paragraph was mysteriously missing in the copy he proofreads for me. (No spoilers, friends!)

Endoscope camera

16-foot cable reaches into deep dark corners to inspect tanks, the hull behind your generator, and other inaccessible dark corners on board. LED lights at the camera, that connects with Wi-Fi to your smartphone. (I nearly spilled the beans recently for a project where he might have used it!)

Timeless Favorites

These gift ideas never go out of style:

Marmara towels

All Turkish towels are not created the same! We’ve used Marmara bath towels for nearly a decade. The standard size makes great hand or dish towels. Currently 25% off on their site (linked).

Bone conduction headphones retain ambient noise sounds while listening to that audiobook on night watch. SHOKZ became instant favorites on Totem.

Solar powered string lights

MPOWERD’s 44-foot length is great for casting a gentle glow in the cockpit.

AND… A discount on our services!

Gift your friend, a loved one or yourself an hourlong consultation with me and Jamie! We are offering a limited number of our “try-us-out” coaching sessions at 50% off. We can do a lot in an hour. Learn more about how we get people happily cruising here, then get in touch for a custom gift certificate—until they run out!

Still struggling for inspiration? Our guide collection and gift ideas (16 posts) can be found at this link.

The post Our Favorite Things: Holiday Gift Guide for the Hands-On Sailor appeared first on Cruising World.

The 39th Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) is officially underway, with a record-breaking 234 yachts leaving Gran Canaria to begin their 2,700-mile voyage to the Caribbean. Split across the ARC and ARC+ routes, the fleet showcases a vibrant mix of cruisers, racers, and multihulls, all setting their sights on Saint Lucia.

At 12:30 p.m. local time November 24th, 45 multihulls—the largest division ever for the ARC—were first to cross the starting line in a gentle southeast breeze. Leading the charge was Two Hoots, a Lagoon 400 helmed by Mark and Penny Belcher (GBR), with their sea dog Benji marking the first four-legged crew member to begin the journey. Close behind were Kenneth Frantz’s Fountain Pajot Elba 45 My Cherie Amour (USA) and Francesco Rongoni’s Neel 47 Ferdinand (FRA).

The IRC racing fleet followed at 12:45, highlighted by Jean Philippe Blanpain’s sleek Vismara 62 Leaps & Bounds 2 (MLT) and ARC racing veteran Jean Pierre Dick on his Swan 76 La Loévie (MLT). Mathias Mueller von Blumencron’s JV 43 Red 2 (CHE) and Johannes Schwarz’s Volvo 70 Ocean Breeze (AUT) rounded out the early contenders.

Finally, at 1:00 p.m., the cruising division enjoyed a smooth white-sail start as the wind picked up to 10–12 knots. The close competition at both ends of the line included Bengt Lyckåsen’s Mormor Alice (SWE) and Sebastian Gylling’s Swan 51 Eira (FIN). Meanwhile, Johanna Schalander aboard Greta (SWE) added a touch of cruising charm, baking and serving fruit pies as her yacht crossed the start.

World Cruising Club’s Paul Tetlow emphasized that the ARC is more about the journey than the finish line: “This is a marathon, not a sprint. Settle into your routines and enjoy the experience.” Weather expert Chris Tibbs predicts light southerlies veering through the day, encouraging many crews to aim for the traditional Cape Verde route before catching stronger trade winds.

Over the next few weeks, 820 sailors will face the challenges and joys of ocean voyaging. Some racing yachts may reach Saint Lucia in under 10 days, but for most cruisers, the crossing will take 14 to 21 days. No matter when they arrive, every crew will be warmly welcomed at IGY Rodney Bay Marina with a celebratory rum punch and congratulations from ARC’s iconic “yellow shirts” team.

Track the fleet’s progress on the YB Races app or at worldcruising.com as this global sailing tradition continues to unite adventurers on a shared Atlantic odyssey.

The post ARC 2024: Cruisers and Racers Embark on Atlantic Adventure appeared first on Cruising World.

The Pegasus 50 seamlessly combines luxurious comfort with high-performance sailing, featuring a bright, well-connected living space protected by thoughtful safety features and a solid windshield. Its modern hull design and precise engineering deliver both thrilling speeds for experienced racers and comfortable ocean cruising, earning it the nickname “Gentleman’s racing boat.”

