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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.

  • fire suppression system
    Fire Suppression Systems: Know how your systems work
    My technician, Chris, found that the entire manual pull system on the FireBoy system in the engine room was inoperable with zip ties and a locking pin preventing the system from working. No matter how hard I might have tried to trigger the system, I would not have been able to. In addition, he found that the manual pull handle pulled right out of the bulkhead when you went to use it. After taking the refrigerator out so as to be able to reach the back of the pull, he was… Read more
  • Who is in charge?
    ​​​​​​​A problem can easily arise when several knowledgeable sailors are on deck during a passage or even a daysail and it is not clear who is charge. Each is partially attentive, but no one is paying attention to the details on the chart or what other boats are hidden under the jib but are on a collision course. Even couples on a passage can have this problem when both are on deck during the day. Read more
  • Pros and Cons of Personal Safety Gear
    Bottom line: safety gear is a compromise. Too foolproof, and it may be either too expensive or too difficult to use. Too heavy, and people leave it below decks. Too much maintenance required, and it may not work when it is supposed to.  Read more
  • Life Jacket Performance
    In 2017, US Sailing Yachtswoman of the Year Timmy Larr asked me to participate in a series of life jacket tests in Tampa Bay, about ¼ mile from the University of Southern Florida. These tests were reasonably similar to other life jacket testing that I had done, with a few exceptions. Read more
  • Lessons from a Croatian Charter

    I had the wonderful opportunity to charter a Moorings 4600 catamaran in Croatia for two week in late May, and in fact I am writing this Safety Moment from the catamaran as I sit in the lovely Palmizana marina on the island of Klement.

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  • Pre-Departure Safety Chat

    Recently, we discussed some New Year’s Resolutions for safe voyaging that included having a pre-departure chat with your crew so that everyone had basic safety (and comfort) information when on the water: where the safety gear was stowed, how to broadcast a Mayday, how to use the hea

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  • For Whom the Boat Tows: Practice this essential skill
    Many of us have a general idea about how we’d tow another boat back to the harbor or gas dock or a safe anchorage. While most sailboats don’t generate a lot of pull, they can generally tow a similarly-sized sailboat at four or five knots, which frequently beats waiting for the wind to fill in. Since the loads generated are more modest than those generated by a vessel capable of higher bollard pulls, a few rules suffice: Read more
  • Anchor at the Ready
    Several decades ago, entering Morro Bay around sunrise, I was at the helm of a 30’ wooden ketch while the rest of the crew slept below. It was near a full moon, and the boat was bucking about a 3-knot ebb with her 4.5 knots of speed through the water. The red #4A buoy was well to starboard, but it became more and more obvious that the boat had slowly come to a halt, while the Atomic Four continued to hum encouragingly. The water was clear enough, and shallow enough, that I… Read more
  • The Search for Sailboat Stability: Reflections on the Sydney-Hobart Race, 2004

     

    “Safety Moments, presented at CCA Stations and Posts”

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  • Herbert Stone's magazine
    Stone: Yachting Mag editor, CCA member, Sailing Pioneer

    ‘Lore from the Lazarette,

     …. a Look Back’

     

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  • Voyages Cover
    2022 Voyages Magazine

    These Stories!

    A range of tales, lavishly photographed, from Maine to the Antarctic.

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  • Anchor Testing in the Chesapeake Bay

    CCA Safety Moment

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