Subject: Sail into Summer with SailNet

From: SailNet <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 06 Jun 2007 09:18:19 -0400

Dear SailNet Member!

This week features articles and forum posts that should pique the interest of all our members. In "To Have and To Hold," Good Old Boat's 
Don Launer takes a careful look at the variables involved in safe anchoring, while an article from our sail loft keys on techniques for 
basic rig tuning. In our forums, potential cruisers will find some wonderful suggestions on planning an extended voyage with kids, and 
everyone can benefit from the discussion on jacklines and auto-inflatable lifevests.

Fair Winds. 

Chris — SailNet Crew
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A Good Old Boat Magazine Featured Article
To Have and To Hold: The Basic Rules of Anchoring—and Staying Put

Don Launer, a Good Old Boat contributing editor and USCG-licensed captain, takes a detailed look at anchoring as one of the basic 
skills necessary for any boat owner.

"Everyone who owns a boat will have occasion to anchor at one time or another, perhaps when cruising overnight, clamming, fishing, 
swimming, or visiting friends by water. There are many variables when anchoring: the type of anchor and ground tackle; the composition 
of the bottom; the type, size, and windage of the boat; the speed and direction of the tidal flow; and the wind speed and direction."

Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/seamanship-articles/33209-have-hold-anchoring.html#post151937
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>From the Sail Loft
Basic Rig Tuning
by Dan Dickison

"Where I live—on the southeastern coast of the U.S.—spring is definitely in the air. Sweet-smelling confederate jasmine is in full bloom, 
the days are warm and the nights are cool, and local boats are slowly becoming more and more active. This is the time of year when anticipation 
about the impending sailing season swells and owners profess excitement about the new gear they've acquired over the winter. Veteran sailboat 
owners will tell you, much of that excitement pertains to new sails. But sails alone (new or old) shouldn't be any owner's sole focus right now, 
particularly after a period of time when it's likely that you haven't used the boat much.

Typically, springtime for sailboat owners is a double-edged sword. It's tinged with all that aforementioned anticipation about days to come on 
the water, but it also means work—work getting your sail-handling systems ready, making sure the engine is up to snuff and the bottom paint is 
attended to, that sort of thing. And regardless of whether you sail a Swan 56 or a Catalina 22—or anything in between—if the rig in your vessel 
isn't somewhere close to being in tune, all that other work won't amount to much when it comes time to set your sails."

Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance-articles/33204-basic-rig-tune-most-sailboats.html#post151922
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Hot Forum Discussions
Auto-Inflatable Life Vests

SixBrothers started a great discussion of auto-inflatable life vests with the following post:

"I would like to purchase life vests. Is it better to go with an automatic life vests with the harness as one unit or is some other combination better? 
Does anyone have an opinion or experience with a particular brand? I also want to purchase jacklines, etc. to go with these. Any input on this would be 
appreciated. Thanks"

View the rest of the threads on this subject at:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/gear-maintenance/32816-automatic-lifevest.html
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Hot Forum Discussions
Preparing for a 5-year Cruise with Kids

JimH started a fascinating thread when he posted, "Any advice on how to prepare for a five-year cruise with two kids? We sail a lot now, and charter, 
but we have this growing "bug" of an idea to cruise while we're still in our forties and before the kids hit High School age. We're thinking of picking up 
something like a Pearson 424, Valiant 40 or a Passport 40 in 2-3 years, and then live aboard for a year while still working to prepare. (We're not big 
boat people, but with growing kids...) We'll either cash out the house at the time of purchase, or rent for a year to see how that works out...So, any 
brilliant advice? General budget for the boat would be around $100k (maybe not enough for a Passport 40), and if we don't end up with a perfect blue 
water boat we still do a lot of cruising with a solid coastal cruiser. We have 2-3 years before the next big step, but it's still fun to plan, learn and scheme." 

The reponses are at 79 and counting, including this one from PBzeer, "One of the constant themes I came across in my reading, was to forget about a 
boat, until it's time to go. Downsize your life now, and put as much money away as you possibly can. Get rid of any debt that you can, and basically 
live as frugally as if you were on a boat.

Whether that would be the right approach for you and your family, is up to you. It certainly has some logic to it. Basically though, the more money 
you can put away, the more options you have when it's time to go.

A good starting point would be Nigel Calders "The Cruising Handbook". It can give you a lot of insight into what you need, boatwise, as well as skills. 
There are many books about cruising, starting with Beth Lenords "The Voyagers Handbook". You might want to read as many different ones as you can find, 
so that you can go into this with as realistic approach as possible. 

I think it's a great idea, and will be an education for your kids, that no school can give them." 

View the rest of the thread at:
http://www.sailnet.com/forums/cruising/16321-so-how-do-i-prepare-5-year-cruise-kids.html
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