Key Features:

• Saloon with 360 degree view
• Lots of natural light
• Foldable roof sidewings
• Gimballed settee
• Spacious and organized technical compartments

Specs at a Glance:

• Hull length 14,94 m 49 ft
• Beam max. 4,82 m 15.84 ft
• Draft standard 2,35 m 7.7 ft
• Operational Displacement 11.700 kg 25,794 lbs
• Ballast ratio (to dry weight) 33,2%
• Main sail – full batten, triradial + Antal ball bearing sliders 68,39 m2 736.14 ft2
• J1 – 104% – Triradial 60,37 m2 649.82 ft2
• J2 – Self-tacking jib + endless furler 32,09 m2 345.41 ft2
• Asymmetrical spinnaker + endless furler 188,00 m2 2023.62 ft2
• Water capacity 740 l 195 gal
• Diesel capacity 480 l 127 gal
• Category CE A – Ocean going vessel

The post Cruising World On Board: Pegasus 50 appeared first on Cruising World.

Repairing a shore power cable is a straightforward project that can be tackled comfortably while seated—either indoors or aboard your boat. Shore power is a marina luxury that keeps your batteries charged and powers AC (alternating current) appliances when a “ring main” is installed in the cabins or galley, not to mention another desirable AC acronym, Air Conditioning, if your boat has it fitted. Most marinas provide power pedestals at each dock, typically offering 30-amp, 120-volt outlets. Some also have 50-amp connections for boats with higher power demands, as well as 15-amp outlets intended for light use, such as running a single tool. However, these smaller outlets are usually marked “not for shore power” and shouldn’t be used to handle a boat’s heavier electrical load.

The heavy cables that are needed to connect a boat to shore power can be bought on the web or at chandlers.

The most common type in the US is made by Marinco Inc., but there are also others with the same terminal connectors. All have a male and female plug at each end of cables that are available in various lengths. It’s also possible to buy the wires and the plugs separately to make custom lengths to suit a boat that is always moored in the same dock space. It’s better to use a length that is not overly long, to reduce resistance and overheating of the cable that is exposed to the elements day-in and day-out.

The actual plugs on the ends of these cables are a special configuration that consists of power (black), return (white) and ground (green), and they only plug into a receptacle one way.

They may also have a black locking ring that enables them to be securely attached to a pedestal or a boat that has corresponding threads.

Some pedestal receptacles are angled downward to reduce the incursion of rainwater that could short out the plugs.

If there is no locking ring facility, this type of angled connection is very susceptible to working loose due to the movement of the boat or even the wind. The only remedy is to tie the plug to the pedestal. If there is no locking ring facility on the pedestal it is still useful as a ¼-inch rope fits nicely between the ring and the boot that can then be tied to the pedestal.

If, through a bad connection, the plug overheats inside the receptacle, it usually trips the contact breaker, but if it continues to short out, it can start a fire inside the pedestal. Over time the plugs also become corroded due to the environment they operate in, making it necessary to replace the entire plug or the outer plug connector part of it.

Note: If either plug of a manufacturer’s shore-power cable still has the original plugs attached, they cannot be dismantled because they are one-piece molded assemblies.

The only way to fit a new plug to these cables is to saw the old one off, then fit a completely new male or female plug in the manner described here. This is not at all difficult and much cheaper than buying a new shore power cable set.

The male and female plugs at each end of the wire use different boots and the spare parts are not interchangeable.

A single 1/4” inch thin flat blade screwdriver is all that is required to do these repairs because the Phillips screws all have one open slot across the head of the screws.

Dismantling A Female Plug

To replace or rebuild a failed female plug, first pull the boot away from the plug and slide it a few inches down the wire—because it need not be removed from the wire unless a new boot is to be fitted. Next, remove the three screws in the end of the plug, and loosen the two on the side of the body—but do not completely remove these two, as they only clamp the cable in place. The white plug part can now be pulled out of the body exposing the wires inside.

Move the body back down the wire a few inches. (If this is difficult, the two side screws may not have been loosened enough.) It should now be possible to see what has caused the failure of the connection and there may even be signs of burning on a wire.

To remove the wires, simply loosen the three side screws and the plug can be pulled clear of the wires. The screws are colored red, green and white to match the wires.

Dismantling A Male Plug

Unscrew the three screws in the front of the male plug, and the boot can then be drawn back down the wire. On the male plug, there is no inner body and the plug screws directly into the boot.

This exposes the three wires attached to the plug that can now be unscrewed from the plug and repairs made in the same way as the female end.

