A Prairie Woman Goes To Sea

by Phyllis April 18, 2005

I was born and raised on the Canadian prairie. When I first met John—a very experienced offshore sailor—late in 1996, my only sailing experience had been as ballast on a day trip in Australia. But when he wanted someone to help sail Morgan’s Cloud, his McCurdy Rhodes Custom 56, from Bermuda to Maine in the [...]

Preparing For A Trans-Atlantic As Crew

by Phyllis September 1, 2006

Question: I have perhaps a total of 40 hours sailing the New England coast. I have been invited by an experienced sailor to sail from Newburyport to Ireland in 2008 on a 32’ boat. My question is, what could I do between now and then to better prepare myself as a useful crew member?

Trans-Atlantic Singlehanded

by John August 1, 2007

Question: I’m at a point in my life when it’s time to live the dream that I’ve had since childhood and that’s to sail across the Atlantic single handed. I’m a complete beginner to sailing. I’m currently doing a skipper’s course which will take me up to advanced cruising, coastal navigation and radio operation, although [...]

Sailing From Halifax To Bermuda In November

by John October 1, 2007

Question: I just brought my 34-foot sailboat down the Saint Lawrence to Nova Scotia, and I’m considering making the passage to Bermuda in November and then continuing further south for the winter. I’ve been hearing all kinds of differing opinions about the safety of heading out from Halifax in November, and I thought you could [...]

On Being A Newbie

by Phyllis June 1, 2008
Ted, our friend and crew on two extended voyages to the Arctic, had almost no sailing experience before joining us but he was a great crew. An accomplished back country skier, he was able to teach us a little about mountains and has the added advantage for a crew of having a really quick and deeply sick sense of humour.

Question: I’m planning a five-year circumnavigation. While I grew up as a live aboard cruiser, two of my crew have limited sailing experience. We have cruised the Chesapeake Bay extensively together and both are becoming good seamen but neither has been on a blue water passage. Phyllis, I understand that you had little or no [...]

Reefing On All Points of Sail

by Phyllis May 20, 2010
Phyllis hoists the mainsail on aluminum expedition sailboat Morgan's Cloud.

Morgan’s Cloud is the only boat I have ever sailed on (I only started sailing after meeting John) and so I generally assume that the way we do things on our boat is the way it is done. Which suits John just fine—he’s been able to brainwash, I mean, teach me how he likes to [...]

Crossing The Atlantic In A 32-foot Boat

by John June 21, 2010
Cris Craft 32 Sailboat Drawing

Question: I received a Cris Craft 32′ cruiser/racer as a gift. This is my first boat and I’d like to sail it to France from NYC. I’m preparing it for solo sailing and would like your opinion on it’s survivability. A Sparkman& Stephens design…it has a fin keel and a lovely interior. It has been [...]

Racing To Cruise

by John November 4, 2010
JHH512638_thumb.jpg

We recommend that those who voyage offshore or dream of doing so take the time to do some racing, preferably offshore. Now I’m not suggesting that racing, and particularly ocean racing, is for everyone. In fact, despite having done quite a bit of it, or perhaps because of that, I have a fair amount of [...]

Serve Your Apprenticeship

by Phyllis April 21, 2011
For-sale_thumb.jpg

Offshore sailboat voyaging is a lifestyle that endlessly challenges, exhilarates, stretches, intimidates, and fulfills us. Which is why John and I are committed to encouraging others to take up and remain in this lifestyle. Through this website we have been privileged to encounter, either personally or via email, many aspiring cruisers. A large number are [...]

Great First Aid Course For Offshore Voyagers

by John May 27, 2011
WRFA-May-BlairsPic-142_thumb.jpg

What does spending four days in the woods of Nova Scotia getting eaten alive by black flies have to do with offshore voyaging? Well I have to admit I was asking myself the same question, particularly at ten o’clock at night when faced with a horrible lake motor boat accident: One compound fracture, one head [...]

First Aid, Prevention Is Better Than Cure

by John June 1, 2011
JHH_4830-1_thumb.jpg

Even on a gentle sailing day like this, the loads on a offshore sailboat are substantial and deserve respect. While updating our first aid skills we have been lucky enough to spend time with two doctors who both sail and, in addition, have a lot of emergency room trauma experience. They confirmed one of the [...]

Nobody’s Perfect

by Colin April 11, 2012
Tripping line

One of the strangest exchanges I have ever had occurred in my days as a sailing instructor. My manager sidled up to me one day and asked ‘do you demonstrate all of the manoeuvres to your students in advance, before asking them to do it?’. Thinking this might be some kind of trick question, I [...]

Getting Along With Your Crew—Part I

by Colin May 11, 2012
Hitchhiker?

For the best part of twenty years I sailed with boats full of people (up to 22 at times), and like most commercial skippers discovered that man management in such circumstances is of vital importance, in terms of safety and harmony aboard. Getting everyone to turn up on time in a remote place, with all [...]