Inside Practical Sailor

Now is the time of year that many mooring owners start investing in new tackle. As we prepare for our final report on mooring chains, I dove into some of our archival material on moorings to help guide people through the upgrade process. There are plenty of variations in the details of permanent ground tackle, and PS has covered most, including mooring systems designed for sensitive seabeds. The standard rig is as follows: a mushroom anchor set well in the bottom (or a concrete block, but it had better be huge, or a screw-type anchor, which works well in hard bottoms), to which a length of heavy chain is shackled, then a swivel, then a length of somewhat lighter chain, a shackle, and a rope pendant that goes to the bow cleat.

My previous blog posts on cruising rallies and how they affect decision-making raised a number of excellent comments from readers. I think every skipper realizes that, ultimately, he or she is the one responsible for the safety of the ship and crew. Their fate depends on his decisions. But how frequently do we examine how we come to those decisions?

Every November, I hold my breath as cruising sailors gird for the push southward from New England or mid-Atlantic to the Caribbean in one of the annual rallies organized for cruising sailors. Many of the people who participate in these rallies are new sailors, with limited offshore experience under their belt. The rally concept appeals to cruisers for many reasons, but underlying all of these is the belief that there is safety in numbers.

Given the growing concerns about mold allergies, super-bacteria, and public health, the anti-microbe business is a lucrative one. In recent years, a number of companies have been tweaking Dow Corning's 30-plus-year-old miracle antimicrobial, Aegis, to develop their own patents. We learned just how competitive and confusing this new landscape is as we began testing the mildew-fighting effectiveness of Goldshield, a powerful antimicrobial aimed at public facilities like hospitals and airports.

If youre looking for a good do-it-yourself boatyard to take care of some below-the-waterline projects before heading south this fall, check out our expanding list of reader-recommended boatyards that happily allow owners to do most or all of their own work. We kicked off our do-it-yourself (DIY) database project in June 2009 with a report highlighting Galesville Harbor Yacht Yard in Maryland. In the upcoming December 2013 issue, we will look at boat upgrades and repairs from a different perspective, offering advice on choosing a full-service yard and hiring contractors to do the work.

Practical Sailor Technical Editor Ralph Naranjo will be busy in October and November with seminars designed to set cruising sailors on the right course. If youre planning to go to the United States Sailboat Boat Show in Annapolis, Md., this weekend, be sure to catch Ralph at 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, in the Arnold Room at the Marriott Waterfront Hotel. He will be presenting a free Gateway to Cruising mini-seminar that focuses on launching into the cruising lifestyle.

The spectacle of computer-molded carbon fiber screaming across San Francisco Bay in the America's Cup 34 has brought heaps of attention to the sport of sailing, and if one more kid signs up for Opti camp this summer because of it, I suppose it is worth it-even if he does infuriate the rules committee in his next Pinewood Derby. Just as importantly, I can see all sorts of ways the AC trend toward automation can trickle down and revolutionize cruising sailing. Here are just some of the Cup-inspired inventions I envision for our brave new future-when the virtual world is more real than we would ever want it to be.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission is conducting a two-week survey to collect public comment on its anchoring and mooring pilot programs in five municipalities: St. Augustine, Stuart/Martin County, St. Petersburg, Sarasota, and Monroe County/Marathon/Key West. As it stands, these pilot ordinances will expire on July 1, 2014, unless the Florida Legislature extends the program. I can't comment on how the pilot programs in other areas are going, but in our home city of Sarasota, the ordinance has been poorly executed-to say the least.

Within a day of US Sailings release of a report that concluded that four out of five Spinlock Deckvests failed to work properly in a fatal sailing accident earlier this year, PS testers were in the water with a Spinlock Deckvest (5D, 170N, Pro-Sensor inflator), trying to figure out what might have gone wrong. Our findings re-emphasize what weve said several times before-inflate and try a PFD out in the water as soon as you buy it. Learn how to service it and adjust it for ideal fit. If it doesn't fit, send it back and try another.

By now, some who read this blog regularly may be wondering if Practical Sailor will be covering the Americas Cup. The answer is . . . sort of. Im not going. The votes are in; the jury has spoken. Practical Sailor readers have made a persuasive argument that they don't see much value-apart from the gee-whiz factor-in expending our limited resources on an event that is already over-hyped. Let Larry Ellison play with his toys. (Yes, Im a closet fan of the Kiwis.)