Author Archives: lewisblevins

Hang around sailboats long enough, and pay attention to what you’re seeing, and you’re sure to take notice of a few rather curious things that have been crafted by human hands. Knots are one thing. Splices and whipping are yet another! Whipping is a wrap of a thread, usually waxed, at the end of aContinue reading “Whipping the end of Lines”

Sailing this summer has been rather interesting. I’ve not been dissuaded by the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, I’m convinced sailing on the Bay might just be the safest place to be! The main limitation to sailing this year has been the wildfire smoke that has had us enshrouded for the better part of the pastContinue reading “Sailing the SF Bay Summer 2020”

This cruising guide is essential to those venturing out the Golden Gate and sailing or motoring southward along the coast of California. I first learned of the guide while researching sailing around Point Conception…the “cape Horn of the Pacific.”

Heavy weather means different things to different people. I suppose a more appropriate title for this entry might be sailing in rough seas. The lucky boats are the ones that are not in the wrong spot when a giant wave climbs toward the heavens, then succumbs to gravity and descends like a horseman from hellContinue reading “Sailing Heavy Weather”

The last couple of times sailing Skiron I noted that the self-tacking jib wouldn’t fully cross over following a tack. I found that releasing the sheet a little would fill the sail with wind and the sail would ultimately cross over. One afternoon, for some reason or other, I decided to look at the hardwareContinue reading “Systems of measurement on a sailboat: imperial versus metric.”

Skiron has an adjustable backstay from the top of the mast to the stern. There are also two adjustable running backstays to employ when the storm jib is flown. The vessels that I had sailed during my time of training with Club Nautique had fixed backstays from mast to stern. Thus, I didn’t truly understandContinue reading “The Adjustable Backstay”

If you’ve been on a sailboat, and paid attention to some of the instrumentation and displays, you will have noticed that there is a likely a device of sorts to provide a readout of the boat speed and distance traveled through the water and another to provide an estimate of the depth of the water.Continue reading “Cleaning the Knotmeter and Fathometer.”

The allure of the Golden Gate Bridge is understandable. It is truly an icon of the Bay Area and, perhaps, of America as well. One cannot drive across the bridge without being tempted to take photographs and, during a drive, it is not unusual to see 4 to 5 people taking photographs of or fromContinue reading “The Golden Gate Bridge from Skiron and other Sailing Vessels.”

I’m fairly convinced that only a small fraction of those skippering boats on the water posses an understanding of collision regulations. The collision regulations, known as ColRegs, are a set of……. Well. I used to think of them as “regulations.” I suspect they are “sort of” laws governing mariners that are enforceable should there beContinue reading “Collision Regulations”

To many, the Golden Gate conjures up mental images of the Golden Gate Bridge. To most local seafaring types, the Golden Gate represents the channel or passage from just about a quarter-mile east of the Golden Gate Bridge all the way to an imaginary line drawn between point Bonita to the north and the cornerContinue reading “Sailing out the Golden Gate”