Author: Kazaz

The 36th America’s Cup is coming up, hold onto your hats and your seats

Move aside Olympics, the winds and skills of only one challenger push these teams to the finish line for glory.  Estimated reading time 22 minutes – If you are a pleasure boater, especially if sailing is your passion, or simply just a boating enthusiast, hold onto your hats and your seats. This is a story of sailboat racing like none other. It is the America’s Cup, the world’s oldest competition.  The history and prestige associated with the America’s Cup attract not only the world’s top sailors and yacht designers but also the involvement of wealthy entrepreneurs and sponsors. It is a test not only of sailing skill and boat and sail design but also of...

Tips for cruising through America’s Great Loop – Part 3

If you can dream it, you can do it. —Walt Disney … Estimated reading time 17 minutes  –  In Part 1 of this story, perhaps you started to dream about America’s Great Loop and got a glimpse of what it is to be a Looper through Phyllis and Dick Radlinski’s eyes and experiences. They left the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 2014, went north to New York, and from there passed on to Canada’s great canal network. After piloting through Canadian waters, they transited through two historic canal systems and 90 locks—yes, 90 locks—then Georgian Bay and the North Channel of Lake Huron down to Michigan. In Part 2, vicariously, through the Radlinskis’ experiences,...

Tips for cruising through America’s Great Loop – Part 2

It doesn’t matter where you start, as long as you begin . … Estimated reading time 16 minutes – In Part 1 of this story, perhaps you started to dream about America’s Great Loop and got a glimpse of what it is to be a Looper through Phyllis and Dick Radlinskis’ eyes and experiences. They left the Chesapeake Bay in the summer of 2014, went North to New York, and from there passed on to Canada’s great canal network. After piloting through Canadian waters, they transited through two historic canal systems and 90 locks—yes, 90 locks—then Georgian Bay and the North Channel of Lake Huron. In September 2014, they finally traveled down the west coast...

Tips for cruising through America’s Great Loop – Part 1

Become a Looper and have the adventure of a lifetime . … Estimated reading time 16 minutes —  Let’s start with the word “Looper.” When I say Looper, I’m not referring to a futuristic action-thriller movie nor to a garden looper. I’m referring to a status that you would earn, becoming part of an exclusive club of boaters who have done, one or more times, America’s Great Loop by boat, kayak, or whatever floats safely as a watercraft. If you have no boat, that is not a problem—find someone and become a crew member. Remember the old saying, the smartest boater is the one who has a friend with a boat. So you have no excuse...