by Fin | Wed Jan 2022 | Boat Smart, Deep Waters, Head to Wind, Rules & Regs
Topmast is committed to conducting courses in a safe and responsible manner to ensure the health and safety of our students and Instructors. At Topmast we are mandated by the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act and will act accordingly. We carefully examine...
by Fin | Sat Jul 2019 | Boat Smart, Head to Wind
This spring I was fortunate to spend some time with Erin and Marie on their Baltic 42. We had a great sail from Rhode Island to New York city where I jumped-off and Erin and Marie carried on up the Erie canal to Lake Erie. One of the concerns was the 2m keel and...
by Fin | Wed Dec 2017 | Boat Smart, Rules & Regs
No one possesses the literary skills to make the subject of buoyage interesting – no one. Buoys, their markings and light attributes are a dry subject and a necessary evil in maritime training schemes. Still, getting them wrong can have very real repercussions....
by Fin | Sun Oct 2017 | Boat Smart
by Fin | Thu Jul 2017 | Boat Smart
A Bad Day at the Office The Old Salt Blog recently posted a slightly inflammatory but informative piece on keels falling off (here) which raises more questions than it answers. Whether or not the few tragic incidents require an overhauling of design specs or...
by Fin | Thu Jun 2017 | Boat Smart, Head to Wind
Before RYA Examiner Dave De Wolfe came out to Kingston from Halifax to examine two of Topmast’s students at the Yachtmaster level we had a phone conversation about the efficacy of various man overboard techniques. It took a few minutes but we both agreed there’s a big...