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Articles are of general interest to the entire CCA membership, and are not particular to any specific station. Categories include Feature Articles, Safety Moments, White Papers and For Ocean Racers.

  • TillerMaster
    The Errant Autopilot
    A few minutes later, however, the familiar sound stopped, and the swing of the rudder and tiller came to a halt with perhaps 10 degrees of port rudder locked in. Before I could get to the tiller and lift the tiller pilot off its pin, the boat flew through an uncontrolled gybe ... Read more
  • Ada Hall Safely on Mooring
    The Thruster and Mr. Murphy
    ... We were being blown onto the dock and had to make a hard turn to starboard into the wind to get out of the boatyard.  This was not really a problem, but just when I went to use the bow thruster that we had tested days earlier, it failed.  A little single screw backing and filling got us safely out of the slip and underway to our mooring. Read more
  • Spontaneous Combustion
    The story in MarineLog on this year’s Summer Solstice seemed both familiar and odd at the same time. A yacht valued at $1,500,000 burned to the waterline, and later sank, while undergoing some routine maintenance at a marina in Washington state. Closed circuit cameras showed that around 2:00 am, the fire started in the cockpit, and then grew slowly over an hour or so before someone noticed it and called the fire department. By then, the yacht was engulfed in flames.… Read more
  • No Second in Command: A Relaxing Swim (oar was it?)
    This story is not a bluewater sailing story, but it illustrates how you can get into trouble in calm waters within sight of home. A friend of mine had this happen to him a few years ago and told me the story the next day, while he was still somewhat shaken up. Read more
  • Digger the boat
    Double Handed Knockdown

    “From the CCA School of Hard Rocks

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  • Ever forward in the mud
    No Time for Smartphones

    “Safety Moments, presented at CCA Stations and Posts”
    By Chuck Hawley, San Francisco Station, May 2023

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  • A medical kit
    Fleet Surgeons Memo for Offshore Passages

    CCA Fleet Surgeon Memorandum for Offshore Passages

    Jeffrey S. Wisch, M.D.*

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  • Cover shot
    2023 Voyages

    From Spain to Maine to Ukraine. A wide-ranging collection of narratives in the post-COVID era.

    Read about it here

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  • Track of boat
    Dangerous Bravado

     

    Dangerous Bravado

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  • Timelapse shot of lightning
    Lightning Strike: Reminder to be Prepared
    The weather at the ramp was sunny and clear, yet lightning struck the son standing on the bow. The lightning bolt came in his tail bone and out his foot. The son immediately went overboard and started to sink. The father jumped overboard and recovered his unresponsive son from the brackish, murky waters. The mother and other son remained on board the boat and called 911. They were unable to assist further as the boat’s motor shut down due to the lightning strike. Read more
  • Kill switches can be lifesavers
    Circle of Death: Dinghy Out of Control
    It was low tide. I needed to navigate shallow water to get to my usual tie up spot. I did what I frequently do in this situation, turning around to lift the idling motor into the shallow water setting. The new motor we bought this year doesn’t raise and lower quite as easily as our old one did, so I had to jiggle the motor to get it to lock into position. As I did this, the motor tiller brushed the side of the dinghy and jerked into full throttle. The dinghy surged forward,… Read more