Dedicated to Cruising the world under sail including destinations, navigation, sailing tips, safety ideas, yacht & multihull reviews along with stories and insights for the sail cruising life in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Europe , Australia and New Zealand.
Action cameras, adventure cameras, body- or head-cams; call them what you will – we’re talking here about the type of cameras often referred to generically as ‘GoPros’ after the company largely responsible for bringing this type of image recording device…
Magnetic Island has turned heads for eons, but since SeaLink Magnetic Island Race Week was added to the northern sailing regattas in 2007, competitors from far and wide have been captivated. Four years ago, when James Permezel competed for the…
Most of us sailors have thanked one or more Gods of the Sea on more than one occasion for safely delivering us from a potential disaster, as is the case for veteran sailor John Kretschmer. In Kretschmer’s 2014 highly popular…
On Lake Taupō, New Zealand, Sue Hoffart finds a nautical saga that has it all. Although Dave Nesbitt may have been born to sail, he’s taken some unlikely detours en route to yacht ownership. And he’s certainly struck some rough…
With leisure boat sales on the rise, the Whitsunday region is experiencing unprecedented levels of new visitors this year, many of which are experiencing our spectacular backyard for the first time. In addition, the annual migration of cruising yachts is…
Knowing the right sailing terms to use on board a boat is not just a way of sounding super cool and impressing your friends, though it does works for that too… It’s actually very useful, and sometimes crucial in communicating…
Three sailmakers take a look at off-wind sails that will keep your boat moving on a reach and a run. Not so long ago, most production sailboats featured sail plans that were a bit different from what one might encounter…
It’s been a tumultuous year for the world, and getting away from it all on a recreational boat has given many the respite they’ve needed. With lives upended, some recreational boat owners have chosen to reflect on the times when…
A solo sailor has spent seven hours trapped on his yacht after it smashed onto rocks off the Coffin Bay National Park on South Australia’s west coast. Key points: Will Fantom was circumnavigating Australia when he ran aground near Coffin Bay…
Personal floatation devices come in two main forms buoyancy aids and life-jackets. Worn correctly a personal flotation device could save your life.
Award-winning dealership The Multihull Group (TMG) have once again cemented its reputation as one of the world’s leading marine importers. At the recent world conference for Lagoon Catamarans, TMG were announced as the number one dealer in the Asia Pacific…
Pantaenius Insurance has established an office at The Boat Works (Gold Coast, Queensland). The Pantaenius team have expanded from their NSW headquarters to now offer instant boat insurance quotations and cover to owners from their new premise. Other businesses to populate the purpose-built professional facilities include…
La Grande-Motte, France: Gunboat announces the Gunboat 72V, a new catamaran concept to complement the existing heritage series’ currently in production (the Gunboat 68 and Gunboat 80) – the first catamaran with Gunboat sailing performance and a flybridge. Design and…
The Boating Industry Association (BIA) has cancelled the Sydney Festival of Boating, which was scheduled to run from July 29th to August 1st, to support efforts by government in controlling the current COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney. The BIA Board yesterday…
We ask Seth Hynes (from @The Sailing Family and Outremer 51owner) and Doug Hibberd (Outremer 4X and former 5X owner https://sailpuffin.com/ ) why a performance catamaran should be considered for cruising with family. This full replay of the panel discussion…
On Friday morning, a lifesaving crew from the German Sea Rescue Society (DGzRS) worked with German police to save a historic sailing vessel from sinking in Eckernförde Bay, located on Germany’s Baltic coast north of Kiel. At about 0925, the master…
As part of the effort to stem the tide of plastic pollution entering the world’s oceans, the Coca-Cola Company is joining with The Ocean Cleanup to expedite the deployment of clean-up systems in15 rivers around the world. The partnership is…
Tax Deductible Donations for a Cleaner Ocean Ocean Crusaders have been cleaning waterways across the Eastern seaboard for the last 5 years and have removed staggering amounts of debris, stopping it from getting out into our playground. In 2020 that…
Just as caged canaries once warned coal miners of the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning, free-flying seabirds are now warning humanity about the deteriorating health of our oceans. Seabirds journey vast distances across Earth’s seascapes to find food and to…
