Some things are looking better. Although the appellate court in New York has not yet upheld the previous ruling setting the February race venue as Valencia (still leaving some small room for a surprise to come), the Alinghi and BMW Oracle teams are at last meeting and beginning to work out some of the details.

The mayor of Valencia has announced the teams are in agreement about using port and harbor facilities—an important first step in getting the race organized. But more excitingly, the teams have apparently also agreed to race for the best of five or seven races, rather than just the original plan for the best of three. Good news for Valencia, and good news for spectators everywhere! Way too much effort, money, engineering, and training has gone into this event for it all to be over in only two days. But stand by as things continue to develop in the 33rd America's Cup.

I just read a news story of a 48-foot sailboat that recently sank in the western Caribbean after filling with water from an unknown source. Apparently the couple aboard did not realize they were taking on water until the floorboards were underwater and the bow down. At that point, they turned on the electric bilge pump and began frantic efforts to bail and find the water's source, but it was too late. Fortunately, they quickly issued a radio call for help and were rescued from their liferaft.

There are some lessons to be learned here, preferably in advance, before something like that happens to you. I'll describe what I've done on my own boat. Read more...

With the snows of winter approaching northern climates, many sailors are contemplating a sailing charter in the Caribbean or Bahamas this winter. Choosing the best boating charter company for a bareboat or crewed charter often involves difficult decisions, since so many companies have so many boats in so many locations. Specific services vary considerably, as do the boats' equipment and prices. It's a good time to shop for special offers, however, as the economic downturn has heightened competition and led to some bargain prices.

I've found it's a good idea to start the decision process by deciding what you really want from a charter. What matters more to you personally: friendly restaurants on shore, or isolated coves and beaches all to yourself? Great spots for snorkeling or amenities such as a dive or sailing instructor? Wi-fi in the boat or activities like horseback riding on the beach? A big company with lots of options or a small, family-run business with more personal service? Price? Start here with a list of Caribbean charter companies and information about their different services.

Photo: Harbor in Tortola, BVI

The BMW Oracle team has packed up and left San Diego in preparation for moving to the America's Cup February venue, leaving behind some great video of flying hull under that immense fixed wing sail. Apparently even in only 6-7 knots of wind, the huge trimaran rises up with only the leeward ama still in the water. Here's a brief video showing the trimaran flying hull, and here's a longer video showing the boat maneuvering all over San Diego Harbor. What a show she put on!

Photo courtesy BMW ORACLE

After some initial hubbub, I haven't heard much recently about the new boating laws in Canada and Florida that require certain pleasure craft operators to carry a special ID card or face a fine. Mandatory boating safety courses and licensure have been debated in many places in recent years, usually with much resistance from the boating community. The argument for a required course and some form of licensure is simple: boats, particularly those with motors, can be dangerous to others on the water just as automobiles are, and therefore operators should have a minimum knowledge of safe operation. Those resisting such regulations often oppose increasing government regulations and feel that the water is one of the last bastions of personal freedom, and that a required safety course is not only ineffective but also a toehold for government to begin levying additional fees and restrictions.

So far, both Canada and Florida make the process fairly simple and inexpensive, allowing the taking of an online course to meet the requirement. Still, I've heard that only a low percentage of boaters in Canada had acted before the September 15, 2009 deadline. Florida's law takes effect January 1, 2010, and applies (for now at least) only to those born in or after 1988.

As a sailor, I have mixed feelings about this legislative trend. It is true that people have died after collisions with fast-moving boats operated poorly, but I'm not sure whether an online safety course and ID card will make much of a difference.

What do you think?

Sailors often compare the shape of a sail to that of an airplane wing to explain how sailboats can sail upwind, since the physics of both (the Bernoulli principle) is similar. And now the new fixed wing sail of the US contender in the America's Cup race this February will literally be using a wing—and one that is actually much bigger than the wing of a Boeing 747. The huge BMW Oracle trimaran has begun trials using a 58-meter carbon-fiber wing instead of a traditional fabric sail on a mast.

