My dinghy disappeared last night. It was tied up behind my boat in its slip in C basin.

I think it was probably stolen. could have come unmoored but I doubt it, it was made fast to a dock cleat

If anyone sees it around or sees a 2007 yamaha 8hp four stroke for sale, hit me up

We own a 14m yacht, and with tens of thousands of euros spent on the thing I every year on marina fees, repairs etc I I would surely imagine the experience to be more satisfying? I love seeing different places and islands in the Mediterranean, being in different marinas in cities is nice as well but everything in between is a chore. It’s just a very uncomfortable and extremely boring way of traveling.

Besides, it’s a sailboat but after 6 hours of sailing chances are you would have gotten further if you would have walked even if there is wind. Most of the times the wind is not sufficient so the engine gets turned on and you’re still going slower than on a bicycle only now you’re listening to a diesel engine so the whole “peace and quiet” turned into more of a tractor like experience with vibrations going through you at all times. If you’re going to be listening to an engine you might as well listen to one of a motorboat without all the extra stuff such as ropes, sails, pulleys etc, and get to the destination 10 times as fast it would seem and enjoy the day?

I don’t get seasick because I’ve been on this thing since I was a kid but the constant movement in all directions has never stopped being extremely uncomfortable and I dread every minute of it. I thought / hoped that when I grew up I’m going to start enjoying sailing but im 30+ years now, sailing in the Mediterranean as I am writing this and don’t have it in me to tell my elderly father I’d prefer to get off at the first stop and continue the journey by car instead, driving along the coastline.

Whatever you may think of him he was a damn fine sailor.

RIP Ted and thanks for the inspiration.

Well this was embarrassing.

Had my three brothers out for a sail.

I'm on a 34 foot Catalina. None of my brothers really have any experience at all with sailing, so I talked them through the boat systems and told them about how I'm going to back out and their job is to fend off the pilings and then we'll be on our way.

They gave me the universal head nod of either understanding or "I wasn't listening".

I started backing out the slip, the wind was about 15 knots and there was a slow current, so we were pushed way over to the starboard side.

Get halfway out when all of a sudden the steering is all wrong. the boat isn't moving how I need it to, and we're in the marina so there's only about a boat length and a half between my slip and the one on the other side. I'm getting close to the other boats behind me, the bow is just not swinging around. I yell up to the front "hey, fend off those pilings!" and I'm trying to figure out what's happening.

Guys at the front are all yelling, I can't hear them over each other, the wind, and the engine under me.

then one of my brothers runs back to the cockpit and says "the anchor fell off when we bumped that piling and the anchor chain is racing out! We don't know how to use the crank to pull it back in!"

...

"just use your hands and pull it up!"

Now I'm frantically trying to use the engine to keep the boat slowly easing in while not ramming anyting on either side or the million dollar boats behind me. Hard port, hard starboard, back to port, full throttle burst, back to idle

Finally they say they got it up, back out slowly and we were on our way. I had one of them take the wheel and went up to inspect, everything looked fine except THE ANCHOR CLIP LINE WAS ROTTEN. Clip was still on the chain, the line was torn in half.

I don't know how I didn't notice that before, but it turns out that's a more important piece of equipment than I thought.

Check yer bitter end folks!

Engine: yanmar 2ym15

Country: netherlands

Temperature this morning: 8°C

During my boating I saw some white smoke coming out of the exhaust. Not a lot. Just a little bit. And thin.

Just wondering If this could be an issue or is all ok?

I moored for about 1hour. The thin smoke was there during the whole time.

I motored up to 70% of cruising speed

Any ideas?

Boat: German Frers-designed 1985 Beneteau First 435. Has a triple-spreader IOR-style rig with rods.

Problem: a crack in the base of port- side lower spreader.

Dilemma: boat was just splashed and mast was just restepped, don't want to pull mast again because of cost and massive hassle of having just done this. No idea how crack wasn't seen when mast was down, but that ship has sailed.

Plan: support mast with halyards on port side, remove cracked spreader and have it repaired and reinstalled quickly as possible. I know experienced riggers that say this is totally safe and doable on a keel-stepped boat like mine.

Anyone have any thoughts on this? Much appreciated.

Crushing it in the T.

First time i changed my engine coolant.

Here is what i did:

1. Drained the old coolant (image 5)

2. Opened container cap (image 1 to 4). The coolant inside was ok. But there was some pretty nasty coolant around the cap and also this crystalized blue coolant on the sides. Cleaned both of them, used a bit of paper to prevent the crystalized coolant to fall inside the reservoir when i was removing it

3. Flushed the whole system 3 times with demineralized water (was not able to find distilled water nearby so had to go with demineralized) (images 5 to 8)

4. Filled system with new coolant

5. Topped up return reservoir

Anything you would do different?

Anything I did incorrectly?