A man has died after his boat ran aground amid powerful swells at Port Hacking, south of Sydney. Emergency services responded at 3.45pm on Monday to reports a vessel had run onto the rocks at Bundeena. A man, aged in…
Five people are lucky to be alive after their yacht hit a reef in rough seas off the coast at Jurien Bay in Western Australia. The four-hour rescue operation to save the five sailors in the sinking boat, saw two…
In January we brought you a story from the US about a stolen tiki hut.”This time we have a story for all of us that might have scratched a boat in their career – a tiki barge crash. Last Weekend…
Revolutionary new online berth system Rent My Boat Berth now stretches along the east coast of Australia, offering cruising sailors a safe and cost-effective overnight or long-stay mooring. The system offers a 24-hour year-round service for cruising sailors to find…
Please do not throw your beacon in the bin. Beacons can inadvertently activate if they are not correctly disposed, which often occurs when beacons are thrown in the rubbish and end up in tips. Every year, thousands of dollars are spent…
Cruising is not about whipping in under full sail, ropes straining, fuelling up and having a shandy and heading off again. There is more to it than that, if it is to be enjoyed in the genteel fashion to which…
Five years ago we were at a remote Pacific island with just a few other yachts. There was socialising ashore and chatter on the VHF. This year we sailed to another remote island: Lord Howe. It was an easy 470…
A UK man who entered Australian waters on a yacht he sailed from Tahiti has been rescued and placed in hotel quarantine after his vessel sank in rough seas off the coast of Newcastle. A gruelling 26-hour operation ended in…
The newly implemented air travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand, combined with an existing sea border exemption for vessels, means New Zealand is now open to business for cruising yachts and superyachts coming from Australia. The yachts can visit…
I had not been in control of a boat since I was 16 years old. Sure, that is not exactly true. We hired a tinny on the Sunshine Coast with the view to catching a fish. Fortunately, no fish were…
London landmark, run aground by lost revenue and a big repair bill, supplied Shackleton and Everest climbers. Next month, Arthur Beale Ltd., a nearly 500-year-old business that sells maritime supplies from central London, is set to close a store famed…
“So where have you sailed from?” “France.” “On this boat?!” Our new neighbours look surprised, we are invited for sundowners. Indeed, a 25 footer is not the size of a sailing boat one would expect to sail to Australia from…
My mother and father owned a succession of sailing boats when my sister and I were growing up. They were all wooden and mostly old, rather like Maurice Griffith’s description about his early east coast years. Their first boat was…
1. Gravity Wave Gravity waves, not to be confused with gravitational waves, form when air is pushed up and gravity pulls the air back down. On its way down, air displaces ocean water, forming waves that look like vertical channels. There…
The Purple Heart is well-known as a US military decoration, awarded to the unfortunates who are wounded in the pursuit of duty. Having been around for quite a while I believe maybe it is time this distinction was extended to…
The stark surface of Redonda Island is turning green again. Hundreds of years ago, Europeans were sailing the globe and “discovering” new parcels of land—and rats came along with them as stowaways. As crews made landfall on many islands, rats…
The weather picture in temperate latitudes can get very messy. Between the southern edge of the sub-tropical ridge (STR) and about 60 degrees south there are several major drivers of local weather locked in a contest for dominance. There is…
Five years ago we were at a remote Pacific island with just a few other yachts. There was socialising ashore and chatter on the VHF. This year we sailed to another remote island: Lord Howe. It was an easy 470…
Have you ever heard of “Micturition syncope”? This is a fainting spell that can occur during or, more commonly, immediately after urination due to a severe drop in blood pressure. On board, such a collapse is not only particularly dangerous,…
Refitting the carburettor after cleaning, testing the motor. Cruising Association – https://www.theca.org.uk/
Experiencing what can only be described as a man’s ‘young-life crisis’, twenty-one year old Andrew Godfrey puzzled over his latest dilemma: “What should I do with my life?” The path should have been obvious. A recent graduate with his Bachelor…
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