Reassembling Both Plugs

Depending upon what is discovered when the plugs are dismantled, Marinco parts may need to be ordered. If the wire shows any signs of burning or brittleness, the cable should be cut back until the wires are clean. This is usually only about two or three inches and is best done with a hacksaw in a vice.

If a new boot is to be fitted, it will be necessary to trim one of the rings off at the end of the boot to be able to slide it onto the 5/8-inch diameter cable. Now, using a box cutter (Stanley knife), a scalpel (X-acto knife), or a similar knife with a new sharp blade, carefully trim the outer cover back 1 5/8-inch and remove it along with its inner strings until only three new wires are left. One method of doing this is to place the cable in the vice and slice into the top half of the outer cover, which is normally quite thin and flexible, but not so deep as to nick the wire insulation. Then, score a straight cut from the circular cut back to the end of the cover, peel it open, and it will then be easier to score around the rest of the cover. Now trim 5/8-inch of the wire insulation to expose the copper conductors and twist them to stop them from fraying.

Now push each wire end into its corresponding colored hole in the plug until the insulation fits inside the little raised hole, then tighten the locking screw. It is important to do this correctly: green wire goes into the green hole, white into white and black into black. If done incorrectly the polarity of the plug will be wrong. On the female plug, push the plug end into the body that locates with a small square keyway, and tighten the screws to fasten the plug to the body. Then, tighten the two clamp screws to secure the plug to the cable and pull the boot back over the complete plug.

This completes the installation of both male and female plugs—with a DIY cost saving of approximately 200 percent over the cost of a new shore-power cable set.

The post DIY Shore Power Cable Repair: Keep Your Boat “Plugged In” appeared first on Cruising World.

Matthew Burzon was at the helm of the Swan 411 Albireo, offshore somewhere between Virginia and Bermuda, getting smashed in the face every few minutes.

The boat was making 7 or 8 knots in seas of 8 to 12 feet. Albireo is a well-cruised 1978 Sparkman & Stephens design, and this was happening in 2018, so there were no worries about whether the boat could handle the beating that Mother Nature was doling out. 

But the humans on board? That was a different story. 

“There’s big water out there,” Matthew recalls with a nervous chuckle. “You get wet. Every once in a while, a wave would hit, and it was the equivalent of taking a 5-gallon bucket of water to the face.”

Down below, his father, Steve Burzon—the boat’s owner and captain in charge of the trip—was out cold. Whatever had befallen Steve wasn’t seasickness, but it was something more powerful than a ­5-gallon bucket of water, and it was debilitating enough that the old salt decided that this journey on Albireo would be his last one offshore.

“I don’t know exactly what it was—­maybe just old age creeping in,” says Steve, who was 77 at the time. “I couldn’t perform. I couldn’t do anything. I would be in my bunk, back aft, and I remember Matt coming in. He’d say: ‘Dad, don’t get up. I’ll do your turn at the helm,’ or ‘I’ll cook dinner.’”

It’s not exactly how Steve or Matthew imagined that their first, and likely their last, father-son offshore sailing journey would be, especially after so many years of trying to make it happen. 

Steve and his wife, Nancy, had been ­sailors for what felt like forever, but Matthew’s experience on the boat with them was limited to coastal cruising, both as a kid and as a young adult. Steve had long wanted his son to join him out in bigger water, but Matthew was always in school or at work, running his recruiting business or volunteering as a firefighter. 

Finally, when Matthew was in his early 30s, this window of opportunity appeared. Steve needed to bring Albireo down from Lake Champlain in the Northeast United States to Sint Maarten in the Leeward Islands, which would become the boat’s new home. The plan was for Steve to cruise south to the Chesapeake Bay, then pick up Matthew and a few other hands, and from there, point the bow toward the warm ­waters of the Caribbean.

“I was pretty excited to get the call. It started this whole process of getting offshore foul-weather gear and all this stuff. I got all decked out,” Matthew says. “I was very excited. Dad had brought the boat down the Hudson River to Norfolk, Virginia. I was getting updates, which was building up the level of stoke.”

The plan was for 11 to 14 days at sea with no stops. The weather had other ideas, forcing Albireo and its crew to divert to Bermuda just as Steve’s health took a turn for the worse. 

And whatever was ailing Steve meant that Matthew and the rest of the crew would have to play bigger roles than any of them had anticipated, especially for his first time cruising offshore. 

