After a screaming gale I get light airs. Not complaining, although the slow progress does get frustrating after a while. An old Gordon Lightfoot song brings back memories of when I lived in a tiny apartment in Evanston, IL, worked at Arthur Andersen in Chicago, and constantly dreamed of blue water...

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I am unable to get far enough south to avoid gale conditions ushered in by a passing cold front. No option remains but to reef down and ride it out. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON PATREON: https://patreon.com/user?u=12372934 HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/c-1981134 HOW TO SAIL...

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The usual late fall offshore passage scenario. You depart the US east coast on the tail of a cold front, which supplies you with favorable northerly winds. But there's always another front moving through in a few days' time. The typical strategy is to sail south as fast as you can, by which you hope...

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No offshore weather window will be perfect. So long as the forecast calls for mostly fair winds and no severe weather, that's a window. And so it is. Well almost. I have to move south fast in order to avoid a rather strong frontal passage four days out. Other than that, looks like a decent run to...

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Despite the light and fickle winds I work my way up the Corrotoman River to a place called Sandy Point, where I am detained for several days on account of inclement weather. It is October after all. With the standard southbound departure date of November 1 only days away, I am now paying attention...

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A forecasted gale obliges me to put in to Put-in-Creek, on the East River of Mobjack Bay. It is still too early to head south, and October is a great month for cruising the Chesapeake, so the choice is clear. Owing to light winds I don't make Jackson Creek until just after dark. A tricky entrance...

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In this episode we pick up where we last left off--in the middle of the ocean, approximately halfway between Buzzards Bay and the Chesapeake Bay, drifting with no wind. Light conditions persist for the next 36 hours until some solid southerlies finally show up ahead of a strong cold front. But before...

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After a swift departure from Buzzards Bay, MA, I am beset with several days of light and variable winds. I sometimes play the catspaws for a few miles, otherwise get back to my book. Or guitar. Or video editing. I'm rarely bored at sea, regardless of the conditions. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON...

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Approaching inclement weather sends me into the sheltered waters of Cuttyhunk Pond. The narrow dredged channel, however, presents a challenge to the engineless boat, for tacking is not possible hence a fair wind is a must. Meanwhile, two major hurricanes are churning up the North Atlantic, but are...

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After negotiating some terrifying currents while entering Nantucket Sound, I am treated with some fine sailing days on Buzzards Bay. Approaching inclement weather, however, obliges me to seek shelter inside the Cuttyhunk lagoon. The easterly winds preceding the low should blow me right in through...

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It's time to head south if I want to avoid the worst of winter's wrath. I have to tack all the way out from Quahog Bay against the standard southwest wind, but once past Round Rock, I'm off toward Cape Cod. Except that the latest GRIB's are showing serious thunderstorm activity down south, so I delay...

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Time has come to pay the piper for the pleasant shelter of Ebenecook over pressing on to Quahog Bay when I had a fair, though brisk wind. Upwind, up-current. All day, all the way to Cape Small. Then the wind goes light. Decision time: do I try to make an anchorage for the night, or heave-to offshore? SUPPORT...

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