Just back from a whirlwind 6 day/6 island passage training course on a chartered catamaran with a client interested in extending his cruising range by sailing longer legs across international borders in more challenging, open water conditions. Day One: Starting in St. Martin, French West Indies, we headed 40 odd miles south in 15-20kts of true … [Read more...]
To Catch a Fish
As I was preparing to help deliver a brand new Passport 545 from Hampton, VA to the BVI, the proud owner emailed the crew to to let us know that one of our fellow crewmates, Geoff Mason, had ‘guaranteed’ that he’d catch us a large dolphin fish (aka Dorado or Mahi-Mahi) during our 1400 mile passage south. "Great!” I thought. You see, although … [Read more...]
Heads up Cats: be especially wary of a lee shore
Last summer I had the pleasure of coaching the owners of a modern 45’ cruising catamaran on the challenges and satisfaction that comes from an open water inter-island passage: in this case from the BVI south to Grenada. The month was July which is technically within the Caribbean's storm season (June through November) but statistically unlikely to … [Read more...]