Now that the holiday season is here, what should you buy for the boater in your life? To the uninitiated, the sport can be quite intimidating, yet there are many presents available that would be greatly appreciated even if the buyer doesn't know the difference between a cleat and a clew. Look for great deals this Black Friday. I’d divide boating gifts into two general categories, those that are practical and others that are decorative. One gift I got was a brass candle holder shaped like a propeller. You can get bottle openers that resemble anchors or marlins. Calendars with water scenes are …

If you’re a skipper who always wanted to channel your inner Ted Turner by racing your sailboat, the time is drawing close for Marina del Rey’s Homeport Regatta. The annual race will be held Nov. 5 and is sponsored by the Association of Santa Monica Bay Yacht Clubs. Most of us who sail head out to the bay for a day, cruise to Catalina and occasionally visit one of the other Channel Islands, but if that’s all you ever do, your sailing skills could atrophy. The best way to enhance your proficiency is to match yourself against your peers in a race. You’ll learn how to tack and jibe with less …

A bareboat charter means that a boat is hired without captain or crew. If you’re the skipper, you should know what you’re doing and have demonstrable proof of that. You'll also need to find a reputable company to supply you with a seaworthy, reliable boat. Elliot Zimmerman of Marina del Rey’s Bluewater Sailing explained that there’s a range of boat rentals available. “There are outfits that will supply you with a boat as long as you have a credit card and a pulse," he said. “Reputable companies want to ensure that you’re a safe sailor before they trust you with their boats, which can easily …

As the sponsor of Single Mariners, Alan Gornick takes a lot of people on his ketch who have never sailed before. Some will never sail with him again. “It was a hot, still day. One of my new crew couldn’t take the heat. He tossed his hat in the water and before I could object he jumped in after it. As soon as he hit the ocean that 30 degree temperature difference slammed him. He had a hard time breathing. We had to rescue him. By the time we got him on board he was suffering from hypothermia,” Gornick said. Hypothermia occurs when a body’s core temperature starts to drop below 95 degrees. Our …

It happens to all of us who have been boating long enough, we unexpectedly get back late from a cruise. If the sun sets and we don’t have the benefit of see in the dark technology, we have to rely on interpretation of boat buoy and channel lights. Here’s a quick guide. Take a look at the illustration to this piece. If you see these vessels in front of you lit in this configuration and know you have a fast enough boat to split the difference between them instead of waiting to take the stern of both – don’t. That’s exactly what happened in Puget Sound a few years ago. A cruiser tried to pass …

If you love boating and have children, it’s only natural to want to introduce them to a sport you enjoy. When it comes to boating with children, safety is paramount. Teach them from the outset that when moving around on a boat under way, they should use “one hand for the task and one for the boat.” Make sure that your boat has life lines that run both fore and aft and port and starboard. One big question is when should you take them on a boat? I suggest not taking children on board until they know how to swim, an answer that depends more on skill than age. How should you handle children on a …

Santa Monica Windjammers Yacht Club is on Marina del Rey’s main channel with a superb view of the harbor. The club combines racing, cruising and events for its members that include dinner parties, Sunday barbecues and seamanship seminars. There are also Wednesday night buffets and Friday night bands and dinners. Its odd name is due to its history. The Santa Monica Yacht Club was founded on April 22, 1941, with a total membership for four led by Commodore Jack Taylor. World War II did not stop the club’s activities. After the war the club built a clubhouse in San Pedro. When Marina del Rey got…

Few of us are immune to seasickness, but we have different sensitivity to it. I watched an elderly woman in a seaside restaurant get queasy just looking out at the crashing Malibu surf. I’ve seen others ride roller coaster waves without even thinking about it. Steve Bremmer is a sailor who made a transatlantic crossing where the crew encountered 40 knot winds with nearly 50-foot waves. Although he had never gotten seasick before he learned he was not immune. He offered sound advice. “Don’t go below deck,” he said. John Wallace concurred. “It can get especially nasty there on a fishing trip …

As the sun set behind the Santa Monica Windjammers Yacht Club, I made my way to the gathering of the Women’s Sailing Association of Santa Monica Bay. I had heard of the group for years, and had sailed with a couple of its members, but I didn’t know what to expect.  The club was founded in 1985 under the leadership of Shelli Dickenson and was originally a women’s only group that soon grew to 40 members. “The WSA is fabulous,” 2011 Commodore Christina Tarantola told me. “We get women involved in racing, day sailing and cruising. We just finished one of the signature events that we co-sponsor, …

“Wonderful.” That's the word that Ted Woolery, the skipper of an Islander 36, uses most often to describe Santa Cruz Island.  It is an extraordinary boating destination. At 96 square miles, it’s the largest of California’s islands, with two mountain ranges soaring to 2,000 feet and a deep central valley with year-round springs. There are more than 600 plant species, 140 land bird and 11 land mammal species, as well as reptiles, amphibians, sea birds and pinnipeds. Due to millions of years of isolation from the coast, there are species such as the island jay and Santa Cruz Island Silver Lotus …

