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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”

Sailing by the numbers…. 3 people on the boat 2 people with the same name (Pavel and Paul) 10 nautical miles into the ocean past the Golden Gate Bridge 345 feet the largest depth noted 25.5 knots the largest gust of wind noted 0.25 the proportion of fuel remaining in the main fuel tank atContinue reading “Sailing Pacific Ocean 05/24/2020”

This has been an interesting week on Skiron. I worked with a local rigger to obtain quotes on a replacement Genoa sail. I did a lot of my own research on sailcloths, cuts, styles, etc. I’ve decided to go with sails by Hood Sailmakers. They craft the sails in Rhode Island. A local Hood loftContinue reading “Sails, Systems, and Sunshine”

My first experience with an autopilot was in the cockpit of a Piper Archer II fixed gear low wing aircraft. I didn’t really care much for it. Sure. It maintained a course. I felt more comfortable, however, with my hand on the “stick” as I was more prepared to quickly deal with updrafts and downdrafts.Continue reading “Autopilots: who’s at the helm?”

There are plenty of things on a sailboat that use energy in one way or another. That energy passes through the boat systems by way of electrical power when connected to a shore power outlet or is “drawn from” batteries that act as a source of electrons to operate boat systems dependent on electrical power.Continue reading “Powering a Sailboat”