Armchair sailing

The magazine Business 2.0 isn't the place you would most obviously go to look for fun stuff about sailing. But, browsing their blogs today, I came across the Waterlog which includes some interesting posts including the latest with a marvellous photo of VC Tom Perkins' Maltese Falcon in all her glory. One question, though: I saw some posts somewhere a few weeks ago asking how well she sails. Look off her port quarter. It looks as though the rudder is well across to port and kicking up a heck of a lot of spray. Is she about to tack or is this a nasty case of lee helm?

My first ever sailing cruising was in Greece. The family and I also had a wonderful holiday there a couple of years ago with a flotilla (great for the kids). I was interested, then, to stumble across the Sailing Issues web site which provides some general sailing information (including a basic navigation course) as well as some really good information on cruising in Greece and Turkey.

I mentioned before that I enjoy the Furled Sails podcasts. I was intrigued by the one I listened to today about the Atlantic InterCoastal Waterway caught my attention. The idea of taking a sailing boat on inland waterways from Boston to Florida is an intriguing one. Having spent several family holidays in the Outer Banks soaking up the history of shipwrecks along the Carolina coasts, I can see the attractions of missing that part of the ocean trek south although I'm not sure how much sailing you'd get in. Even if you join the AIW in Norfolk, Virginia , it would still be 1,200 miles which could be a lot of motoring in a small boat! The podcast was an interview with the authors of the Managing the Waterways books which sound like just the thing if you wanted to do this trip. Other interesting resources were here , here and here .

Back down to cruising speeds and planning the trips we're going to take. I have begun to browse the passage planning software that's out there - not PC-based chart plotter stuff of which there is plenty, but packages devoted to voyage planning. I have enjoyed in the past playing around with Virtual Passages which describes itself as "The Ultimate Passage Planning Tool". The company adds "Take Armchair Voyages Across the World's Oceans using Actual Daily Weather and Nautical Charts". Sounds just like this blog, eh?

This is about as far from leisurely cruising as you can get. The French "Hydroptère" team ran through the 45 knot barrier in December and is closing in on the elusive 50 knots - the sailing equivalent of the sound barrier in post-WWII aviation. Check out the video on their home page if you think you've ever had a 'sleigh ride' down-wind. Impressive to note that they hit this speed with what appears to be two reefs in the main.

What do you think about Elaine Bunting's question on her Yachting World blog regarding the Island Packet SP Cruiser ? I like the more conventional IPs, but this one, I must say, does nothing for me. What's the boating equivalent of doing 40 mph in the outside lane of the motorway?

Once the boat is decided (an eternal process, of course), the next issue is to decide where to go to and from. My favourite resource for this is the encyclopaedic World Cruising Routes by Jimmy Cornell. If you wish you were sitting in San Diego, wanting to sail to Hawaii and on from their to Guam and Hong Kong, it can tell you when the winds and currents will be in your favour and, just as importantly, when the weather won't. Endless dipping-in fun. The next one on my wish list is the companion volume, the World Cruising Handbook . This tells you more about what to do when you get there. Noonsite is the related web site which includes updates and corrections to the World Cruising Handbook.