Matt and Jennifer TenEick and their sons Conrad and Mark voyage aboard their 1992 Privilege 482 catamaran, Perry. Both Matt and Jennifer grew up in the Chicago area, learning to sail on Lake Michigan. The two followed similar career paths, each starting in law and then switching to the tech industry. Since they both love to travel, the idea of cruising the world on a boat began to take shape for them. It started out as a five-year plan to be in a position to buy a boat and leave. But, in the end — due to careers, kids, economic…

Wave height and period are significant factors that voyaging sailors need to take into account when making a passage. This article looks at how waves form and how voyagers can use forecast info to help determine the location of big waves and avoid them. [gtx_gallery] The primary driver for wave generation over the oceans is the force of the wind on the surface of the water. This force displaces surface water horizontally, which also results in a vertical displacement. Gravity then works to return the vertically displaced water back to an equilibrium level, and this leads to waves that propagate…

A piece of advice offered when I asked around for how to provision my first boat for cruising was, “Get a good medical kit.” It took years to fully understand what my advisor meant by this. It also took time to realize that for ocean-going cruisers who spend at least as much time in port, medical self-sufficiency is as important in exotic land places as on the high seas. For a span of 13 years, I acted as ship’s “medic” aboard cruising boats. It made sense to designate one of us, just as it made sense to have one sailing…

Not many people are better positioned to discuss Safety at Sea than former US Navy nuclear attack sub captain Mark Lenci. After 26 years in the Navy, Lenci now teaches the Cruising Club of America’s Safety at Sea Seminars. Mariners learn how to fight fires, recover MOBs, climb into life rafts, and shoot off flares. Ocean Navigator reached Lenci by email. [gtx_gallery] Ocean Navigator: What’s the biggest value of attending a Safety at Sea course? Is it specific knowledge gained or is it more the experience of getting aboard a life raft or putting out an actual fire? Mark Lenci: In my…