Boaters Beware The Deadly W

In his article this week, Captain John explains how to deal with dangerous rip currents ashore and afloat...

Guest blog by Captain John
Captain John Jamieson, a regular contributor to the Daily Boater, is author of Seamanship Secrets and publisher of the popular boating education website SkipperTips.com

Boaters should be aware of rip currents near shore. Photo © Nautical Sites Media

Did you realize that rip currents close to beaches can create extreme hazards for coastal cruising sailors? Learn to avoid these deadly navigational hazards...

Scotch and Band-Aids: Updating the Onboard Medical Kit

In this week's column, Vin Pica takes a look inside your typical onboard medical kit and suggests some updates for real-world situations...

Guest blog by Vincent Pica
Chief of Staff, First District, Southern Region (D1SR)
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

A basic First Aid kit like this is a good place to start! Image: redcrossstore.org

About 30+ years ago, while trying to sail out of Hurricane Alberto’s way in the North Atlantic, a rogue wave hit us and I went air-borne. Catching the side of my head on a brass runner, I managed not to be thrown below at a high rate of speed. Of course, it didn’t do wonders for the side of my head.

I was crewing with a new captain for the first time and, when the Chief Medical Officer Marty Boorstein grabbed the scotch because there was no alcohol in the medical kit, I started to worry that more was at work here than Alberto. This column is about the advances since...

Shopping for Boaters on Cyber Monday

Wondering what to buy boating enthusiasts on your holiday shopping list? We have a few boat and yacht gift ideas for you...

In honor of Cyber Monday, we thought we'd share our boating gift ideas one more time in case you missed them last week. With all items available for less than $50, the Daily Boater Holiday Gift Guide highlights several unique nautical gifts your favorite boater will love - many of them can even be personalized with a boat name, and all of them can be enjoyed both on and off the boat...

Check out the Daily Boater Holiday Gift Guide now...

World on Water - Black Friday Edition

We've got the Black Friday edition of World on Water, and other Sailing news for this Black Friday, 2011...

Today's episode of World on Water will get you caught up on all the recent races, events and awards in the international world of sailing, and there are plenty. We also have breaking news from the Volvo Ocean Race that we just received moments ago. Lastly, since today is Black Friday and all, don't forget to check out the 2nd Annual Daily Boater Holiday Gift Guide, which this year features several nautical gifts you can buy for under $50...

Holiday Gift Guide for Boaters

The best nautical gifts under $50 are featured in our 2nd annual holiday gift guide for boating enthusiasts

Personalized fleece blankets, embroidered with your boat name, from BoatNameGear.com

When you need nautical gift ideas for the boating enthusiasts on your shopping list, the annual Daily Boater Holiday Gift Guide is your best bet. And in our second annual edition of the gift guide (published Thanksgiving Weekend 2011, amidst challenging economic times) we've made a conscious effort to keep our selections affordable for everyone.  

This year's Daily Boater Holiday Gift Guide is exclusively comprised of items for boaters under $50. 

Even with that price cap, we found seven unique nautical gifts your favorite boater will love - some can even be personalized with your gift recipient's boat name, and all of them can be enjoyed either on or off the boat...

Have You Checked Your Anchor Ground Tackle Integrity?

In this week's article, Captain John offers tips on one of the most important insurance policies you can have - a secure anchor.

Guest blog by Captain John
Today's post is an excerpt from Captain John Jamieson's eBook, "Sailing Skipper's Pre-Sail Guidebook", which is free to members of skippertips.com.

Safety begins with your anchor. Photo © Nautical Sites Media

Boat brake, insurance policy, or lifesaver. Call it what you wish, but not many sailboat components are as ignored or forgotten about as your anchor, anchor line, anchor chain, anchor shackles, and anchor thimbles.

Forget the paper insurance that covers your boat hull and components. Paper never held a boat in a storm, enabled you to pull yourself off of a sandbar, or saved you from disaster inside a crowded, busy marina when your engine conked out. …

Sail's Best Boats for 2012

Sail Magazine’s 2012 Best Boats Awards were announced yesterday in multiple categories...

Farr 400 One Design Wins the Performance 30ft and Over Category.
Photo courtesy of farr400.com

SAIL Magazine has announced the recipients of its annual Best Boats Awards for 2012. Sail's judges regularly examine the nominees on the docks of the big sailing-focused boat shows, including Newport and Annapolis, and test many of the finalists before choosing the winners. We noticed the contest is sponsored by Raymarine, which probably keeps the pressure of advertiser influence minimized. Also of note is that last year's category of "The Green Award" is absent for 2012 - Not sure why.

Let's look at the winners...

