Seamanship

When we plan to head offshore in a cruising boat we need to think carefully and differently about how we equip the boat.

It’s easy to feel competent when things go well at sea in a yacht, but the real learning begins when stuff goes wrong.

Turning back is hard, but sometimes it’s the only right thing to do. John tells some true stories about turning back.

Here is Part 2 of John’s tips on how to decide which old salts to listen to, as well as how to decide between conflicting opinions expressed by experienced voyagers.

Blindly following the teachings of old salts, no matter how experienced and well meaning they are, can lead to poor gear choices and big mistakes once out there. But how do we decide who to believe or between two conflicting opinions? John has ten tips that even the most inexperienced offshore sailor can use to make that easier.

It’s always easier not to fix our boats right, and using the excuse that everyone does it like this is a tempting way to excuse doing extra work and spending more money, but the sea does not recognize excuses.

John tells a story about an exceptional seaman, and what we can all learn from it about the seamanlike way to make decisions.

Learning to tie knots quickly is a vital seamanship skill. But the good news is that you only need to learn five simple knots.

We start this Online Book with a list of important seamanship rules.

Laziness is the single biggest enemy of good seamanship. Here’s an example of when I was lazy…and paid the price. But really, I got off light, it could have been a lot worse.

There are few things more unseamanlike than a lot of clutter on deck. But, on the other hand, we all like our toys. Here are some thoughts (with photographs) on the things you really don’t want to festoon your boat with.

Today our boats are more complex than ever before. And yes, there are benefits that go along with some of this complexity. But, as a general rule, simple is almost always more seamanlike than complicated.