Been somewhat chained to the desk of VoyageTV as business at times will demand, but time to interject a little dose of diversity. Need to reacquaint myself with one of the reasons I’m working so hard in the first place. So sprung for a piece of gear, Crewsaver 190N, that one hopes to never use. But looking at my 3 year-old getting ready to be 4, I figure may as well dial-up the bad-day insurance with gear that is likely more than required, but I’d thank myself should I ever need it.

The 190 stands for Newtons and has to do with the force of buoyancy the vest has. It exceeds what most have (150 is common for off-shore), and that extra lift keeps one higher in the water. One aspect of the ocean that is mesmerizing to watch is the sheer power of weather. Seeing it firsthand my one focus is to simply stay in/on the boat. But the vest has an integrated harness which is important in that respect so you can tether yourself to boat when alone up top (on watch) or in weather. It has a spray-hood attached because that’s my other observation; if it’s raining and windy with  seas even with a lifevest you’re spending a significant amount of time having water rolling across and over the top of you — that’s what it looks like would happen standing in the boat — I’ve fortunately never had to test this view.

Not sure that the vest is the whole answer but ordered it from the UK where it’s made and hope to be off-shore in the very near future. Here is the position to avoid at all costs.

I’ve had some pretty not so great bags over the course of a variety of years. And some good ones. Lately I’ve been looking to find a one that could do double duty; work + outdoor would be ideal but is a long shot.

For work, generally, I use a Filson, which is canvas and leather, doesn’t look like a backpack (a plus) and works fine. One of my best purchases was made a decade ago; a Mandarina Duck bag I scored while in Italy. From what I could tell they don’t make it anymore — it’s a black duffel that has hidden shoulder straps if you want to carry it on your back. I think I used those once in ten years (shoulder strap is fine).  I have this thing about luggage-on-wheels. I understand that it’s practical, but I can’t pull the string. I dunno, if it’s too heavy to carry then unload it and try again. Seems a little geriatric.

It’s about time to retire the Duck, but not critical. Sailing is. So I’ve tried a couple bags sailing. And by sailing lets say day-sails, racing, or even long weekends — nothing major. Ideally, this new bag would work as a day-pack as well. For overnight outdoors I have an old (decade) Marmot Shooting Star (3500 Cubic inches), another bag no longer in production.

I’ve looked at the usual bag suspects and have included a bunch of links. But I saw only few good choices for sailing. Most “sailing” bags are 100% waterproof which is kinda important, but most of the time your bag won’t get wet. I think waterproof bags/sacks inside a water resistant bag is fine, so I went with it. For interior waterproof bags I use Pacific Outdoor drybags with an airvent (pneumo) that allows you to compress the air out of the bag easier than a regular roll-top. They’re great.

So after looking at:

Motorcycle pack: Ergon

Sailing Packs/Bags: Harken

Kayak/Messenger: Sealline (which I like)

Patagonia Duffle (too expensive)

Trendy Master Piece Fade Black (ehh…too expensive a little too big)

Another Motorcycle Pack: Kriega

and even classic Fjallraven – not practical for sailing

and even more not worth mentioning, I went with Ortovox, (pictured above) why?

Made for skiing, its pretty water resistant (has not arrived yet so this is a guess). So will work for skiing, fine for outdoors, should be fine for boating, and maybe even for trips (like vacation if I can squeeze one in). In any case will update as I get insight and am, you know, looking…

I wouldn’t recommend not watching where you’re going. But it’s hard to get away from the office — especially with a start-up like Voyage.tv — or any start-up for that matter. But I try to find a balance even if tied to a Blackberry (and an IPhone).

We leased a 32 foot Bennetau this past season (wife would surely say “I” as opposed to “we”). And is a challenge to make a boat pay off especially if you’re busy. Better to learn this now for sure. With a 2 year-old son, and a months-old business I should have known. Now I understand why so many sailors are retired. Couple suggestions for NYC sailors based on my limited experience:

1.  Make sure you have friends who sail or want to learn. You’ll need crew — lots — since most non-sailing friends will show up a couple of times for the novelty, trust that docking is no fun without help. Find additional friends.

2. Pay attention in NY Harbor. Picture aside, there is a lot of traffic — besides planes falling out of the sky. Also there are several sailing schools, so while you might expect someone to bear away, toss expectations and get out of the way.

3. Use the relatively protected area (as oppossed to the ocean) to get comfortable with your gear. When you lease a boat you’re rolling with whatever the boat has. Get your own VHF, GPS, charts, and apparel appropriate for the weather. I tested inavx.com as an iPhone App and its a pretty good secondary chart/GPS; for your primary you’d want something bigger; and a device more rugged than the iPhone. I like the app though and it keeps getting better. Not a bad idea to carry a Garmin or similar though if you’re in the ocean (and a paper chart). I rent a satelite phone if I’m on the ocean overnight – could be a lifesaver and cost about $5/$6 a day.

4. Speaking of weather — avoid weather (rain, wind, etc). Get accurate info from NOAA. Before your leave. Easy to avoid in NYC harbor a little more challenging on a trip — but you know that.

5. Watch the tides — NY Harbor has some pretty serious tides — especially around the infamous Hells Gate. It has the name for a reason. If you can only go 5 knots and you hit a current of 3 knots — well you have some issues. Worse in some ways is if you’re moving with the current and now 8 knots and you can’t accelerate out of turn. Don’t want to kiss the bridge. Another great iPhone app AyeTides can keep you out of trouble.

6. Make sure you can actually leave the office (and leave it behind at least for a few hours). Mission not accomplished there for me, but baby business is demanding. Your call if you can swing it.

That said, sailing overall is declining. Even before the recession. Sure it’s expensive to “own” a boat, but you can sail for free if you’re crew — the NY Times covered crewing and if you’re up for it, it’s one way to learn. It’s really how I took my first deep dive in sailing — crewing 1500 miles from St Lucia to Panama.

The above are just a couple thoughts…see you out there….

And there is just so much to know, and Tayana Captain (friend) is a fantastic sailor. There’s so much to know on a boat and any time with someone who’s sailed probably 35,000+ miles is really like Gold.

INavx worked well — hard to keep an iPhone on deck in wet environment though Aquapack can help. Still need a bigger electronic chart on the computer and ideally the same as what’s on the iPhone. Again ideally you’d want to plot waypoints on the bigger screen of laptop and upload them to iPhone, but can do on phone with patience. In any case, good to have another chart on board (and GPS). Just took ASA 105 which is kind of a throwback Navigation class — lots of pencils and erasers….but it all helps…especially blue water…harbors too.

Trip was 400 miles — did 10 knots with the help of the Gulf Stream and was back at desk on Wednesday.