Sailing Stories

New
Exploring Alaska’s Coastline
Remember when Uncle Ron would come over & give a boring slide show of his summer vacation? Exploring Alaska’s Coastline takes the concept of a slide show to the next level! Running a quick 3.5 minutes, the presentation features music, dynamic maps, & 60 images from Yakutat to Cape Decision. Requires Macromedia Flash Player version 5/6. If you are on broadband it will take 10–20 seconds to download. On a dialup line, probably 5–10 minutes.


New
Navigation Software & Electronic Charting
This article is a primer on navigation software and electronic charting. This is a fairly general article which compliments the more specific article on Visual Navigation Suite below. About 2,000 words and five pictures/illustrations. Enjoy!


Visual Navigation Suite After 4000 Miles
One of the first books on cruising I ever bought was Hal Roth's, After 50,000 Miles. Unfortunately I don't remember many of Hal's recommendations, but for some reason the title has always stuck in my mind. In this article you will find some of my thoughts on Nobeltec's Visual Navigation Suite (VNS) charting program after logging a measly 4000 miles.


South to Olympia
A story about a 5-day voyage we took south to Washington's capital, Olympia. Among other things, you will read about the Tacoma Narrows, the Nisqually Earthquake and how I mistook Desitin for toothpaste. Thirteen photos, two mini-maps, 3,000 words and one near grounding.


TGW.NET Voyage Log
I got tired of shelling out $20 every year for a new cruising logbook, so I created my own. Now you can have it too—all you need is a printer and the free Adobe Acrobat Reader®. Print it out, make some copies on 3-hole punched paper, stick it in a 3-ring binder and you'll have an instant daily voyage log.


Thistle Trials & Tribulations
Read an update on our continued attempts at Thistle sailing. We are sporting a new boat with new sails. My good buddy Dan Weatbrook contributed many of the photographs. This short story is about 2,500 words long and includes approximately 30 award winning pictures.

Cruising Clayoquot
Join the s/v Patience as she heads out the treacherous Straits of Juan de Fuca to Clayoquot Sound on Vancouver Island’s west coast. We don’t experience much wind, but do see lots of fog and are swarmed by arthropods one heinous morning. This photo-essay contains 15,000 words, over 60 images & 8 maps.

NW Boating Essentials™
Not exactly a sailing story, but you'll be glad you checked it out! Focused primarily on the Puget Sound & San Juans, this one-page cheatsheet has all the information you need to cruise the Pacific Northwest. Print it out, and you will have a boatload of marina phone numbers, VHF frequencies, customs information, etc., at your fingertips.

Adventures in the Charlottes
It took a year of labor & toiling and one harddrive crash, but Adventures in the Charlottes is finally completed. This labor of love is 55,000 words long and contains over 150 great pictures. Join the crew of the s/v Patience as they journey to the Queen Charlotte Islands and back.

Around Vancouver Island
Around Vancouver Island (AVI) is an entertaining and informative story about sailing around Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The story is set in 1995 and 1996 as is based on fact . The story is 13,000 words long and contains about 40 images.

Thistle Sailing— #3175
Thistle Sailing is a chronicle of my and my partner's endeavor to competitively race the Thistle dingy we purchased in 1996. Short story and 12 images.

Valentines Day Cruise 2000—Circumnavigating Vashon
A short story about cruising around Vashon Island in the s/v Patience during the winter of 2000. While I wouldn't classify this story as 'high adventure', you should find it entertaining. The story includes thirteen great pictures and a short appendix on storms in the Puget Sound.

Valentines Day Cruise 1998
Valentines Day Cruise 1998 is a story about a great trip my wife and I took aboad the Patience during Valentines Day Weekend 1998.

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  Sidebars

About Clayoquot Sound
Clayquot Sound is so peaceful, it should be called Clayoquot Silent. It’s not always been so peaceful though. Read about what makes this place so special, yet controversial.

Fish Farms
Fish farms are strange beasts. Learn how these puppies work and sometimes don’t work.

Itineraries for getting to Clayoquot or Barkley Sound
Clayoquot & Barkley Sound can hard places to get to. First there’s the straits, then there’s customs.

Oil Tankers in Juan de Fuca
Every wonder about those commercial behemoths that we share the waterways with? I never did until one fine summer day.

About the Queen Charlotte Islands
They call them the “Canadian Galápagos” and the “Hawaii of Canada”. Learn a little more about these remote islands off British Columbia’s coast.

About the s/v Patience
Read about our trusty vessel, the s/v Patience. She’s stout, a little slow, but she's served us well.

Canadian Coast Guard & Environment Canada
You can’t help but like the Canadian Coast Guard & Environment Canada. Bottom line, they kick-ass. Plus, their ships are painted a cool color.

Message in a Bottle
The movie sucked, but it at least inspired us to throw out five bottles while we were sailing to the Queen Charlottes and back. Read this sidebar to find out how many bottles found home.

Storms in the Puget Sound
We don’t get much in the way of storms here in the northwest. But by-God, when we do, the media sure gives ‘em good names.


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