Busy Weekend For Sailing

Exciting action from the America's Cup World Series, Clipper Round the World Race, Volvo Ocean Race, RC44, and the ARC  

Day 5 at the America's Cup World Series - San Diego. Photo ©2011 ACEA/Gilles Martin-Raget

Whew! What an extraordinary time this is to be fan of sailing. This weekend alone, winners were crowned in the America's Cup World Series and the RC44 World Championships, the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers kicked off, and racers in both the Clipper Round the World Race and the Volvo Ocean Race are neck and neck...

World on Water Boating TV 11-18-11

The latest edition of World on Water, the action-packed boating TV show that covers sailing action around the world, is now available on First Boat...

Watch this new episode of World on Water and you'll be caught up on all the recent races, events and awards in the international world of sailing. Today's show, released Friday, November 18, 2011, features the following sailing action from the UK and from around the world...

Boat Shows Around The World

Americas Cup World Series Championships in San Diego; boat shows this weekend in Berlin, Florida, Australia and more...

Each week we tell you about all the coming weekend's boating events, and this weekend there are plenty to report, including an exciting America's Cup World Series event in San Diego, and boat shows in Florida, UAE, Australia and Berlin.

Feel free to jump right to our calendar of boating events at FirstBoat, or continue reading this article at the Daily Boater...

Boaters Drift Home to Florida

Earlier this week, two Americans washed up in a life boat on a Boca Raton beach three days after their 41 foot Hatteras Yacht sank en route to the Bahamas...

On a trip such as the one this boat was on, a few boating safety items may have helped these boaters get rescued sooner. For example, an EPIRB and a ditch bag packed with a portable VHF radio and something more nutritious than chocolate chip cookies. A float plan might have got somebody looking for them. Not trying to play armchair quarterback, or should we say armchair captain, but these are important safety concerns that all boaters should think about before going out on the open sea...





Full story, video, courtesy of WPTV.com 


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Shoreside Power Safety Tips for Safer Dockside Living

We've explored the risks of getting shocked at the dock. Now, Captain John shares some easy-to-follow tips to safely handle your shoreside power and avoid electrical shock.

Guest blog by Captain John
Today's post is an excerpt that Captain John shared with the Daily Boater from his book, Seamanship Secrets, published by International Marine/ McGraw-Hill. You find more of Captain John's seamanship and safety articles on his popular boating education website SkipperTips.com

Make shoreside power safety a priority. Photo © Nautical Sites Media

Use extra caution anytime you need to hook up to or disconnect from shoreside power. At the Chapman School of Seamanship, we used a simple 4 step process to keep students injury free and costly boat equipment safe from surges or electrical failure.

Follow these easy steps to keep dockside living smooth, easy and worry-free.

When you hook up or disconnect from shore power, make the prevention of electrical shock your number one goal…

Galvanic Corrosion – More Shocking

In this week's column, Vin Pica follows up on his column about Electric Shock Drowning with a related and more common issue - corrosion...

Guest blog by Vincent Pica
Chief of Staff, First District, Southern Region (D1SR)
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

Is your marina a "soup bowl" of corrosion?  Photo © Nautical Sites Media PN4RMZDRRP52

When we wrote about Electric Shock Drowning, we were also setting the table for a related and more common problem – what is called Galvanic Corrosion. The same elemental forces that could translate into ESD will definitely create an environment whereby your boat’s metals can “melt away”...

Recent Wrecks and Rescues

Bad luck and big waves combine to leave several boaters in need of rescue...

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Stephen Lehmann.

Over the past few days, there have been a few boating rescues worth reporting on, as well as a tragic turn to the normally fun and exciting power boat races in Key West. Hopefully by sharing these stories from Texas and Florida we can help at least one person be a safer boater the next time they head out on the water...

World on Water - Nov 11 2011

Today's edition of World on Water, the action-packed boating TV show that covers sailing action around the world, is now available on First Boat...

Watch this episode of World on Water and you'll be caught up on all the recent races. Today's show, released Friday, November 11, 2011, features video highlights of the following sailing action...

Sailors of the Year Announced

An American and two Spaniards named ISAF Rolex World Sailors of the Year...

The winners celebrate. Photo: Diego Fructuoso/Team Telefonica/Volvo Ocean Race

Earlier this week in a ceremony in San Juan, Puerto Rico, three people were named the best sailors in the world. Two of them couldn't attend the ceremony because they were busy, um, sailing...

And the winners are...

This Weekend: Yachts, Jazz and Americas Cup

Americas Cup event starts in San Diego,  boat shows this weekend in Barcelona, Florida, Texas and more...