A Lifetime of Learning

Fans of catamarans might recognize Steve, who is now 83, as an organizer and ambassador for the Caribbean Multihull Challenge on Sint Maarten. But for many, many years prior to that event being created, Steve was a monohull sailor based in the Northeast United States. 

He got started around age 16, while growing up in New England, and bought his first boat—a wooden 19-foot Cape Cod Knockabout—before he turned 20. That led him to a bookstore to find a title that might teach him to sail better. He brought the tome with him on the boat so that he could look things up along the way. He ended up having a blast.

As a young ad salesman, Steve kept ­sailing. He learned celestial navigation, figured out how to use a sextant, took jobs as a delivery skipper, and made his first offshore passage­—from Bermuda to Newport, Rhode Island. After doing a round-trip delivery from Connecticut to Maine on a Swan 411, he knew that was the boat of his dreams. He and his wife, Nancy, ended up buying it in 1984. 

That boat was Albireo. The couple would sail it from Maine to Grenada and all points in between, eventually with little Matthew in tow. Quite a lot of the time, Matthew would be asleep below, zonked out from the motion on the water.

Which was actually a relief to Steve and Nancy, given that the boy had, let’s call it, a relentless amount of energy. 

“Matt’s nickname is ‘Action Jackson,’” Steve says. “He’d swing from the handhelds like it was a gym.”

Matt played hockey. He liked stuff with engines that made noise and went fast. Being out on the sailboat, well, it quite ­literally put him to sleep.

“That was a lot of my childhood,” Matthew says. “But I loved going from destination to destination. I rode my bike all over the place—Nantucket, Stonington, everywhere. I think it was a mix of seasickness and trying to make a kid sit still.”

Steve adds: “My wife and I were into the romance of it, the beauty of it, and we brought our kid. We were forcing him to be with us, and he’d probably rather be driving his four-wheeler out in the yard.”

It wasn’t until Matthew got older that he realized the sailing itself could be exciting. Albireo was on Lake Champlain, and Matthew was between jobs trying to relocate back to Vermont, so Steve and Nancy let him live on board.

“Toward the end of that time, I would take my friends out and sail on Lake Champlain,” Matthew says. “That was the first time I realized, there’s something to this.”

So, when Steve called about the chance to head offshore together aboard Albireo, Matthew was finally ready to embrace the opportunity. 

Now, all they needed was the rest of the crew. Three more guys ought to do it, Steve figured, and a distant cousin of Matthew’s might be perfect.

Making It Happen

That cousin, Ben Fletcher, had gotten to talking with Steve at a family gathering. As it turned out, Ben and Steve had sailing in common. Ben had done the RORC Caribbean 600, as well as a big race in the Mediterranean, and had taught sailing too. 

“He’s a sailor,” says Steve, who figured that between Ben’s sailing know-how and Matthew’s mechanical brainpower, the two of them could figure out just about anything on the boat. “Matt is a mechanic. On this trip, Albireo was like 35 years old. Things go wrong. And Matt is agile. He’s an athlete. He can do anything physically. Ben was that same way.”

For the final two crewmembers, Steve tapped a couple of guys who used to work for his landscaping company. They, ­forevermore, shall be known only as “the two yahoos.”

“These guys used to dig holes for me, plant trees,” Steve says. “It turned out to be a big mistake. They were too immature to go away from Mommy and Daddy.”

But nobody knew that when Albireo set off for the Caribbean, and then Steve got sick. Matthew and Ben realized that they had to rise to the occasion as they looked out across the rising seas. 

“Ben was a competent leader, so he’d be on deck and I’d be down below,” Matthew recalls. “We’d get food together or whatever we had to do. We had to make all these adjustments—the lines that lash down the dinghy would come undone, and we’d have to keep an eye out for things like that. You build trust quickly with your crew. You wake up and say, ‘Good job.’ After that happens a few times, there’s camaraderie and trust.”

The two yahoos, well, they “kept you awake and entertained,” Matthew adds.

“Matt was watch captain for his watch, and Ben was watch captain for his watch,” Steve says. “They had brainpower and ­management skills.”

Ben and Matthew needed those skills for things such as navigating at night—again, not something that was part of Matthew’s typical program. He was at Albireo’s helm under pitch-black skies at 2 o’clock in the morning when the boat came upon a cruise ship.

Matthew lost his night vision. He was blinded.

