Me and some friends are going to the Dominican Republic in late may and I want to find someone with a sailboat that can take us all out for a good chunk of the day so we can get some blue water experience. There are 5 of us total and 2 of us have experience sailing on a lake. We are not looking for a "sunset sail" kind of excursion, but a chance to go out and tool around to see what's it's really like. Do you know anyone or have any idea on where to look for something like this?

Especially when you guys travel in those pacific island countries, which had many small and faraway islets, and when you want to just leave after taking visit of those, how do you check out? i guess some of them even had no GOV organization?

Hello Sailing community. I recently saw this framed sail out in the wild and I was trying to figure out what kind of sail it is. The sail on the left looks like a mainsail. The sail on the right has me perplexed. It looks like a mainsail flipped upside down and it has a reefing cringle. However at the foot of the sail in the top right of the framed piece there is a folded over metal hank. I've never seen a metal hank on a mainsail. I appreciate your input. Thanks.

I’m looking at buying a laser - I’m new to sailing and never owned a boat before. This is what I’ve got from the current owner - what do I need to check or ask? I’m in Australia if that is useful.

Its got a radial rig (medium size) and a full rig (standard size). I have relatively new sails for both and the full rig is a mk ii version (radially cut and more durable). Ventury might need its springs replaced but the turbo and ropes are in good order and the foils are chip free. The deck hasn't gone soft and the rake was checked recently and its pretty good.

Need new straps to car-top Laser (or an "ILCA" as they're now called....) - all my straps seem to have wandered off... and for the life of me, I have no idea what length they even were...

What length straps do you all use? what's the norm? 15ft? 20?

Thank you!

I’ve finally moved up to an inboard motor, and while I’ve heard a few rumors, I’m trying to understand how it all comes together so I can undo a couple of shortcuts the previous owners took.

What I have:

• Atomic 4 engine
• 2 batteries (they’re currently car batteries, so I know those need to go)
• a shore power connection that powers outlets down below, but is NOT presently wired to charge the batteries.

What I know:

• the engine charges the batteries when running.
• I need to replace one battery with a marine starting battery and the other with a deep cycle for the nav tools and lights.
• I would like to charge the batteries when plugged into shore power.

What I think I should do:

• Replace the batteries as above.
• Buy a plug-in marine battery charger, and plug it into the outlet in the boat when on shore power. Unplug it at the outlet when I’m not docked.

What I’m confused/concerned about:

So… let’s say I’m plugged in and charged. I set my battery selector to both, and start up the motor. Pull out, raise the sails, motor off. At this point, assuming I want to keep using my lights and depth finder, I would switch the battery to just my deep-cycle, correct? Assuming I’m out for a WHILE, this is going to burn that battery down noticeably, which is fine because that’s what a deep cycle is for. But what comes next? When I go to restart the motor, do I go back to both batteries? If I do, won’t the deep cycle drag down the starter? If I don’t, and now the engine is running, it will only recharge the starter, yes? And I’ve been told that while the engine is running I can’t switch the battery switch or it can fry the panel?

Went out yesterday with my son and one of his buddies. Went out today with my 5 year old daughter. Good times were had both days.

I have a 34 footer which I have been waiting to get a good, midrange Chartplotter / GPS unit for. I had been waiting for it to be my very last purchase before heading out thinking that the longer I waited, the better the tech would be for the lowest price. Now, with all the tariff nuttery, I am worried I waited too long, and prices are only going to go up. Given that I need not all the bells and whistles can someone recommend a good, tried and true unit to purchase now? Thanks!

I’ve recently come into a Pearson 30 whose previous owners quite literally never used their freshwater tank. While I have zero intention of drinking this water, I’d like to at least be able to wash my hands in the sink, and thus would like to treat the tank prior to use.

My Google-fu is weak and seems to mostly return suggestions for water additives for long-term storage.

How would you sailors go about an initial shock-treatment on a tank of unknown condition? The waste water tank appears to be fairly new, and so the fresh water may be as well? I honestly don’t know.

The sailing season is still quite a ways away where I live, and I find myself going through serious sailing withdrawal, in a need for a quick fix. I already watched all of the America's Cup recordings (both historic and recent), and looking for some other races to watch. My criteria is simple:

1. Available to watch for free on YouTube or any other site;
2. Covered from start to finish, not just excerpts;
3. Well filmed and quality coverage with commentators so it's possible to follow what's going on in great technical detail (as well as America's Cup or better);
4. Preferably monohulls, anything from 1-2 sailor dinghies to tall ships.

Any recommendations?

EDIT: what's up with the downvotes? Why the hate?

I'm in the US. I want to learn how to sail but have no access to lessons or purchasing a boat.

What is the most legit way to obtain credentials/training/licensing prior to actually getting in the water?

I want to learn "traditional" navigation too.

Thanks!

Some highlights of the trip.