Photo © Gilles Martin-Raget for use on Nautical Sites Media properties

Each Thursday we tell you about all the coming weekend's boating events, and this weekend there are plenty to report, including an exciting America's Cup World Series event in San Diego, and boat shows from Florida to New Zealand.

Feel free to jump right to our calendar of boating events at FirstBoat, or continue reading this article at the Daily Boater...

Captain John and the Magic of S.T.O.P.

This week, Captain John shares one of his "185 Tips & Techniques for Better Navigation, Cruise Planning, and Boat Handling Under Power or Sail" in an excerpt from his book, Seamanship Secrets


Use the Magic of S.T.O.P. to Get Oriented Fast!

Guest blog by Captain John
Author of Seamanship Secrets and publisher of the popular boating education website SkipperTips.com

I got snookered one night when I confused a lighted buoy for a light structure. Both aids showed similar light characteristics and were within 100 yards of each other.

As we proceeded south, we kept the flashing light ahead just off the starboard bow. Suddenly, our spotlight picked up the reflective tape of the light, 50 yards off the port bow!

We made a sharp left turn at the last moment to leave the light structure to starboard. We were high up on a flying bridge that night, looking down into the water, and the light structure got lost in the shore lights.

From this incident was born the concept of S.T.O.P. It’s easy to use and works almost anywhere…

If You Fall In, Get Out

Sometimes it's that obvious. But there's more to it than that. In this week's column, Vin Pica reminds us all to be careful while boating, especially in a hostile marine environment...

Guest blog by Vincent Pica
Chief of Staff, First District, Southern Region (D1SR)
United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

Photo Courtesy of The U.S. Coast Guard.

Obviously, the most top-of-mind danger that all mariners face is drowning. We live, work and play in a marine environment - a hostile marine environment, if one is not careful. And, even you are careful, things happen.
This column is about that...

Volvo Begins With A Bang

The 2011 - 2012 Volvo Ocean Race got underway this weekend, and if the rest of the race is as exciting as the first 24 hours, you're not going to want to miss a beat... 

Photo © Amory Ross/PUMA Ocean Racing/Volvo Ocean Race

The first leg of the Volvo Ocean Race - which spans nine months and 39,000 nautical miles - began in Alicante, Spain this past weekend.  Before the winner is decided in Galway, Ireland, in July of 2012, the teams will be tested by many trials and tribulations, but they probably didn't expect to face so much adversity in the first 24 hours.

The following videos give you an inside, onboard look at the race over the past couple of days, and you won't want to miss them - there was some serious action...

The Best Marinas of 2011

Where are the best marinas in the United States? See which marinas were honored this year...

Harbour Town Yacht Basin in Hilton Head, SC, is one of Marinalife's 2011 contest winners

Once again, boat owners across the US have spoken. The winners of the second annual Best Marina Contest were announced this week by Marinalife, and if you've visited any the winners' locations, you won't be surprised by the outcome. Categories included "Best Transient Marina" as well as "Best Customer Service". 

And the winners are...

World on Water - Nov 4 2011

The latest edition of World on Water, the action-packed boating TV show that covers sailing action around the world, is now available on First Boat...

Barcelona and China Boat Shows This Weekend

Just a few, but they're big ones... International boat shows begin this weekend in Spain and China...

Photo courtesy of the Salón Náutico website, salonnautico.com

Each and every Thursday we tell you about all the weekend's boat shows and nautical events, and there are a couple of good ones this weekend. Unfortunately, coming off the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show last weekend, there are not that many shows this weekend; exhibitors are catching their breath and catching up from that huge event. But this weekend's shows in China and Spain will not disappoint. We also have boat show news from Florida's event and about a canceled show in the UK.

Feel free to jump right to our calendar of boat shows at FirstBoat, or continue reading this article at the Daily Boater...

Five Tips to Pump Power into Your Engine

This week, Captain John shares five tips for increasing power to your engine...

Guest blog by Captain John
Author of Seamanship Secrets and publisher of the popular boating education website SkipperTips.com

Increase throttle speed and your small sailboat diesel engine should accelerate like a stallion on steroids.
But what if it doesn’t?

Unlike their power boat cousins, sailboat engines often get under-used. You see, diesel engines love to be run and run hard. Most sailboat owners use their diesels to putt in and out of a marina slip, tie up alongside a fuel pier, or charge their marine batteries—all at idle speed.

Check these five common trouble areas first if your engine hesitates when you “throttle up”…

Boating Safety and Fatalities

Arizona boating fatalities spike. Arizona recently singled out for weak boating education laws. Coincidence?

A couple of articles crossed our desks this morning about the "unexpectedly" high number of boating fatalities in the state of Arizona. Should this really come as a surprise...