Anacapa is unique among the Channel Islands. It’s the only one with a non-Spanish name, being derived from the native Chumash Indian term meaning mirage. It’s the closest island to our coast, about a dozen miles out to sea, but it has a year-round population of three people. It’s actually made up of three smaller islets, East, Middle and West islands, with a total land mass of 1.1 square miles rising to a height of 930 feet. Anacapa’s most notable feature is Arch Rock, a natural bridge curving 40 feet above the sea. “When I’ve sailed to the Channel Islands out of Marina del Rey, I’ve headed …

Years ago, the then-Marina Single Sailing Club was the best boating deal in Marina del Rey. For minimal annual dues, boaters got to sail with experienced skippers who needed crew. I was a member myself for several years, ultimately serving as commodore of a club with more than 100 members. I drifted away, because I partnered on a boat. A few years ago, I bumped into Commodore Jim Provost in Catalina who told me a sad tale. The club had faded to just 15 members. Members had aged and skippers had died off. I had heard that the club had changed its name to the Marina Sunday Sailing Club and had …

While I was out on the water this past Fourth of July weekend, I watched a cabin cruiser chug toward the sailboat I was on. On the top deck, far above the water, half a dozen young men and women were whooping it up, dancing with their beer bottles. My very safety conscious skipper, Evan Sandler, just looked at me and shook his head. That on-the-water party was a great example of why boating under the influence is far more dangerous than driving while intoxicated. When drivers feel impaired in a car they can often simply stop and sleep it off. The other option is getting a designated driver. “…

Those of us who ride the bike path or drive on Admiralty Way can’t help but notice Marina del Rey’s sleek waterfront library. The original building was erected in 1976 by the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors. Most patrons check out the books and Hollywood DVDs, but the library holds a hidden gem in the back that overlooks the boat basin, the William R. Pagen Nautical Wing. This wing was added in 1999 due to the work of the Marina Foundation, the Board of Supervisors and the County of Los Angeles Public Library. The building was renamed the Lloyd Taber-Marina del Rey …

American Sailing Association instructor David Lumian travels the world to teach sailing instructors and certify schools. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors earlier this year appointed him to the Los Angeles County Small Craft Harbor Commission. Several years ago, in a discussion with LA County Supervisor Don Knabe about Fairwind Yacht Club, where Lumian has been a long time member, Knabe asked Lumian what the organization was doing for local kids. Lumian recognized that outreach was a good idea. “I saw it as a wonderful way to teach life skills, particularly critical thinking,” he …

Last week the California Coastal Commission, in an 8-4 vote, rejected the proposal by U2 guitarist The Edge, aka David Evans, to build a complex of five large estates in the mountains overlooking Malibu. Although the project would have given the residents spectacular vistas of the coast, it would have degraded the view of the unspoiled ridge for everybody else. Evans went so far as to buy off the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy with a pledge of a million dollars if the group reversed itself and took a neutral position on his application. "This is really not a good place for humans to have …

With the recent worldwide rise in oil prices, I’ve noticed that fewer powerboats are cruising Santa Monica Bay. The last time I was out for a sail, only one boat in 10 was a powerboat, so I asked several skippers of such craft about their fuel bills. “It costs me between four and five hundred dollars to fill my tank,” said Ken Raymond, the chair of Marina del Rey’s Halibut Derby. Captain Ann Kinner, the owner of Seabreeze Nautical Books, told me that to get away in her boat for a four day weekend she recently spent close to a thousand dollars on fuel. Al Berg, the skipper of a 48 Uniflight …

After learning on New England lakes and rivers, I vividly remember the first time I sailed at sea, from Miami to Bimini, 53 miles across open ocean as a 19 year old. My college outing club had chartered a spring break dive trip to the Bahamas’ coral reefs. We were all on a 55-foot ketch. Because I had never been out of sight of land before, I thought that the 25-foot waves we encountered were normal. After a couple of hours the skipper asked for volunteers to spell him. I was first. Although I had sailed with a tiller on a 14-foot sloop, steering that yacht was my first time on a boat's wheel…

It’s hard to convey a sense of what a trip to the Channel Islands is like in words and images alone, so this is the premiere of a little piece I did for the skipper and crew of my favorite trip to the Channel Islands. I’ll get into cruising specifics on later postings. Enjoy.

Little Harbor is little used by boaters, primarily because it is on the west coast of Catalina,  a ridge away from Avalon where most of the island’s people live and a full day of sailing from Isthmus Harbor, where most of Marina del Rey’s boaters go.“To me, the back of Catalina is like the dark side of the moon,” skipper Evan Sandler told me. He’s planning a cruise to Catalina’s west coast this summer.Little Harbor offers peace, quiet, a sandy beach and good snorkeling. You won’t be without people if you crave their company, because there’s a small campground on shore with 23 sites featuring …