In October 2020, communications for leisure boats and commercial vessels changed irrevocably, although we didn’t necessarily realize it at the time. That month, SpaceX launched the “Better than Nothing” beta tests for a new satellite communications system that most people had never heard of: Starlink.
The first time I saw Island Lady, I knew she was meant for me. A Tartan 4400, launched in 2007, with the grace of a dancer and the soul of a voyager.
Every offshore delivery is a unique challenge. Unlike sailing my own boat—where everything is dialed in just how I like it—stepping onto a customer’s boat means entering the unknown.
The Tartan-33 was built from 1979 to 1984, comprising a run of over 200 hulls. The design is from the prestigious firm of Sparkman and Stephens.
“Oh, crap.” Never entirely comforting words to hear from your captain, but utterly appropriate. I heard it too, after all—the cascade of rumbling and ripping, rising gradually in pitch in the span of seconds—the sound of thousands of pounds of sailcloth shredding.
The immense fuselage of Flight Risk sits high up on the hard in the shipyard of Cape Marina. Cabinets, hatches, panels, and furniture are still open or missing as there is still much for the owner to refit.
I’ve had a love of the sea for as long as I can remember. I did not have a boat growing up, but I had enough friends and extended family with boats that I spent time on the water every year as a kid, even if it was just a rowboat.
We originally planned to run a piece on how the crazy kids of SV The Crooked Anchor ended up with a 5 foot Burmese python as a stowaway, however, being on the cusp of the 2025 hurricane season, we also received a nice article from the same folks on what they do when a hurricane comes.
As the saying goes, “A stitch in time saves nine,” and nowhere is that more true than when it comes to your boat’s standing rigging. Your rigging is the backbone of your sailboat, keeping your mast upright and your sails doing what they’re supposed to do—propelling you forward.
When I first started sailing, more years ago than I care to remember, it didn’t take more than a couple of restless nights for me to realize that it was a lot better to anchor securely the first time rather than staggering on deck at 3am on a blustery, rainy, pitch-black night, trying to haul in then re-set a heavy anchor and chain.