After the latest court ruling, the race is now scheduled for Valencia in February. The trimaran with this gigantic thin wing looks so futuristic that it's sure to attract lots of excitement and awe during the race. Although it's called a fixed wing, in the sense that it cannot be hoisted or lowered like a traditional sail, it nonetheless has moving parts to allow for shape changes on different tacks with different wind gradients. As this Scientific American article describes, the wing is a much more complex engineering feat than an airplane's wing. We've come a long way from what now seems a very simple Marconi rig!

Photo courtesy BMW Oracle

Waking to heavy frost this morning in New England, my thoughts naturally turn to those sailing south in warmer climates. Over 60 cruising sailboats in the Caribbean 1500 rally left Hampton, Virginia, earlier this week headed for Tortola in the British Virgin Islands—and don't I wish I was aboard one of them!

These are mostly sailors who will spend the winter cruising around the Caribbean, many to return homeward next spring before hurricane season, some heading for faraway waters. I've crewed in this fleet twice in recent years but didn't have the getaway time this year. It's a great way for people who feel more comfortable knowing there's likely another boat not far over the horizon to do a longer voyage.

So as I head off to the boatyard again this weekend, heat gun in hand, to shrinkwrap my boat for the winter, I'm thinking of all you hearty souls out there in the warm waters of the world! For fun I'll read your daily updates and follow your positions on the tracker. Ah, life on a sailboat! If you can't do it right now, at least you can read about it!

If you're living in a northern climate and you've hauled out for the winter, better get moving soon on winterizing your boat's engine and water systems before the first hard freeze comes along. Don't make the mistake I once made and had to pay for in the spring with shock, expense, bruised knuckles—and almost sinking my boat!

The power of water's expansion during freezing is astonishing. Anywhere water gathers in your boat is vulnerable to damage. Follow your engine manual to winterize its cooling system. Then make a good winterizing checklist and pump antifreeze through every single waterline and hose in the boat, including some you may forget about. (Deck wash-down pump? Shower sump? Manual bilge pump?)

In my own case, in the first year with a new-to-me sailboat, I didn't forget or overlook as much as assume too much. I carefully filled every line and hose with antifreeze, and shrinkwrapped the boat for the winter. Launched her in the spring, excited on a warm but windless day, and motored to my mooring. Shut down, prepared to lock up and leave the boat ready for sailing come the weekend, and noticed the bilge pump running. It shut off, I turned away (thinking probably just the stuffing box drip), stowed a few more things, got ready to go—and heard the bilge pump come on again. Oh no! Read more...

Here's the latest word on the story of Laura Dekker ... and I promise my last post on this (at least for many months to come).

The Dutch juvenile court should announce tomorrow its findings regarding the psychological fitness of 14-year-old Laura Dekker for sailing around the world alone—either to allow or prohibit her going. She is the youth poised to go after the world record for youngest solo circumnavigator, a record the older Australian teenager Jessica Watson is now at sea seeking. The latest wrinkle in Dekker's story, however, could make this even more of a media circus. The Dekkers have apparently signed a contract with a television station to produce a reality television-type show about her voyage. Apparently a camera crew would closely follow her boat around the world, filming her every move, word, meal, article of clothing, and—perhaps—sailing technique. Reality television! I'd like to give them the benefit of the doubt, but reality TV generally trends closer to the superficial than to the sublime. Further, Dekker's lawyer has even argued to the court that her voyage will be less risky with all these people following so closely. Well, duh! Meanwhile, another sailor has offered also to sail beside her, and hotel rooms and other accommodations are being offered at all ports. You can just hear her lawyer opining, Why, she'll hardly be alone at all!

At the same time, Laura continues to say, "It's all about the sailing." I'm going way out on a limb here to suggest that this whole story is becoming less and less about what real long-distance voyaging can be all about. The sailing literature is full of stories written by voyagers, solo and otherwise, who speak eloquently about their love of the sea, their adventures, their meditations when alone with this incredible environment—and what's it's really like to sail with an independent spirit, self-reliant and self-discovering. Just check out the logs at sailblogs.com and tripsailor.com of sailors now cruising the world, for a taste of the many who have worked so hard to make their dreams come true, who understand that indeed it's all about the sailing. I'll wish the same for Dekker when she's able to accomplish that.