Oak Harbor Youth Sailing Program kicks off in June
The Oak Harbor Youth Sailing Program is filling up fast! Their June program starting on June13th has already filled up, but openings are still available in both of their July sailing camps. Youth Sailing Camp – Monday through Friday 10AM - 3:30PM July 6-10 (this is a 5 day camp) Youth Sail Class Session II – Weekends 10AM - 3:30PM July 18, 19, 25, 26, August 1 & 2 This sailing... [Read more]
Crabbing Season in Puget Sound Starts June 18
It’s time to get out your crabpots, untangle your lines and ask your friends for a great Crab Cake recipe - Crabbing season in South Puget Sound is set to start on June 18. For those of you in Central and North Puget Sound, as well as Hood Canal and the San Juan Islands, you’ll need to wait a little bit later before sitting down to crack your first claw of fresh-caught crab. These... [Read more]
Seattle Boats Afloat Show Starts Today
photo: Neil Rabinowitz The Northwest Marine Trade Association’s 31st annual Lake Union Boats Afloat Show got underway this morning at 10am. Running from September 10th through September 14th, the Boats Afloat Show is the West Coast’s largest floating boat show, featuring over 260 yachts ranging in size from 20 to 143 feet. Last year, the show attracted over 10,000 boating... [Read more]
SAIL Magazine Writing Contest
Are you the next great sailing journalist? Do you think your cruising experiences are worthy of print? Do you just like the idea of seeing your latest sailing yarn in a national magazine? If so, hurry up and write about your recent experience to make the June 30th deadline for SAIL Magazine’s “Cruising North America Writing Contest“. The contest is fairly straightforward - imagine... [Read more]
Women’s Sailing Conference coming to Port Townsend
Port Townsend Yacht Club will be hosting one of three national Women’s Sailing Conferences on August 2. The conference, sponsored by BoatUS and organized by the National Women’s Sailing Association, will include instruction on docking and mooring techniques, spinnaker handling, heavy weather sailing, single-handed sailing, GPS charting, helming, tacking & gybing and more. Whether you... [Read more]
Sailing Charter Checklist - What to pack for your cruise
We are preparing this week for a four-day charter next week in the San Juan Islands through Anacortes Yacht Charters. This is the first time we’ll be cruising on a boat that is not our own, and so have to make sure that we pack everything we’ll be needing for the trip. First Aid and Meal planning checklists will be separately posted. Here’s the packing list we came up with for... [Read more]
How can you prevent feeling seasick?
I remember a crossing of the Straight of Juan de Fuca that was particularly harsh when I was eight years old. We had taken leave of the safe harbor of Port Townsend early in the morning and were greeted by calm seas for the crossing with our friends in the Catalina 27′ fleet. No sooner were we 15 minutes out of port that the wind and swells started picking up. Within the next 15 minutes,... [Read more]
The first and only “Learning to Sail” book you’ll ever need
There are many worthy how-to books that you can (and should) read if you are just learning to sail. But if you are only looking for one book to read before getting on a boat for the first time, Sailing Fundamentals is the book for you. Sailing Fundamentals is the textbook of choice for most sailing schools across the country, and is published under the banners of both the American Sailing Association... [Read more]
Flip Mino - The Perfect Video Camera for your Sailboat
I grew up in a family obsessed with taking pictures and video. From the old-style Super8 Film cameras to the Sony 8mm camcorder to the Sony Digital8 digicam to miniDV and now HD camcorders, every family event has been permanently caught on videotape. But even with the advent of DVD to transfer your video from videotape to a more stable platform, our videos have always been hard to watch, and even... [Read more]
Sailing Games for Kids - Shark Attack!
Are you having trouble getting your kids interested in sailing? Here’s an online game that lets your kids learn and test their sailing skills - Shark Attack! They will use their sailing skills to save men who have fallen overboard while avoiding a great white shark and trying not to crash into the rocks. The angle of wind changes throughout each session (sometimes a bit too unpredictably),... [Read more]