Top 5 Things To Check Out While Cruising St. Martin!

By: Flotillas

In anticipation of the upcoming flotilla sailing charter vacation in St .Martin on November 13-22 we bring you – the top five cool things about sailing in this awesome Caribbean cruising ground, known as the The Renaissance Islands. Check out the mud baths at Tintamarre Island! They’re about 100-feet inland and said to have magical regenerative properties! Pack mud all over your body, including your hair and soon enough you will have skin soft as a newborn baby. Don’t forget to wash it off before you leave though or you’ll scare the Bejesus out of the rest of the world with your …

Three Essential Sailing Knots

How to Tie 3 Important Sailing Knots

By: Equipment

There are as many sailing knots as there are stars in the night sky — or so it seems. But the reality is that most sailors can get along with only knowing a few, as long as they’re the right ones. In this blog I’ll single out three very important sailing knots, explaining what they’re used for and how to tie them. Don’t forget, it’s necessary to practice these in order to get them down. Your fingers need the tactile learning experience in order to develop muscle memory that will allow you to tie them quickly when you need to! …

Welcome to the water!

By: American Sailing Association

Ready to get pumped up for sailing season? This video from Discover Boating should help. Sailors, powerboaters, anyone who loves the water: come one, come all! Summer is nearly here. What does ASA have on tap for this summer? Oh, nothing much: –Certifying thousands of sailors and helping them take their sailing experience to new heights. –Flotillas in the Caribbean, the San Juan Islands, Greece, the Aegean Rally, Croatia, Southern California, and more. -Our Member’s Event in St. Petersburg, FL: A week of sailing, relaxation, and sunshine at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Marina. -The release of our new cutting-edge …

New 2012 ASA Flotillas!

By: American Sailing Association, Flotillas

Every year ASA organizes flotilla cruises around the world. In 2011 alone we’ve been to the Bahamas, Greece, Croatia, and the Pacific Northwest, among other wonderful destinations. Still to come this year are cruises in Southern California, Florida’s Pine Island Sound, and Tahiti. We’re hitting the ground running in 2012, too. Here are the flotillas scheduled so far: St. Martin and the Leeward Antilles, April 20-28, 2012. With visits to French St. Martin, Dutch Sint Maarten, British Anguilla, and other stops along the way, this cruise will be a mix of European sophistication, with fine shopping and eating, and relaxed …

Bahamas Adventure: The First Leg

By: American Sailing Association, Flotillas, Sailboats

This guest post by ASA’s Brenda Wempner is about ASA’s 2011 adventure flotilla in the Exuma Islands (or “Out Islands”) of the Bahamas. Find out more about ASA’s flotillas here. As the ASA Instructor and Representative on the first week of the ASA Exuma Islands Flotilla, I did not know exactly what to expect. These were new waters for me, new people and boats that I had never sailed before. John Baker took the helm of the boat I was on and easily pointed it out of the small harbor. The water was breathtaking. It changed from emerald green to …

Sirocco and Bora Bora Breezes

By: American Sailing Association, Flotillas, Members, Weather

Continuing “Croatian Tapestry” The builders of Korcula were excellent urban planners. Inside the walled city the narrow alleyways feel mazelike, but in fact they are laid out in parallel lines with only a couple cross streets running the entire length. The ancient builders positioned the streets this way to take advantage of the seasonal winds: Warm Sirocco breezes are the city’s natural air conditioning in summer, while the cold northern Bora Boras, coming from the perpendicular direction in the winter, are blocked out. Our passage back to Milna from Korcula gave us first-hand experience of the biting Bora Bora, beginning …