Last time, we focused on why more people don’t wear life vests, lifejackets, or inflatable PFDs. Now, let’s talk about who should wear one, when and why. The obvious answer is everyone, all the time, because it is the number one safety tool on the boat. After all, you wear your seatbelt all the time,…
This was our third time crossing north/south to or from New Zealand and I’m relieved to say that—hopefully—it’s our last! We’ve been told it’s a tricky passage and we’ve found that to be the case. Picking a good weather window is crucial and we’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to wait it out each…
Why don’t more people wear PFDs (personal flotation devices), aka lifejackets? It is a fact that most drowning victims are not wearing a PFD. We wear seatbelts, helmets when we ski or ride a bike (at least you should, my bike helmet has two dings in it from falls), and in general we are more…
Growing up here as a kid in the 1950s and early 60s in Youngstown, NY, on the Lower Niagara River, we would watch the new Shepard mahogany runabouts being tested on the river each spring. They were built right across the river in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Before long the Hinterhoeller and C&C plants came along, again…
We have been looking for a weather window before Memorial Day to finish our trip home from Hilton Head Island on Essential, our Back Cove 37. Last month we ran to Annapolis to get out of South Carolina before we rubbed up to the 180-day rule subjecting us to state taxes. We also arranged for some…
‘Tis the time of year when used boats are selling rapidly and almost all of them need condition and valuation surveys. Marine surveyors are harder to find these days since many have retired, and their reports are more expensive. However, insurance companies and some lenders want a survey, and you would be wise to have…
Circumnavigators talk taking the leap with Back Cove When Mike and Donna Hill decided to embark on the Great Loop, they knew they needed the right boat to take them on this new adventure. The Hills are not new to boating. They are veterans in every sense of the word—longtime sailors who have traveled 60,000…
On April 10th I flew from NYC to Norfolk Virginia to finish the escrow items on the sale of a 2015 Bavaria 42 Vision that I had found in my role of “buyer’s agent” for a client from Katlynn Marina. Four years ago, I sold this client a Hunter 33.5 as his first boat, and he has been learning and working…
Bow thrusters and back-up cameras: what do they have in common? They both reduce the possibility of hitting something you don’t want to hit, and they take much of the anxiety out of close quarters maneuvering. Most would never buy a vehicle that didn’t have the back-up camera, and likewise it is becoming almost standard…
The rudders are on, provisioning is done, the task list has gotten smaller (is any task list ever really complete??) and there’s nothing keeping us from going offshore to New Caledonia—except weather. Since we sailed north from the Hauraki Gulf almost three weeks ago, it’s been an almost unbroken string of bad weather in New…