“It was so bright—so bright,” he says. “I couldn’t tell which direction it was going. I couldn’t pick up on the red and green lights because there were just too many lights. I was close enough that their crew put the spotlight on me, so, yeah, that’s something when it happens.”

But finally, mercifully, they made it to Bermuda. They arrived at night, cruising in through the Town Cut and tying up at St. George’s. 

The two yahoos rented motorbikes and got themselves into a bunch of drunken trouble. That was the end of them. Ben was happy to get some sleep, as were Steve and Matthew—who later headed ashore for a shower, some lunch, and a couple of beers at the White Horse Pub & Restaurant. 

“It was like a little holiday. We stayed for a few days,” Steve says, adding that for the first time in their lives, the father and son seemed to have a better understanding of each other as people. “This was a father-son bonding experience. It was something I wish all the fathers in the world could have, that experience. It’s really special.”

And it will remain a special memory, never to be replaced, because Albireo—for the first time in Matthew’s life—is no ­longer part of the family. 

After owning the boat for nearly 40 years, Steve decided to sell it. After settling the boat in Sint Maarten, he found himself out in the waters around the island in 18 to 22 knots of steady, strong heavy wind. For the first time in a long time, he felt a little scared.

“I know I’m hooked in and everything, but going forward, I began to think, Maybe I should quit while I’m ahead,” he says. “It was a member of the family—two daughters, a son and a boat. That was the family. But that Swan is a very athletic boat. You need a lot of strength to be able to crank the winches. The gennie is gigantic in that design. I kind of began to feel like my balance wasn’t as good as it was. I was thinking that one of these days, I’m going to fall off the boat, and my poor wife is going to have to come back and get me.”

Helping to organize the Caribbean Multihull Challenge is now Steve’s passion. He and Nancy are getting to experience how the ocean feels from aboard catamarans—which are easier, stability-wise, on their aging bodies. 

Matt, meanwhile, is often out cruising aboard a 23-foot Boston Whaler Dauntless that he owns with his girlfriend, and looking forward to a time when he can share the family’s passion for offshore adventures with her.

“I’d love to get a sailboat,” Matthew says. “I think I’m not in the right phase of my life to get a sailboat—it would be challenging to be in southern Vermont with a sailboat. We like the Whaler. We trailer it around. We’re toying with the idea of doing a sailing photography outfit.” 

That’s definitely one thing that the Burzon men have in common: They find a way to get their boating fix. Steve is also a member of the Sint Maarten Yacht Club, which gives him access to all its boats from about 20 feet down to tiny dinghies. 

“I was thinking the other day,” Steve says, “I could get in a little boat and sail around Simpson Bay Lagoon.”

Matthew smiles. That sure sounds like fun to him too.

The post Buckets of Water, Waves of Change: A Father-Son Bond Forged Offshore appeared first on Cruising World.

Long-distance cruising isn’t for everyone, and there is no iron-clad argument that your partner will join you in cutting the dock lines. After all, your partner’s resistance might be based on a tangle of finances, fears, family, friends or physical worries. 

But there are some strategies that can help your partner transform reluctance into excitement. Getting my wife on board with my dreams of cruising adventures involved a slow, thoughtful process. I encouraged her to open her eyes to the wonder and possibility of bluewater cruising.

Here are four things I did that helped my partner accept and embrace the cruising life.

Make It Seem Normal

There’s no mainstream model for the cruising life, so it can be practically impossible to imagine. Most stories in the media about sailors include the word “rescue.” Making the idea of bluewater cruising more normal can also make it less scary. More manageable. More possible. And, ­eventually, more likely.

From the time Joy and I met, she was well aware of my passion for bluewater sailing. She was mildly interested, but in a way that could easily evaporate if I let it drop. So, I didn’t let it drop. 

I talked to her about my dream to sail oceans. We walked docks and boatyards. I shared passages from books, snippets of articles, and video clips. I always tried to remember that less is more. I didn’t want to overwhelm her. I wanted to make this extraordinary lifestyle seem almost ho-hum.

When we sailed our local waters for a few days or weeks, we chatted about what it might be like to go a bit farther. To stay out a little longer. Evenings at anchor lend themselves nicely to this kind of dream weaving.

Making the idea of bluewater cruising more normal can also make it less scary. More manageable. And, eventually, more likely.

