Good communication is a skill that, like every other skill on a cruising boat, needs to be developed and practiced. Molly shares tips for good communication on board, garnered during the last three years while living aboard and sailing 36,000 miles with her family on Sila, a Boréal 47, including an expedition to South Georgia.
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Jack, 12 years old, shares ten tips for kids and parents to help make life on a boat easier and filled with great experiences. This is stuff he learned over three years while living aboard and sailing 36,000 miles with his family on Sila, a Boréal 47, including an expedition to South Georgia.
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It doesn’t matter how much you read and who you talk to, your first multi-day (and night) passage at sea will be nothing like what you imagine. And your first experience of a gale at sea will be ten times as intense as you think it will be. I’m not saying this to put you [...]
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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 [...]
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Phyllis tells an all too common sad story and then moves on to tips to prevent it happening to you.
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Two of the more frequent requests we have been receiving lately are how to find crew or find a boat to crew on. So we decided to post what we know about this topic and then open it up for you to add to it. Below is a list of resources we’ve come across. Where [...]
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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 [...]
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Eleven years ago I met John and started scaling the voyaging learning curve. Since I was starting from scratch, it often seemed to me that the learning curve was vertical. Boat handling and maintenance are only part of the cruising package. Don’t forget learning to live in a small space, dealing with isolation from friends [...]
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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? Answer: [...]
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