Tag: safety

The Ghosts in the Machine

Welcome to Chapter #3 in Zeelander University’s Master Degree program – The latest course in your 12-part series in advanced Zeelander ownership. Today we’re going to explore together one of yachting’s high water marks in innovation, one where Northern European builders and engineers jumped far ahead of the rest of the industry: The ins, the […]

Solutions

I. A Christening I was shocked to learn that long after his heroic WWI exploits in the Middle East, Lawrence of Arabia swapped his camels for boats and became a successful boat designer. By all accounts, Sir Lawrence was pretty good at it. Here is a wonderful video of the 1938 christening of his record-breaking hydroplane, Empire Day: Now I’m […]

You Snooze, You Lose (again)!

I. More Mayday My last posting, Mayday – A Cautionary Tale, was the most widely read (and shared) post in the ten years I’ve been doing this. I am thrilled to report that readership of The Fog Warning has now climbed past 10,000 readers. For what this can mean to you and your yachts, please see below. […]

Mayday! A Cautionary Tale

Mayday!   Last summer I did a solo delivery of a friend’s 45’ boat from Sag Harbor to Newport. A few miles off Fisher Island she caught fire, and I sent out the first (and, I hope, the last) Mayday call of my life. It all ended well enough (meaning no one was hurt) but […]

*** Privet, i dobro požalovat’ ***

I. Privet, i dobro požalovat’ v tumane predupreždenie …… WAIT! Sorry about that. Part of my new Russian language blog snuck in while I wasn’t  watching. What I meant to write was Hello, and welcome back to The Fog Warning. Why a Russian blog? Because Google Analytics tells me that readership of your favorite blog (and mine)  increased 40% […]

*** Crunch of the Week ***

I. Crunch of the Week: As far as I’ve been able to determine, The Fog Warning is the most widely read blog in this (rather small) industry. On average,  anywhere from 2,500 to 3,500 people around the world are regular readers (not counting shares and forwards, which I can’t track).  So a huge thank you to […]

*** Chain, chain, chain ***

I. STUFF HAPPENS Let’s face it – ten scary minutes at sea get a lot more attention than a thousand peaceful hours. The problem is that those fun hours can lull us into a false complacency. It’s easy to forget that most problems afloat start small and seem innocuous. But bad consequences can mushroom very […]

*** Fasten your seat belts ***

A bumpy night, indeed! Clearly Bette Davis wasn’t talking about boats here (we all know what she was talking about).  But talking,  writing and selling boats is what I do. So this week The Fog Warning turns to the timely subject of hull construction. Specifically, an analysis of cold molded vs. fiberglass construction methods. Let’s […]

From Yacht to Ship

I. Running the Race –  Our Hinckley Experience event in Sag Harbor last weekend was much fun, but I will admit I worked my ass off!  When it was over I was pleased to have time to play – by taking our Talaria 34R from Sag Harbor to Hinckley’s yard in Portsmouth, RI. That’s 56 […]