What’s The Big Deal About Docking a Boat? Part Two This is Captain Paul Foer “From The Foerfront” with more tips to help you safely and more easily enjoy your boating. In the first part of this three-part series, I focused on allaying the typical fears that a new boater might have when operating in […]

I just read the following on an online boating forum: “Can we discuss religion or politics instead of anchors? We all know that the best anchor is the one I use.” This summarizes the often heated threads on those forums where boaters argue passionately about one anchor type versus another almost as if they were […]

When it comes to buying a boat–any boat–it is wise of course to know what you are getting into but no matter what you calculate or plan for, there will always be unknowns when it comes to a boat. You have to balance the facts, hard data, finances etc. with the romantic and aesthetic aspects, […]

This is Captain Paul Foer “From the Foerpeak” with Part Three of my three-part series on Conducting Person Overboard Drills or Person in Water (PIW). In parts one and two we discussed the importance of drills and practicing for rescuing a person in the water. We covered locating, procedures, and approaching the victim. Now we […]

How to approach the PIW Assuming you’ve located and thrown floatation aids to the PIW, how do you approach the person? How do you get him or her back onboard? First of all, observe what is around you in terms of depth, channels, other vessels or land. Where is the wind taking you and the […]

How to approach the PIW Assuming you’ve located and thrown floatation aids to the PIW, how do you approach the person? How do you get him or her back onboard? First of all, observe what is around you in terms of depth, channels, other vessels or land. Where is the wind taking you and the […]

This is Captain Paul Foer From The Foerfront with another article about boating safety and seamanship. The below is the unedited letter I recently had published in the November, 2017 Spinsheet, The Chesapeake’s monthly sailing journal. I hope you find it to be of interest and that you will consider the lessons to be learned so we can all […]

If you want to crew on a boat delivery—SELL YOURSELF–and not your nautical experience!!! So you want to crew on a boat delivery—that’s great! Now sell yourself to me-and remember that there might be a dozen or more competing to come on the trip. I am busy and want to choose you IF you will make a […]

Rigging is often overlooked or not completely inspected by both prospective buyers or owners of sailboats as well as marine surveyors who rarely if ever go up a mast. Fortunately I have never been involved with a rigging failure and while I have sailed plenty of old boats with old rigging, I’ve never had a […]