I tried not to overdo it. I watched for signs that she was bored or overwhelmed. At first, those signs were anything but rare. When I could see that she’d had enough of the boat thing, I was happy to move on to other topics.

It took a long while, but all this talking and gawking, watching, roaming and reading helped her to normalize the idea of cruising. It wasn’t just my harebrained idea; it was something that people—regular people—actually chose to do.

Talk Less, Listen More

I asked her questions about the boats we saw. About the sailors we met. About the places she’d like to visit. About the opinions we heard. About how all this made her feel about the very idea of long-distance cruising.

And here’s the important part: I listened to her answers. I kept my mouth shut. (It was hard to do.) I redirected my impulse to interrupt into the simple motion of nodding my head. When she said that she was worried about leaving family and friends, I nodded. Just that. I didn’t try to minimize it, offer options or suggest solutions. I just nodded.

When she said she was frightened by the idea of being so far from land on such a tiny boat, I looked into her eyes and nodded. I could see her anxiety. I wanted so badly to say something, anything to minimize the fear. To make it better. To fix it. But I bit my tongue and focused on what she was sharing with me.

If listening like that comes easy for you, then you have a superpower. It sure doesn’t come easy for me.

What I learned is that if your partner can see that you get it, that you really understand their fears, anxieties and worries, then they can more easily let that stuff go. If you dismiss these issues by trying to fix them, by waving them off as irrational, then you force your partner to keep trying to explain, to keep trying to get you to understand. It’s a cruel cycle. And it gets you nowhere.

The big payoff from all this listening and incessant ­nodding is that I learned a lot. 

I learned that for her, cruising would be more about people than passages. I learned that feeling secure was more important than going fast. I learned that while simplicity is a virtue, she isn’t particularly into peeing in a bucket. I found out that she was excited by the process of provisioning. That she wasn’t even remotely intimidated by the challenge of creating delicious meals in a dinky galley. And that she had a deep and abiding fear of laundry.

A critical side note is that back then, she didn’t call it a galley. She called it a “kitchen.” And she called the head the “bathroom.” And she called the stateroom a “bedroom.” Resist, resist, resist the urge to correct your partner’s terminology. At least in the beginning. 

If you don’t, you’ll miss important stuff. The words will come.

Get Out of the Way

Give your partner the space they need to find their own way. This might actually be harder than the nodding thing, but it’s equally important.

Early on, I spent a lot of time sharing my love of sailing and cruising. I freely shared what I knew. What I thought. What I thought I knew. And when Joy expressed those first real glimmers of interest, I was ecstatic. 

It didn’t take long to ­recognize that my enthusiasm for cruising left little room for my partner to find her own excitement. I needed to temper my enthusiasm and let her make her own discoveries, reach her own conclusions. 

She attended a couple of sailing seminars for women, and I didn’t bug her for all the details. I saw a book about sailing on her nightstand, and I didn’t mention it. When she signed up to take a sailing class on her own, I resisted the urge to do cartwheels. 

If I wanted us to walk down this path together, I had to resist the urge to dash ahead of her. I needed to slow my pace to match hers. And in many cases, slow down enough to let her take the lead.

By slowing myself down, by getting out of her way, Joy was able to see details that I had just skimmed over. Or missed completely. Details that were important to her—and, subsequently, to us. 

Cede Control

Don’t let being “captain” go to your head (see: Bligh, William; captain, Royal Navy). Share the responsibilities whenever possible. 

And I’m not referring to the old trope of “blue jobs” and “pink jobs.” I’m not talking about “jobs” at all. 

Whenever possible, I let Joy take the lead. It works something like this: I make the ultimate decisions about departure windows and routes. I involve Joy in these decisions. We talk it through. I share my reasoning. I listen and act based on her concerns. But ultimately, I make those decisions.

Joy is OK with this, but she chafes at lacking control. So we created some balance. Joy controls our itinerary once we arrive in a country or an island group. She assumes the responsibility of deciding which atolls and anchorages we’ll explore.

To be clear, this is not a revolving dictatorship. We talk about all of this. We share points of view and trust each other to speak up if there is a problem. We make ­accommodations for each of our interests.

Joy was able to see details that I just skimmed over. Or missed completely. Details that were important to her—and, subsequently, to us.

We both need to feel in ­control. Neither of us is content to just be along for the ride. For us, this way of balancing control works quite well. And we’ve kept the balance of control as we’ve ­explored the Pacific from Mexico to New Zealand. 

