Wintry sailing: the perfect boat
Enjoying a summer cruise, the sun, bathing in a roadstead, having prosecco in the cockpit at sunset is, no doubt, gratifying. However, in my opinion, nothing surpasses the beauty of sailing in winter. Wintry sailing charm is difficult to describe and, above all, not replicable….
Jinle bells: under a sailor’s Christmas tree
This year has been strange, and probably some important dates slipped our mind: a year in which the track of time, of seasons and celebrations was overshadowed by the great blanket that surrounded our lives in the past months. Nevertheless, it is Christmas time, and…
Expectation and reality: the crew list for the sailing race season
For some of us, sailing is a hobby. For others it’s a passion and for some others – I raise my hand and confess – a true obsession! Well, I have been sailing for decades and I think I can say that no sport activity…
Sail care: some tips to preserve your sails’ life
As we know, maintaining our boats is not an easy job. We sailors know very well that sail rigging requires special care to avoid that damage or wear may negatively affect our sailing efficiency and our finances. An efficient set of sails can make…
A second chance: vintage yacht restoration
As an architect, I have carried out the restauration of numerous old buildings with all associated technical, artistic, cultural and general approach problems. I have studied and extensively discussed about the right attitude to adopt when taking care of an old architectural entity refurbishment. In…
Everybody is on the same boat: why sailors and motor boaters hate each other (and why they shouldn’t)
“A sailor is born, not made. And by “sailor” is meant, not the average inefficient and hopeless creature who is found to-day in the forecastles of deepwater ships, but the man who will take a fabric compounded of wood and iron and rope and canvas…
Cooking on board: kitchenware and food-stocks on a cruise
Plainly speaking: I have nothing against restaurants, trattorias, bistrot and taberne scattered over the Mediterranean Sea. And I wouldn’t dream of recommending not to eat there during summer cruise stops. It’s only that, to me, cooking on board – in a roadstead or in a…
Quarreling on board: Why should it be impossible?
But true travellers leave to leave and that’s it: light, balloon-like hearts that only chance moves eternally, always say “Let’s go”, and they don’t know why. Their wishes have the shapes of the clouds”. (Charles Baudelaire) The pleasure of sailing: turning the bow out of…
Good boating practices: “Maintenance”
Our little journey through Good Practice goes on. Part one was about marinas, part two deals with boat maintenance. Dozens of articles have been written on the subject, most of them very interesting and technically complete. Some of them can be read in this blog,…
New propulsion systems: future is behind the corner
To start with, let’s reply to a basic question and get rid of any hypocrisy: is sailing an ecological practice? If we are satisfied with dwelling in illusions and good intentions, then we’ll say <<of course it is, I sail without a drop of fuel,…
Sailboat building, lifecycle and disposal
Gentlemen, the time has come at last! I have gone to sea! Well, maybe “gone to sea” is a little too much, as I just sailed a friend of mine’s boat -a Lombard still in lockdown- moored at the port of Genoa from dock to…
Good boating practices: “In a marina”
Part one Let’s just get this straight: this won’t be a handbook, nor a soap opera, nor, above all, a yachtsman’s decalogue of good manners. None of that! This trilogy is, much more humbly, a reflection on good practices for sailing i.e. some cues to…