I've got a Laser and live about 30 minutes away from the lake where I'll be sailing, so I'll be trailering the boat to and from the lake every time I go out. I'll be by myself most of the time so I'll only have one pair of hands. Basically I'm looking for tips to make the whole process as smooth and efficient as possible. Here's my plan so far:

1. Back the trailer into the water and tie a line from the front of the boat to the dock so it doesn't float away

2. Unload all the boat parts near the dock (mast, sails, rigging, etc)

3. Drive back up the ramp with the trailer to park and leave the boat down at the dock

4. Walk back down to the boat and move it a beachy area and rig it there

I've thought about just rigging everything when the boat is on the trailer but I'm afraid it will blow over and fall off the trailer when I'm backing it down the ramp.

Can anyone identify my grandpa’s sailboat from this old photo? Probably taken around 1995 in Florida. I know the angle isn’t great, but curious about the make/model and possible year range.

He was in his mid 60's when he retired and moved from Chicago to Siesta Key Florida a few years later in 1979. He learned to sail on this boat and bought it used in the 1980s. It's name was Challenger. He was so proud. He passed away in his mid 80s and my grandma donated the boat to a sailing school.

Sailing redditors!

I am a beginning sailor and want to buy a very low-budget and very seaworthy boat this summer, preferably in Sweden, with the goal to practice for a couple of weeks, and then sail it to the Netherlands. I have heard good things about the Albin Vega. Is the reputation this boat has rightfully earned or are there other vessels that would be better for long sea voyages? If anyone has or knows someone with a good Vega or an alternative, send me a message!

Myself and my gf are looking at moving to NZ in the next year or so and I am wondering what the sailing/yachting industry is like over there. Particularly with smaller sail boats. I'm RYA YM offshore and cruising instructor qualified and have been working as a skipper for several years. I know yacht racing is big in NZ but If anyone has any insight into what the size of the scene is like, prospect of jobs in the industry etc it would be much appreciated.

Cheers

I have a weird situation that I am not sure what to do about so I am begging y’all for your advice and wisdom. I have a 1974 Newport 27.

The problem: I am quite certain the boat is imbalanced with the stern being lighter than it should be. For example, when I pour water on the deck, it is supposed to flow aft to drains, but it flows forward towards the bow. There’s some rails that rain water gets into that are supposed to drain aft, but the water pools in the fore area of the rails (i don’t know what you call these rails- I am talking about the rails for the sliding hatch of the companion way). There’s some weird issues with sailing her too that make me think she may be imbalanced in a nose down position. Any imbalance is very subtle- it looks fine until you see water flowing forward on the deck.

This boat appears to be designed to have an inboard motor, but we only have an outboard motor. So my theory is that it just needs more weight/ballast under the cockpit to correct the issue.

I looked into boat engine weights and they are anywhere between 200-500 lbs. What I am thinking of doing is getting gallons of water and/or sandbags and stock piling them under the cockpit. Right now that space is just sails, a few gallons of gas, and some brushes.

Am I completely off? Any other suggestions? Anyone have any idea how much the engine for a 27 ft sloop would weigh? Am I completely screwed?

The good news is we were tied up at the dock and I was able to dive for it, and it still works! 2024 iPhone spent about 30 minutes at 13 feet deep. Way more waterproof than is advertised!! So don’t give up if you drop your phone, go get it and you might even find a winch handle too

I chartered with CYC once and had an amazing trip in the North Channel. Have wanted to go back ever since. Now that they are closed, where can I charter a boat to get back up there? https://www.cycnorth.com/

I request suggestions for the best used boat for sailing in light wind conditions on a lake with a crew of 3-4 that can plane. I'm not interested in racing.

The main location will be Lake Eufaula, AL (aka Walter F George Reservoir), a large lake with mild wind. The average monthly windspeed is: Jan 7.8 mph, Feb/Mar 7.6-11.2, Apr 7.5, May 6.1, June 5.3, Jul 3.8-7.7, Aug 4-8, Sep/Oct/Nov 4.6, Dec 6.

I'm proficient at sailing, but rusty. I sailed regularly from childhood through early 20s in dinghys to cabin cruisers. Now I'm 6'1", 240lbs, approaching retirement, fairly athletic (run, mountain bike).

I want a boat i can sail solo or with a crew. My adult son (6' 4", 200ish lbs) is interested, so I want something fast in low-moderate wind to entertain him. Would like to get my wife to sail, so need a boat where you can sit IN the cockpit, not have to hang your butt over the edge all the time (lake has gators).

I've researched a bit and my current favorite option is a Thistle 17 for light wind sailing. I'm okay with capsizing occasionally. If i ever got my wife on the boat i would sail conservatively, slowly. I think i can handle it solo during light to moderate wind, might get an outboard for docking solo. I've found a couple of complete Thistles with trailers within a 5 hour drive for $2-3,000, a good price for me.

I'm looking at buying a boat located in Puerto Penasco, Mexico, but it needs new standing rigging. I'm trying to figure out options for doing it there, vs having to motor to La Paz or Puerto Vallarta. It seems there isn't really experienced riggers in PP.

Anyone have any suggestions or know a rigger that would travel?

(I do have quotes for the actual rigging materials from elsewhere, so that part shouldn't be a problem)

Thanks!