Your results may vary. But if you can start with normalizing the idea of cruising and then truly listen to your partner’s concerns, you’ll be on your way. Give your partner space to explore various aspects of cruising on their own, and then identify areas where they can be in control. 

These deceptively simple steps can move you toward your cruising dream with an enthusiastic partner on board.

Harry Pattison and Joy Archer sail aboard a 44-foot Mason launched in 1988. They are circumnavigating the Pacific Ocean. When they’re at home, Pattison runs sail training for couples in and around Puget Sound. Learn more at ­matesfirst.com.

The post Cruising Couples & The Power of Shutting Up appeared first on Cruising World.

Personal safety gear is more than a one-and-done purchase. For gear to be effective, sailors need to become completely familiar with it, and commit to a regular inspection and maintenance routine.

The onset of winter might sideline sailing, but it also affords an opportunity to reconsider personal safety gear. Start with a thorough cleaning and inspection of your kit. This includes the foul-weather gear, life jacket, tether, strobe, whistle and AIS beacon. 

Consider replacing older, worn-out gear while adding some new kit. The goal is to have reliable, comfortable equipment that you’re willing to wear. It’s about function, not fashion. The value lies in how effectively this gear keeps you afloat, makes you more locatable, and wards off hypothermia.  

One of the biggest misconceptions is that if an inflatable life jacket has never been used, it must be as good as new. This ignores the fact that such gear is regularly drenched with salt spray, cooked by the sun, then tossed into a locker and ignored. The best way to ensure operational reliability is to follow the manufacturer’s maintenance procedures. Look online for product updates or recalls. 

A friend and safety expert recently surveyed other safety trainers and equipment experts about how often they encounter inflatable-life-jacket failures. One pro reported a 5 percent failure rate. Another said 11 percent. If aircraft had such a failure rate, lots more people would be taking the train. 

Fortunately, there’s a way to beat those odds. It involves carefully scrutinizing key components while doing an annual, offseason inflatable-­life-jacket inspection and maintenance.  

Begin by checking straps and clips for signs of fraying or cracking. Open and unfold the device, removing ancillary equipment such as a strobe or an AIS beacon. Check battery expiration dates, and operate each device in its test mode. 

Next, remove the carbon-­dioxide cylinder and inspect it. Look for an intact seal on the cylinder, and note any signs of corrosion. 

Then, orally inflate the life jacket and leave it overnight in a temperature-controlled environment. The next morning, check to see if there’s been a noticeable dimension change to the bladder. Even if you are handy enough to repair leaking seams on your inflatable dinghy or stand-up paddleboard, don’t attempt to patch a leaking life jacket. Replace it. 

Note how many exhalations into the inflation tube it takes to fill up the life jacket—because if you’re submerged, water pressure will make the process even more arduous. If you go overboard untethered and the autoinflation feature fails, a reflexive tug on the manual-inflation tab can deliver the requisite buoyancy, or the last resort will be oral inflation.

Pay close attention to the autoinflator hardware, either the bobbin type or the hydrostatic system. The former relies on the solubility of a tabletlike compound, held in a bobbin, which dissolves when immersed. This allows a plunger to pierce the carbon-dioxide cylinder, inflating the life jacket. These bobbins can, over time and exposure to high humidity, harden and become less prone to dissolving. Follow the manufacturer’s recommended replacement timetable—often for annual replacement.

Hydrostatic inflation systems respond to slight changes in water pressure when the unit submerges. The pressure-sensing element must make full contact with the water—and in some cases, the plunge is not deep enough to activate autoinflation. The best bet is to follow US Coast Guard wisdom and treat these life jackets as manually inflated systems with an automatic backup. Train yourself to yank the manual-inflate pull tab immediately. If the autoinflate beats you to it, that’s great, but if the auto system balks, no problem—you have already initiated manual inflation, and you still have oral inflation as a backup.

Most sailors find that there’s no perfect life jacket. Inflatables are comfortable to wear in their dormant state, but it’s important to get into the water and experience the transition from deflated to inflated. See how swimming is affected. Discover how vital the leg and crotch straps are to maintaining buoyancy with your head elevated. 

One of the best ways to accomplish this is to attend a US Sailing hands-on Safety at Sea seminar in a pool with pros.  It’s another valuable offseason skill-building opportunity. 

