Getting Fixed on Cel Nav

This past weekend 59 North hosted a celestial navigation workshop at the Eastport Yacht Club in Annapolis. I grabbed Haven and his stroller at some calculated times to coincide with bottles and naps… the rhythms to which my life beats these days. Over the course of two days, I was able to grab a few hours worth of celestial review … Read More

Sailing at Night: Can You See in the Dark?

This post originally appeared on our blog, Sailing Simplicity & the Pursuit of Happiness. View this post and many others at SailingSimplicity.com By understanding how your eyes work in low-light conditions, you can ensure that your vision doesn’t fail you when you most need it. The sun is just about to touch the horizon and you’ve spent the last hour … Read More

The Knot You Never Thought You Needed

This post originally appeared on our blog, Sailing Simplicity & the Pursuit of Happiness. View this post and many others at SailingSimplicity.com SOME KNOT TIPS FOR CRUISERS: ADD A WELL-PLACED SLIPPERY HITCH TO ENSURE THAT YOUR KNOTS COME UNDONE WHEN YOU WANT THEM TO. When my husband, Ben Eriksen, and I began sailing together we learned a lot about trust, each other … Read More

More Checklists and a Video!

This post originally appeared on our blog, Sailing Simplicity & the Pursuit of Happiness. View this post and many others at SailingSimplicity.com Sailors love checklists! When we first talked about our Boat Check many of you asked for more details. Well – you asked, and we responded….finally! “Boat check” is something that the off-going watch does before they are relieved of their … Read More

What Scares You While Sailing?

This post originally appeared on our blog, Sailing Simplicity & the Pursuit of Happiness. View this post and many others at SailingSimplicity.com I had the opportunity to speak on the women sailors panel moderated by Pam Wall at the Chicago Boat Show. A question was asked of the panel, “As a woman, what is it that scares you while sailing?” I was … Read More

Six Things We Added To Our Norseman 447 We Love

In the first part of this series, I discussed some of the features of our Norseman 447 that are inherent to the design and build of the boat that we have come to know and love. In this post I’m taking a look at a few of the items we have added to the boat to help make it our … Read More

Six Things We Love About Our Norseman 447

We are just about 2 years into ownership of Rocinante our Norseman 447. In that time we’ve sailed her just about 8,000 nm and we’ve gotten to know her a bit better. She’s a lot different than our previous boats, but still considered a classic… one of Bob Perry’s best designs. She sails and handles wonderfully in all conditions we’ve experienced so far. The … Read More

Sailing to Bermuda: Weather Planning

We left Fishing Bay at around 1500. A few hours after we planned, but for good reason. There were some last minute projects to take care of… final installation of the Monitor control lines, pad eyes for better dinghy lashing angles as well as going over sea-cock locations and our new Viking 8 Person Liferaft deployment procedures with our crew. Plus … Read More

Sept 27–Oct 4: Newport – Annapolis

This near coastal, offshore jump will start in one sailing capital, Newport, and make its way to the other sailing capital, Annapolis. After a night anchored in Block Island, we’ll head offshore and cross some of the busiest shipping lanes on the East Coast. Our course will be towards the mouth of Delaware Bay. Once inside the Bay, we’ll head … Read More

Sept 18–25: Rockland –Newport

A classic fall passage! This near coastal/offshore leg from Rockland ME to Newport RI will give you a good idea of what “heading south” is like. Depending on the forecast, we may spend a night anchored in Penobscot Bay to give us time to get to know the boat and go over some safety protocol. But if the forecast looks … Read More