Lifting Keel Yacht

Posted by John in Lifecycle of a yacht, Safety

This Expedition Cruiser is now sold

Below are details of ‘Crusoe’ which was For Sale but is now sold. FYI we have left this information up for you to puruse.

She is a special yacht who is bound to serve her new owners well. She is our bench mark for a state-of-the-art live aboard yacht built to serve a couple that is both adventurous and wants the comfort and safety that is possible in a strong modern sailing yacht.

Read on for more details.

Stern view of Crusoe Crusoe sailing under headsail & mizzen

Crusoe sailing 1 Crusoe sailing 2

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Why are aircraft safer than yachts?

Posted by John in Lifecycle of a yacht, Safety

Is it true that flying at 100’s of mile an hour is less demanding on an aircraft than sailing across the ocean at 10 knots. Probably not, but it does seem that we have come to expect planes to fly and yet are never surprised when yachts breakdown, even spectacularly, losing keels, rigs or filling up with water and sinking.

Here are some observations of a sailor who works as an engineer with aircraft. More »

Maintenance is good for you (and your yacht)

We all know that maintenance is good for boats, that’s how they get to live a long life. But have you considered that maintenance may be good for your confidence, boat handling skills and seamanship?

Let me explain… More »

Is the Ocean a dangerous place?

Posted by John in Boat handling, Safety

Does sailing across the ocean have to be a scary experience? It certainly sounds like it from all the stories we get told.
I do agree that nothing appeals to sailors more than the delight of telling stories and more specifically the delight in telling horror stories of near miss, life and death situations.

I know it doesn’t have the same story telling appeal, but my experience has been one of always crossing the ocean safely and without incidents. More »

What is the secret to safe sailing in heavy weather?

Posted by John in Boat handling, Safety

There are probably as many opinions as there are sailors as to what is the safest way to handle heavy weather. The most popular strategy these days, which is usually possible with accurate weather forecasting, is to stay away from heavy weather.
However that doesn’t answer the question, and doesn’t apply if you take the attitude of lets go sailing whatever the weather. More »

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The three rules of sailing

Posted by John in Boat handling, Safety

The three rules of sailing are:
1. Keep the boat off the land.
2. Keep the water out of the boat.
3. Stay on the boat.

Everything else is optional.

Could sailing be this simple? More »

What do sailboats hit?

Posted by John in Safety

Are you confused about the real dangers of hitting things at sea?
Reading the media, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that the ocean is littered with containers and whales just waiting to be hit by you as you sail along. Is this the case?

There is usually a difference between what we talk about and what statistically is likely to happen. More »

Why does safety take practice?

Posted by John in Safety

When I was sailing a lot, I realized that what made sailing safe was that I was sailing a lot.
Because I had lots of practice, I saw situations develop and I knew ahead of time what to do. I knew how all the systems worked on the boat without reading any instructions and could go about the business of sailing night and day without any problems. The secret here is practice. More »