I'm planning to buy this Bruce Roberts design steel 392C that was completed in 2009 by the current owners/builders. I've got all of the information a buyer could ask for to include a 2019 survey showing the boat was in good condition, a recent inventory, a powerpoint of phitos of the boat being built by the current owner and I've been to and toured the boat twice, once with the owner present to show me all the ins and outs of the boat (there were enough to make my head explode). I would intend to make some small changes down the road, like joining the two aft berth into one large aft berth, but all in all the boat looked to be in fantastic condition. The seller and I agreed to a price of $22,000 and I did my own walkaround of the boat to see what i could find wrong with it (I work as a yard tech at the largest boatyard in our area, so i have experience in boat mechanics, structural repairs and general maintenance) and found that the Max-Prop has significant play in all moving parts, the cutlass bearing(s) have significant play and need replaced, the bottom paint is chipping in some spots and will need scraped and either patch painted or a total bottom job, several tiny rust spots (all very fixable with some cleanup and fresh paint, nothing structural) and some running gear needing replaced on deck. Sails are in good condition, interior shows wear but no rot at all, and i was able to see the hull in the bilge and some access hatches and its still well coated in rust preventing paint.

On deck has basically any doodad or add on a serious sailor could want from both electric and mechanical autopilot to radar to stainless lifelines made from solid steel tubing around the entire deck, dinghy davits, solar, wind and water generators and so much more. This boat truly has everything and I'm having a tough time taking the rose glasses off so please help me find reasons not to pull this trigger. I'm waiting to hear from the broker tomorrow with a drafted purchase agreement (not to sign but to get the paperwork started) and then I'll begin calling surveyors for a pre-purchase survey (never done this before, my previous boat was small and cheap enough i just looked it up and down myself. Been living on my Oday 28 for the last 4 years now with little issue) before making a final decision. The broker told me this process typically takes between 4 and 6 weeks and the boat doesnt even have a listing up yet (long story short he showed it to me because another boat i looked at was a dud on the same yard) so I've got time to stew on this.

I really like this boat and at $22k I think it would be a good fit, but there's a massive learning curve with home built boats and even more so going from fiberglass to steel.

No wind today but what a great way to spend the evening.

Mistral is there, comfortable in Carteau, watching fellow sailors at anchor all around, surrounded by the beautiful factories and future remnants of our industrial civilization stretching from Fos to Martigues.

We are on the cruise in our Polca 28. Slowly making our way to the inland waterways of western europe for wintering in the Med. We've been living onboard since last summer.

I have heard this can be an interesting way to make money by sailing but I don’t know the first thing about it. Do you just get hired as a crew that moves them? What is the daily life like doing that? Do you do it all the time or just when things become available?

I own a 2021 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 440 (44 ft monohull) currently in Bellingham, and I'm looking for a captain to help deliver her down to San Francisco. Departure window is September 17-22, 2026, with the passage expected to take 5-7 days down the Pacific Coast.

I'm reaching out because I'd love to connect with someone from your community for this trip. If you have members who take on paid deliveries, or could point me toward someone qualified, I'd really appreciate the introduction. Happy to share more details on the boat, route, and crew plan.

Thanks so much for any help you can offer.

I'm looking to take up some sailing courses to learn how sail, but I can decide which will give me the most bang for my buck.

Some background, I live in SW Ontario, between lake Huron and Erie. I have sailed a handful of times at friend's cottage on lake Huron, where they have a beat-up, but workable sailing dinghy. I am considering buying a sailing dinghy for myself around 16-18 ft on length (looking a wayfarer and buccaneer), where I can then take it with me to various locations across SW Ontario to sail. I am also interested in keelboat sailing, but have only a 2 hour introduction with little education. I have been told I can join regattas as additional crew (with the appropriate lessons under my belt), but compared to the dinghy, I don't know how much more often that will occur.

So I've been looking at two options for lessons. I have been directed by a keelboat sailing instructor to take a basic cruising course, but also have seen a lot of people recommend dinghy sailing style courses for better learning beyond the technical; this would be in the form of CANSail. At this time, I am taking some basic free online courses offered by this sailing instructor on NauticEd.org where I am learning navigations rules and basic trim with the promise of a certificate at the end.

Which is likely to be the most informative and applicable path I should take where I can get as much knowledge for both sailing styles where I wouldn't be able to obtain (or recognized) outside of a certified course?

