How can you make tacking and jibing smoother and easier when shorthanded sailing? What seven sailing tips can help you achieve this goal? Watch this sailing video to find the answer. (also, see this video on using Genoa luff telltales: https://youtu.be/sW9lbZSAMrM). Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Imagine sailing into a new anchorage when, all of a sudden, your sailboat jolts to a stop. You’ve grounded on a sandy shoal! What seven steps should you take to pull your boat off the shoal, with or without your engine? Watch this video to find the answer. Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Imagine that you need to enter an anchorage along a fogbound coastline. How can you do this smooth and easy with just your sailboat radar? Watch this one-of-a-kind video now to learn this vital sailing skill. Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Your engine has died, and you need to bring your small sailboat alongside the dock, but there's just one problem. You have a strong wind blowing onto the dock! How can you complete this tricky maneuver under sail alone? Watch this video to learn more. Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Imagine you have enjoyed a peaceful night at anchor. Now, you are ready to pull in the anchor by hand or by using an anchor windlass. What five steps can you put into play to make this sailing task safer and easier? Watch this video to learn more. Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Have you checked your navigation notes for magnetic disturbances? Did you know that these powerful natural forces can throw you off course by six degrees or more? Watch this video to learn what you need to know for boating safety. (Also, see this link to learn about the causes of magnetic anomalies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_anomaly Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Are you ready to sail into an anchorage or approach a pier under mainsail alone, remove a jam from a winch, or choose the right storm sail to claw off a lee shore? How can you rig a simple ‘downhaul line’ to retrieve a lost halyard without making a trip to the masthead? ( also, see this video: https://youtu.be/uEWfswjNgzY?si=s9HmIYUAO0GVPTDt ) Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

What is the boat skipper’s #1 goal? Simple, really: the safe navigation of the vessel from start to finish, and including all stops. Discover the five golden rules of coastal and offshore navigation that have stood the test of time. Also, see this video: https://youtu.be/kvI3GR8ixvQ Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

How can an anchor trip-line, a five-second vibration test or a single simple sailing tip to choose the perfect working anchor make sailing or cruising safer worldwide? Watch this video now to find out more! Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

What visual signs will give you the ‘real-time’ reading of wind or current to help you dock your boat with precision? How can you tell if your engine will answer your commands when using docking speeds? Have you made a ‘drift rate’ test to choose the best approach to a pier or slip? Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing, docking, and navigation skills for safer boating worldwide. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com and sign up for free weekly sailing tips. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

What nautical chart symbols spell "danger" for the unwary sailing skipper? Wrecks can do a lot of costly damage to your sailboat hull, rudder, keel or propeller. Watch this sailing video to learn what you need to know to avoid these hazards of the deep! Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Take a course at a sailing school, and you will probably learn a series of loops and turns while practicing the recovery of a person in the water under sail alone. In the real world of boating, short-handed crews will often use the engine for better control from start to finish. Watch this sailing video to learn more. Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Your mainsail’s primary control is the mainsheet. If this vital block and tackle system fails, you will be unable to trim the leech of your mainsail or control the boom. What steps can you take to use materials already aboard your boat to create an emergency mainsheet in an emergency? Watch this sailing video to learn the answer! Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Load provisions for sailing or cruising, and your sailboat may take on a permanent list or become ‘trimmed’ down by the bow or stern. And that can affect sailing performance in a big way! Follow these five steps for boating safety this season. Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

If you rely on electronics alone for weather predictions, you are missing one of the most valuable weather planning tools in existence. Learn the secrets used by mariners worldwide to find the best sailing winds, fairest currents, avoid gales, storms, fog and much more! Download FREE pilot charts here: https://msi.nga.mil/Publications/APC Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

How can you keep your sailboat diesel engine running strong and worry-free when sailing or cruising? Put these five easy engine tasks on your checklist today to keep your 'iron Genny' running like a top all sailing season long! Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

If you want to avoid running aground or ending up on the wrong side of a buoy, beacon, light, or other navigation marker, you’d better check the chart before you enter. Why? In US waters, red markers are not always kept on the right side, nor are green markers always kept to port. Watch this sailing video to find out why! Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Are you sure your sailing navigation skills are up to speed? If the GPS fails or a hacker causes a major disruption (think of the recent past), recreational skippers may be the first to feel the pain of sailing without electronics. Use these seven navigation tips to make sure you have the skills you need to get your sailing crew home safe and sound, with or without the electronics. Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Cast off to go sailing, and your halyards, sheets, and sails come under heavy load, and every piece of rigging aboard your boat will vibrate. What one simple step can you take right now to reduce the risk of catastrophic rigging failure? Check out this sailing video to learn more! Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!

Imagine you are tied up between two million-dollar yachts and need to undock your boat. A gusty wind blows from ahead of the bow (or is blowing off the pier). How can you use a single spring line to undock your sailboat smooth and easy? Watch this video to learn the answer! Captain John is a 20+ year Coast Guard veteran, author, sailor, and professional boating instructor who shows you the simple, cut-to-the-chase sailing skills for safer sailing. Visit his website at www.skippertips.com. Sign up for his highly popular Sailing Tip of the Week. Discover how to get instant access to hundreds of sailing articles, videos, eBooks, and much more!