We spent the day out on the water, testing out a racing mainsail that came with the boat to see how we like it, and to get used to trimming it for different points of sail. Between Point Richmond and Alcatraz, we got every wind speed and every point of sai...
Folding sails can be one of the argument-inducing activities around a boat. After working in a couple sail lofts growing up, I learning how to fold sails by doing it multiple times a day (lol, can you imagine the employee turnover at lofts if an argument b...
In this video we sail from Santa Barbara to Catalina Island. We have a wonderful time sailing under spinnaker for most of that 90 nautical mile trip, allowing us to arrive with plenty of daylight left in the day. Along the way we have a spinnaker jibe go w...
I've refit a Catalina 30, and now have a J-133 that we live aboard, and this book is the the common link. I keep it on the boat at all times (in spite of how hefty it is!).
It's always a little impactful to be offshore, but especially so in the powerful places of the ocean, like around Point Arguello. Even on a calm day, to be here is awe inspiring. If you've ever seen a clear night sky and looked in amazement at how vast an ...
We wrapped up the long weekend with a beautiful sail on the San Francisco Bay. It was a great time to set the auto pilot on AWA mode, get it going to weather, and sit back and relax!
On fall days, the wind blows out of the east in San Francisco, bringing with it smells of Fall foliage, fireplaces, and a dry chill in the air. It's on days like that we enjoy sailing in what feels like a whole new place. We get to go up-wind towards Berke...
On our trip from Santa Cruz Island (Pelican Bay) to Santa Barbara, we left at the same time as two other sailboats, also known as a "Not Race", an "Under Your Breath Race", "A Cruiser's Adultery", or a "Deniable Competition" (cause when you lose, you weren...
We leave Avalon and get out into some of the anchorages on Catalina Island before motoring up to the west end of Catalina to photograph the 2023 Transpac starts on the day when the fastest class of boats would be rounding that point. We have an uneventful ...
A letterbox drop, as chaotic as it may look sometimes (especially this one... it wasn't the cleanest) is in my mind as important to learn if you're flying spinnakers as it is to learn how to lower a jib or mainsail, if not more so. While there are socks an...
Most boats don't allow you to walk around the outside of the forward bed. There's no perfect way to make that kind of bed, whether it's being on top of the bed while making it, or as Ira is expiramenting with here, being under the bed!
One of our friends in Monterey let us take his Boston Whaler out for a spin, and Ira discovered... again... that she likes to go fast! She asked me to sit in the front so I could feel what it was like to try to take photographs from the front of the boat, ...
We love to stop at the Hearst Winery when we're going either up or down the coast. It gives a nice break from the passage up or down the coast, and it's beautiful... oh yeah, and the wine is good too!
Team racing is a really fun variation of sailboat racing. There are teams of two boats generally, and the goal is two-fold: get around the course as a team with the highest finishing places, and as part of that, work together to screw over boats from other...
This is a race recap of our Three Bridge Fiasco race in 2024. We finished 3rd in our class, after two J-125s and before another J-125, and we finished 5th out of 300+ boats... unless you apply the 20 minute penalty that the race committee thought we earned...
In this one we're racing in the YRA Doublehanded Midwinters race. We got 4th place in this race. I may or may not make videos of other races in this series, as all the other races were light-wind races that weren't as eventful, but let me know if you want ...
We start our sail north from San Diego, and after some brief stops in Dana Point, Newport Beach, and beautiful Santa Cruz Island, we make it to Santa Barbara. We wait in Santa Barbara until we get a good weather window to go up the central coast, and that'...
In this vlog, learn about dealing with a leaky fresh water tank aboard a liveaboard sailboat. Watch as we identify the issue, test vents, and attempt fixes.
Experience the adrenaline-fueled world of yacht racing with Our Lady Defiant as we navigate our liveaboard sailboat through the challenging Richmond Yacht Club Beercan Race, sailing against a fierce 24-28 knot wind.
We've had a bad experience with our Lewmar windlass. I love the low-profile of the gypsy and that the chain/rhode has contact with the gypsy 3/4 of the way around, but the motor, and in particular where they put the overheating cutout wire, is not well tho...
In this video we pick up after having spent some time in Santa Barbara, and doing another trip to Santa Cruz Island. On our way back we made awesome time, doing the 21-mile trip in a little over 2.5 hours, and surrounded by excited dolphin for large chunks...
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