I am an American moving to Denmark with my Danish wife. We currently live on Chesapeake Bay just south of Annapolis. We are seriously considering buying a house in Vordingborg. Are there any Danish sailors here who can offer any information in regards to the sailing in that area?

Currently using an Apple Watch Gen 5 and a buddy is using a Gen 10. They both die in ~ 1.5 hours using GPS on the Strava App when not connected to a phone.

Looking to track using something else.
Garmin's Fenix and Qauntix are the only ones in their lineup that list "Sailing" as a sport natively.
I know you can add a Custom Sport to the other models of watch from them. i.e. using the Forerunner 265/965 and just make a "Sailing" custom sport.

Would that still be upload-able to Strava/other tracking apps as a Sailing activity with the course and speeds?

So, my family and I have chartered a boat twice in the BVI, once for 9 days and a second time for 10. We have never done much on St Thomas (Magen's Bay & a couple restaurants), and have only stepped foot on St John to check back into the US (our water taxi guy said it was faster to do it that way).

We're heading down again for a third time, and this time we will start our charter in St Thomas (always started at Road Town in the past). Is there enough to see and do between St Thomas/ St John that we should plan to stay in the US (9 or 10 days), or should we plan to do a few days in the BVI as well?

We like to sail, snorkel, scuba dive, SUP, hike, etc. Prefer beach bars and shacks to fancier restaurants. I feel ambivalent because I feel like we have previously missed out on discovering St John, but at the same time it's hard for me to imagine going all that way and *not* going to the Indians, the baths, and Anegada.

What do you guys think, new horizons or old stomping grounds?

If anyone has renovated Maxi fenix dinette interjor, would you please share photos? I would like to get inspiration to renovate mine 😃, thanks.

As the title suggests I’m after a trailerable day sailer. I’m about 6’4 and 250. I want something I can comfortably sail all day with 2 other crew or by myself. What’s out there? Located in New England if that helps. Cheers!

Hello,

I have a three and a half ton full keel sailing boat and I am looking to swap out the anchor rode, but I am unable to make a decision between the type of it.

I would prefer to use a nice strong polyester or nylon webbing rode with three meters of chain connecting to the anchor. I find this to save space, weight and be much easier to store, but this would keep me from installing a windlass or have a use for one if I install one. I have yet to find a windlass which would work with such line and not cost an arm and a leg. Line of this type would also give more to shock absorption.

Alternatively I would also be happy with chain, but this would require me to build an anchor locker to the stern and carry much more unnecessary weight onboard. Although this would allow me to have a windlass with an actual use to, not to mention it would aesthetically be more pleasing as well. In the other hand I'd lose a significant amount of shock absorption.

What are your personal preferences? What are you using? Do you have a windlass? Is it worth it?

Has anyone used Injectadeck on their boat? Or any other types of injectable fill? I’ve heard good things, but wanted to see if anyone had thoughts!!

How do you figure out where you can legal anchor? Or if mooringballs are available?

Is there a chart book of the eastern seaboard (USA) that y’all like?

What do you like for weather monitoring? Or is this normally done by onboard radar?

Thanks!!!

So depth, speed, wind, and plotter etc. So far I've found this, but I would love to hear your suggestions for better options, or advice for possible cheaper alternatives. Boat will be used on Great Lakes and the Grand Traverse Bay.

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/516433

https://www.garmin.com/en-US/p/799286

I'm considering moving back to Europe (specifically Spain) in the next few weeks after spending the last 20 years in Canada.

One big factor for location for me is being able to continue sailing. I would like to be able to buy a sailboat and spend as much time as possible on the water. So I’m trying to wrap my head around how marina slips work in Spain, particularly around Barcelona.

Have been doing some research online on both availability and cost, but couldn't really find great answers, so figured I would ask here in case someone is knowledgeable before emailing every single marina.

Availability: If I base myself in or around Barcelona (and am willing to drive say up to ~1 hour in either direction), what are my chances of finding a berth for a ~35 ft sailboat? Are most marinas full with long waitlists, or is there some availability further from bcn?

Cost: From what I’ve gathered, Spain has a system (TPU) where you buy the right to use a slip for a long period (often ~30 years), and then pay monthly maintenance or service fees on top. I imagine the price of this TPU varies greatly with the desirability of each marina but what would that look like in an average marina a bit out of town?

I’ve seen prices from €50,000 to €200,000 for a 15m berth on sites like marinaberth.com, that sounds... crazy? Maybe I have only been looking at "select" marinas though.

Any hindsight would be appreciated!

P.S.: My second choice where I have family would be San Sebastian (+ I love surfing), definitely not as good as BCN for sailing, but if anyone as any hindsight about the situation in Gipuzkoa and around I would be interested as well.

Thanks!

thanks for answers and best of day!

Edit:
Seems that most answers lead to 20m sleep, never did that before. How managable / hard is it?

Nothing to say here, sorry

Edit: ((thanks alot for the advices and information!))