Category Archives: General

Frank Talk About Splicing

In general, I am quite a fan of archaic sailing arts. Some of them I can even justify under the heading of safety, like knowing how to use a sextant. But for practical reasons, I hesitate to recommend splicing braided … Continue reading

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Sailing ABC – A is for Anchor – Anchoring, I

Sailing ABC  by Marianne Wheeler A is for Anchor – Anchoring, I We all like to sail fast and be blown away by the wind, but it serves a sailor well to know how to anchor and make a boat … Continue reading

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Sandbaggers

The term “sandbag” is used in several seemingly unrelated senses. As a verb it can mean to emplace bags to prevent flooding; to pretend to be a duffer at golf or poker or auto racing, only to reveal your mastery … Continue reading

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Know Your Depths

We had an opportunity recently to check depths in the mooring field at Ayala Cove and the docks at Sam’s Anchor Cafe. The results were surprising! At a zero tide: Depths on the west and southwest sides of the mooring … Continue reading

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C’mon, It’s Not All Bad!

C’mon, it’s not all bad! Here’s another chapter from Captain Craig’s offshore journal. Okay, okay, a few folks might have been a little spooked by my article on scariest moments outside the gate. Remember, these are only ten stories from … Continue reading

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What’s in a Gust

A few days ago I was checking the weather forecast for that day on San Francisco Bay.  It was a pretty mild wind forecast for late August, winds from the SW at 15 with gusts to 25, however it got … Continue reading

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Plimsoll Line

Remember when you were just learning to sail and the boat heeled over for the first time? My instructor was calm, but I’m told I was yelling “Help! Yikes! Eeek!”…although I’m pretty sure it was quite a bit more dignified … Continue reading

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The Seven Seas

The Eurythmics sing that they have traveled the Seven Seas. They say “traveled,” not sailed, but in any case, I’m not sure I’m clear what they’re talking about. Aren’t there way more than seven seas? I mean, the Mediterranean Sea, … Continue reading

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Answers to a weather question!

Matt, I submitted the question of “Why there was so much difference in humidity between San Fransisco and NYC Some Telltale readers may find this interesting. Charlie Dear Charlie Wilson, Thank you for your recent question. First, it’s important to … Continue reading

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Nautical Terminator, June 2011

Part 2 Tonnage Last time we distinguished three sorts of tonnage applicable to boats: displacement, deadweight tonnage, and gross and net register tonnage. The displacement of your sailboat will be given in the owner’s manual. The deadweight tonnage is not … Continue reading

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