Home Waters

Of all the advantages of owning a decent-sized property rather than renting an apartment, the greatest for me is being able to put anything wherever I want.  There is a certain wild freedom in being able to leave my car in whichever corner I happened to use it last, without regard to assigned parking spaces; …

A Man’s Home is His Boatyard Read More »

When I became captain  of an 80-foot sailing schooner roughly one year ago, I really didn’t want too much more out of life.  To spend day after day sailing, and to have that actually be my job, seemed about all anyone’s heart could desire, employment-wise.  Of course the position has its difficulties: dealing with still-unseamanlike …

A Good Job to Have Read More »

One of the best parts of preparing for a cruise on Ganymede (and on Capella before her), was the day the charts would arrive in the mail and we could begin to inspect and organize them.  It has usually been a pretty big project, since we try to buy in bulk and get discounts that …

The Zartman Nautical Depository Read More »

Sailing season has returned to New England again, and is quickly going into full swing.  There’s nothing like the strong blustery winds of May to blow the cobwebs out, shake down everything that’s likely to break, and remind incautious sailors to reef early and keep an eye to weather for sudden gusts.  This spring brings …

Captains Outrageous Read More »

One of the pitfalls of reading too many books in your youth is that you’ll go into situations with preconceived ideas of what things should be like.  Having read an inordinate amount about old time sailing, and whaleships, and cannons and such, I had some pretty strong ideas about New England schooner captains; their demeanor, …

Abednego Marine Read More »

One of the hardest things about setting out cruising five years ago was closing down the business I had created, selling off all my shop tools, and knowing that there would be no more time, money or space for projects not immediately involved with boat maintenance.  Not that that was huge cause for regret—after all, …

The Day of Small Beginnings Read More »

One would think that having a job where you spent twelve hours a day sailing would leave you ready to not sail on your days off, but as summer wears on, I find myself as ready as ever to take Ganymede out whenever a day off is not filled with shopping and laundry.  Not that …

Civilized Yachting, or, The Benefits of Dry Saltines Read More »

Even though it’s happening more and more often, it doesn’t fail to astonish me whenever I get an email from a blog reader in a faraway land—I’m still getting used to the idea that EVERYONE who cares to do a casual Google search with the words “Gaff” or “Ganymede” or “Cruising Family” will stumble across …

The Genie of the Lamps Read More »

Going to captain’s license school is kind of like getting a college degree in English: it’s absolutely useless for any practical purpose, but a necessary evil if you want to do something that requires a certificate stating that you can spell.  Or operate a boat for hire, in the case of the former.  If you …

Multiplied Exponentially Read More »

For the nearly five years that we’ve been living full-time aboard Ganymede, our lighting situation has been a never-ending saga.  Being a boat without 12-volt electricity plumbed in, we naturally turned to oil lamps for cabin lighting.  We had saved three already out of our beloved little Capella—the first boat we owned and cruised in—so …

Chimney Chronicles Read More »

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