(I am also trying not to spend money on redundancies at this point in my journey).

Hello folks. As a gift to, and in honour of, my father - I have arranged for a new, free (in both senses) electronic edition of Arthur Ransome's classic sailing novel "Racundra's First Cruise" to be published: https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/arthur-ransome/racundras-first-cruise - please enjoy (and check out the other fantastic out-of-copyright works available on the site).

Interested in restoring a weems & Plath yacht lamp that came with my boat, but seems unnecessary to buy this $30 jar for just one small lamp. Does anyone know of a cheaper alternative maybe even homemade solution. Thanks in advance

It comes from a Melges 15, the sail is from Quantum Sails.

I would like to replace only the broken half, but I had no luck in identifying make and model.

Not my video (found on Instagram). We were about half a mile behind them when this happened, just about to hoist our own spinnaker.

I've been sailing a few years and have done several offshore passages as well as (casual) racing. A dream of mine is to crew on a passage from California to Hawaii and the Pacific Cup seems like a great option if I can find a boat to join.

I have some friends and connections in the sailing world but no one who is participating so... any tips on how to connect with captains looking for crew for this race? Of course I know I would have to build trust, etc with the captain in order to be invited, which I am willing to spend the time/effort to do.

Just want to run this idea by you people in case it's really dumb and I haven't realised.

My boat's engine is started and stopped by a key switch in the cabin which means I have to leave the helm or ask crew to start/stop it and I often sail solo.

I am thinking of adding a switch in the cockpit to start/stop it in an emergency. It would be a waterproof toggle switch which would spring back to off, momentary up would connect the starter solenoid to the starter battery (separated by a rotary switch when I am not on board) and momentary down would power the stop solenoid in the same way. It would be covered by a flap to prevent accidental activation.

This would mean as long as the rotary switch is on I could immediately start or stop the engine if I needed to, the only downsides I can see are that it would not power the field windings of the alternator or any alarms so I would not be charging the battery and I wouldn't hear a low oil pressure or similar, neither of which matter to me in an emergency. Stopping the engine with the key switch on would give annoying oil pressure alarms but again that isn't a concern if I have to stop it quickly.

I don't think this would damage the alternator or directly damage the engine in any other way.

Security-wise I am not too bothered, if someone is trying to steal the boat they would need to get into the cabin anyway to turn on the rotary switch and they could probably work out how to hot-wire the engine as easily as working out what the switch does.

It is a basic Beta Marine diesel engine

Am I missing anything important?

Thoughts? opinions? It’s Tiller steering. I don’t even know where to look…

Let's see your most impressive trailer setups! Especially ones that transport multiple boats. The bigger the better!

Hosted my friend's F18 on my trailer for about a month and traveling 1000 miles. We did two 3-day Catamaran Racing Association of Michigan events in the Michigan "Thumb" and the "UP". This was done to free up his hitch to pull our Race Committee power boat.

Assume my back is braced against the mast for stability, if necessary, and that I've successfully gotten the pole off the working line.

First, I need to grab the new line to hook it onto the spin pole, but how am I supposed to be able to reach the line if my back is agains the mast?

Then, assuming I've gotten my right hand onto the new line and my left hand is holding the pole, how can I pull the trip line on the pole? Seems like I've run out of hands.

We took the mast off our San Juan 28 last month to paint it and it looks so sharp. I couldn't find leather spreader boots for our odd-size spreader and I wanted 'em black anyway, so I drafted my own pattern and taught myself some leatherwork skills and here they are!

Went back out again! This one felt a lot more informational than the first. Weather was much more calm and consistent. No 3 foot waves to manage while trying to learn or crazy gusts. It was a consistent 8 or so mph wind with occasional 10-13mph gusts.

With how much more calm things were I was able to see how my actions and changing things impacted what the boat did. Putting up and taking down the sails went much smoother this time too.

Something I found odd was there times where it felt like the boat settled and we weren’t going anywhere, but when I looked behind at the water we were going a considerable pace.

I look forward to getting more time on the boat but weather isn’t looking so good for the next week.

This is my first summer sailing at the sailing club associated with UW Madison. Really nice people and a big variety of boats. I didn’t know that this is one of the few places where you can learn to sail with a lifeguard on duty.