“Practice makes perfect” might be a bit of an overstatement, but familiarity with safety gear does improve outcomes. Getting to know your life jacket means that you have jumped into the water wearing it, done some swimming with it on, and even tried climbing up a boarding ladder. 

If nothing else, find an indoor pool and a few fellow cruisers interested in gear ­familiarization. Dim the lights, and note how a bright flashing strobe on your vest or jacket destroys your night ­vision. (A light on a stalk might be preferable.) 

Try the whistle, adjust the leg and crotch straps, and consider how an AIS beacon would be deployed. See if you could reach a mini flashlight or handheld VHF radio tucked into the pocket of your foul-weather gear. 

Now is the perfect time, before the next season’s sailing begins.

The post Stay Safe Year-Round: Essential Offseason Gear Prep for Sailors appeared first on Cruising World.

The documentary film 76 Days Adrift is now playing in select theaters and winning awards on the festival circuit. It’s based on The New York Times bestselling book Adrift: 76 Days Lost at Sea by former Cruising World staff editor Steven Callahan.

Directed and produced by Joe Wein, and produced by Ang Lee, the documentary recounts the night of February 4, 1982, when a catastrophic collision with a whale left Callahan’s boat sinking in the dead of night on the Atlantic Ocean. Callahan  had only moments to grab what he could before taking to his life raft with a basic emergency kit.

For 76 days, Callahan drifted across the ocean. The film documents how he confronted his deepest fears and limitations amid the raw power of nature, with a score by Fall Out Boy’s Patrick Stump.

Weir says he was inspired to direct the film after coming across the book in a used bookstore.

“I bought it on a whim, hoping it would serve as a temporary escape,” he reveals on the film’s website. “I had no idea that what started as a distraction would resonate so deeply. … His struggles mirrored my own—a man grappling with his identity, wrestling with the world around him, and pushing his limits sometimes beyond the point of reason. He found himself in an unthinkable situation, adrift in the middle of the Atlantic, confined to a life raft so small he couldn’t even stretch out fully. His raft was failing, leaking air, with no food or water left. The search for him had been called off; he was presumed dead. Alone, attacked by sharks in the dead of night, facing the most harrowing of circumstances, it seemed more comforting to let go, to slip quietly into the ocean rather than endure a slow, torturous demise.

“Yet, Steven never saw himself as a hero. When I asked him how he persevered, his answer was simple—he was more terrified of dying than comforted by it.”

Where to view the trailer and purchase tickets to a screening: visit 76daysadrift.com for tickets to upcoming screenings of the film, as well as to watch the trailer.

The post Now Playing: <i>76 Days Adrift</i> appeared first on Cruising World.

The International Yacht Brokers Association (IYBA) has announced the launch of a comprehensive new database for yachts and boats of all sizes in a consumer-facing marketplace, Yachtr.com.

Powered by Yachtbroker.org, Yachtr gives brokers a new option to list their yachts, and potential buyers an intuitive platform to browse yachts and boats for sale worldwide. Yachtr is the result of several years of software development backed by industry associations and led by IYBA.

Once users visit the website, they can search verified listings that are for sale by category: motor yachts, cruisers, fishing boats or sailboats; by broker or by yacht manufacturer. The association’s From The Bridge blog contains a host of educational posts on topics such as: What is a Sea Trial and Why is it Important?, How to Hire the Right Captain for Your Yacht and Boat Insurance 101: Types of Coverage Every New Boat Owner Should Know. Users can also subscribe to have new articles sent directly to their email. Users interested in selling a vessel can be connected directly to professional brokers by searching either by name, city or zip code.

“Yachtr is taking control from private enterprise solutions and putting it back in the hands of the community,” said Paul Flannery, Chief Operating Officer, IYBA. “We have heard concerns from our members, and we believe that Yachtr addresses and solves the challenges that current listing sites present. We want to provide a platform that is accessible to all, and inherently fair in its approach to displaying listings. Yachtr is and always will be an industry resource, meant to better serve our community and the needs of the boat buying and selling public. We firmly believe that if the industry can be able to control their data that they will then be able to control their destiny and provide an enhanced consumer experience. Help us spread the word about a better way to buy and sell yachts where you’re always in control of your data.”

According to an IYBA spokesperson, Yachtr saw a 25 percent increase in listings during the first 30-day period. Currently, Yachtr offers over 14,000 listings from 285 yacht brokerages, with listings growing every day.

The post Brokerage Platform “Yachtr” Launches appeared first on Cruising World.