Having experienced it a few times firsthand, and seen it close up in other capacities, I know how stringent the Bermuda Race's safety protocols are, and how seriously the offshore racing community takes safety. Despite this, this year's race saw 3 boats abandoned - two on the race and one on the ret …

Thankfully, boaters have become more aware of on the water risks and the ways to mitigate and manage them – life jackets, dead man cords, tethers, alcohol awareness, even sun protection. Unfortunately, there’s less awareness of hazards that we face when we’re working on and near boats. #1 Solvent …

We've been banging on about the wisdom of finally replacing your boat's old and worn chain and wire, and offering a spoonful of sugar to help the process along. The response has been very encouraging, and as TravelLift operators across the country hear "ladies and gentlemen, start your engines!" it' …

When I first started racing on big boats, the coolest boats all had gigantic wheels, preferably sunk deep into the deck. Getting the helmsperson outboard as far and as comfortably as possible was the goal. On our family's classic C&C 34, good luck seeing the jib telltales or anything else forwar …

And just like that, here we are once again at boat show season already. We don't do nearly as many shows as Edson used to do in the old days - there aren't nearly that many shows these days anyhow - but we've got a busy fall schedule that's got us hammering to get everything prepped and ready.  …

A few weeks ago, we published a post about steering cable tension (link) which has proven to be remarkably popular and useful. The photo at the bottom of that post shows the tightening nut installed with the second nut correctly installed as a locking nut. As I've looked at more and more steeri …

The ocean crossing hype is real. Last night we watched the premiere of 11th Hour Racing's film Under The Hull (link) at Fort Adams in Newport RI, the Newport to Bermuda Race (link) starts tomorrow also in Newport, and our friends Jordan and Des (along with Steve and Oso) from Project …

An underappreciated element of sailboat steering maintenance is cable tension. Most people don't think too much about it, but in minor cases it can cause some imperfect steering responses and markedly increased system wear, and in more major cases it can cause a catastrophe.A lack of cable tension c …

First off, for anyone planning to do coastal cruising of any sort, please consider taking a Safety at Sea course. I took my first before a Bermuda Race about 20 years ago and still use lessons from it. The courses are meticulously designed, presented, and updated by experts who really care abou …

There's no arena where the proverbial ounce of prevention is more valuable than safety at sea. Murphy's Law and simple logic dictate that things always go wrong at the worst possible moment - nice sunny days with a moderate sea breeze don't tax your systems too much, but more challenging conditions …