Bareboat Charter Checklist

By: Charter, Cruising Tips

It was not that long ago that I boarded my first ever bareboat charter. The excitement with which we approached the catamaran is something I still feel today.  This was to be the greatest vacation of our lives. The top of the bucket list was going to be checked off. A bareboat charter with my family. The dream of this sailor. Yes, it was the greatest trip we had ever taken up to that point.  Our subsequent bareboat charters have surpassed our first as our favorite but the very first time on a catamaran in the Caribbean is still a …

Twelve Steps To Becoming A Sailor

By: Learn To Sail, women on the water

While scrolling through Facebook I was introduced to the Women’s Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay (WSA) sailing group. This post appeared and I had to share it with our American Sailing Readers.  We all have dreams about sailing and the author of this piece, Yosh Han, outlines her twelve steps to living her life as a sailor.  Even though I feel like I have the dream job, Yosh might have me beat. If you need a recipe for a major lifestyle change, this is it.   How I Got Into Sailing, And You Can Too. I got hooked on sailing …

Should ASA Instructors (and Skippers in General) Be Good Swimmers?

By: Instructors, Learn To Sail, Sailing Tips

Should You Know How to Swim to Learn to Sail? For sailors who grew up perpetually wet from ages 5 to 25, having fun righting capsized dinghies, less fun while righting turtled ones, and trapeze sailing small boats competitively in school and college, this question might seem to be axiomatic. Yet, there have been some very accomplished sailing skippers who cannot swim. Three-time America’s Cup winner, two-time Star Class World Champion, and Olympic Bronze Medalist Tempest Class sailor Dennis Conner cannot swim. British Royal Navy explorer, navigator, and cartographer Captain James Cook, who sailed thousands of miles across uncharted areas …

Tips From The Text: The Lookout Rule

By: Sailing Tips

“Every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing as well as by all means available appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions so as to make a full appraisal of the situation and of the risk of collision.”  – Rule 5 from the Navigation Rules (International-Inland) from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security United States Coast Guard The Navigation Rules apply equally to every vessel on the water. While they differ slightly in inland waters from international waters, and even to some degree under local jurisdictions, The Lookout Rule applies everywhere and you can …

plastic free food

Plastic-Free Provisioning

By: Cruising Tips, Environmental, Sailing Tips

ASA’s Plastic Pollution Purge campaign asked our fellow sailors to “bring back more plastic than you take to your boat”, and to have fun practicing your crew overboard drills as you recover trash on the water. But to break the vicious cycle of plastic pollution in the water we must prevent it from getting to the ocean in the first place. An analysis of our results from the Landfill Challenge showed us that most of the plastic waste we create in our day-to-day lives comes from the way we eat and drink. Since we usually do this 3 times daily, …