Category Archives: General

This tip could have been named “Obtaining a Fix.”  Maybe it should have been, because that’s what its all about. Dead Reckoning is a great thing.   It’s a way to figure out approximately where you are.  However, the goal of … Continue reading →

Inland Navigation Rules Nav Rules Make Easy Rules 20 to 30 In the Nav Rules Made Easy series, we’ll explain each Inland Navigation Rule, with an emphasis on the information that’s most important for recreational sailing in the San Francisco … Continue reading →

Inland Navigation Rules Nav Rules Make Easy Rule 19 In the Nav Rules Made Easy series, we’ll explain each Inland Navigation Rule, with an emphasis on the information that’s most important for recreational sailing in the San Francisco Bay.  We … Continue reading →

Inland Navigation Rules Nav Rules Made Easy Rules 11 to 18 In the Nav Rules Made Easy series, we’ll explain each Inland Navigation Rule, with an emphasis on the information that’s most important for recreational sailing in the San Francisco … Continue reading →

Inland Navigation Rules Nav Rules Make Easy Rules 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 In the Nav Rules Made Easy series, we’ll explain each Inland Navigation Rule, with an emphasis on the information that’s most important for recreational sailing … Continue reading →

Inland Navigation Rules Nav Rules Made Easy The Navigation Rules are also commonly called “rules of the road” and apply to you, me and all Tradewinds skippers. The rules are nicknamed, “Colregs” which stands for International Regulations for Preventing Collisions … Continue reading →

If ever there was a “catch all” navigation tip, this is it.  While determining a course to steer, the navigator needs to know and/or take into consideration: The relationship of Distance, Speed, and Time Conversion from True to Magnetic to … Continue reading →

When I think of Bareboat Cruising students and graduates, I visualize a skipper interested in spending a week or two on a chartered boat, enjoying an established cruising area with an number of “day sails,” stopping nightly to dock, moor, … Continue reading →

Also known as … is it safe to head out the gate? For over two hundred years, the Golden Gate hid its existence from the Europeans transiting and exploring the coast of California by boat.  First “missed” by Juan Rodriguez … Continue reading →

I’m not a fan of the term Coastal Navigation.  It has become quite popular over the past several years, however, it’s a bit too vague to properly describe the process of safely operating a vessel in coastal waters.  The proper term, … Continue reading →