Crew's Picks - Ocean Navigator

20 Mar

North offers new sustainable sails

Ocean NavigatorCrew's Picks

We see a boat over on its beam ends in a blow and say “they’re over canvased.” But, of course, sails are no longer made of cotton-based canvas. They’re woven from synthetic materials derived from petroleum. Now North Sails has announced a new sail fabric called RENEW that’s almost entirely made from recycled materials. And in Europe, Danish sailmaker Elvstrom offers a sail it calls EKKO also made from recycled plastic. For cruisers who wish to reduce their overall voyaging footprint, new sailcloth products like these can be an attractive choice. READ MORE >>

20 Mar

Sampling the oceans by boat

Ann HoffnerCrew's Picks

The top layer of our ocean is called the “Sunlight Zone.” At the surface and down to about 200 meters are live microscopic floating algae called “phytoplankton” that are critical to life. Voyagers on trans-ocean voyages can and do participate in the study of phytoplankton. More data is always better so data gathering by voyagers helps increase our knowledge of what’s happening with the world’s oceans. Now new gear from several companies can make gathering this data easier for voyagers. READ MORE >>

20 Mar

Survey into gender design in sailing

Ann HoffnerCrew's Picks

The World Sailing Trust has launched a survey to gather baseline data on whether the design of sailing equipment is affecting the development of greater gender diversity. This new survey, launched in early October 2023, follows up on findings from its Strategic Review of Women in Sailing published in 2019. READ MORE >>

27 Feb

Coastal Flooding

Ken McKinleyCrew's Picks, Weather

Among the hazards for those living or working in immediate or near coastal areas is that of coastal flooding. Coastal flooding occurs when ocean water moves into coastal areas, and is fundamentally different from flooding due to heavy precipitation, sometimes termed fresh water flooding. Fresh water flooding can occur in any area, but is more likely in low lying areas and near rivers or streams, not necessarily near the coast. There are two major factors to consider when assessing the risk of coastal flooding. The first is the state of the tide, and the second is the presence of strong…

19 Apr

A rare sailing machine

Tim QueeneyCrew's Picks, Home Page Hero, Ocean Voyaging

In 2005 Harley and Jennifer Earl were sailing around the world in their Hans Christian 41T, Manu Kai, when they stopped at Cocos (Keeling) Island in the Indian Ocean. While there they saw a voyaging sailboat at anchor that Harley said “looked fast just sitting still.” It was a Deerfoot 62 named Emma, one of the series of light displacement boats designed by Steve Dashew. For the Earls, the die was cast. When they returned to Sausalito, Calif., they sold Manu Kai and began a search for their own Deerfoot. According to Harley, there were only about 14 Deerfoots in…

08 Aug

A racer’s thoughts on the 2022 PacCup

Tim QueeneyCrew's Picks, Home Page Hero, Ocean Voyaging, Pacific Cup Race2022 PacCup

In our July August issue we ran a Boat Focus piece on the Hanse 342, Twelve-Winded Sky, owned by Mark Jordan, describing Jordan's and his and his doubled-handed racing partner Randy Leasure's efforts to get the boat ready for the 2022 Pacific Cup Race from San Francisco to Hawaii. Jordan and Leasure competed hard in the race and they finished with an elapsed time of 16 days 21 hours, 59 minutes and 13 seconds. Though Jordan and Leasure came in last of nine boats in the Kolea DH1 division, they enjoyed their first PacCup and sounds like Jordan will be…

28 Jul

Log books

Will SofrinCrew's Picks, Seamanship & Navigationnavigation, Seamanship, voyaging

The first thing I ordered when I purchased my boat were two log books: a general log and a maintenance log. The general log book is where I record the underway activity of my boat. A short afternoon sail will get one log entry when I return to the dock, but an extended distance sail like a race around an island may get entries every few hours. My maintenance log is where I record all maintenance and repair activity. In the front, I record chronologically the work done and the related cost. This could mean replacing a turnbuckle or having…