Amanda Seltzer 12/15/24 Amanda Seltzer 12/15/24

A well Balanced Atlantic Crossing

Our fourth trans-Atlantic passage is in-the-books. In this edition, we sailed amongst the ARC fleet, giving us an extra challenge for optimizing sail plans, weather routing, all while still catching a healthy load of fish!

Amanda Seltzer 7/11/24 Amanda Seltzer 7/11/24

Sailing Through “Orca Alley”

Honestly, this part of our journey across the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean has been the most stressful. Perhaps mostly the chronic stress of anticipation leading up to this ~50NM stretch of water, inhabited by some very friendly Orca’s who have, in the last few years, found it quite fun to play with sailboats' rudders. Orcas are pretty big and powerful whales, relative to the insignificant underwater bits on our boats. This inevitably leads to severely damaged rudders…

Amanda Seltzer 5/4/24 Amanda Seltzer 5/4/24

First Impressions of the Balance 526 ‘Pippilotta’

We have been sailing Pippilotta for about a month…so what are our initial impressions?

Amanda Seltzer 11/3/23 Amanda Seltzer 11/3/23

Neel 45 vs the Neel 47

Being Neel 45 owners for quite a few years now, Amanda and I find ourselves having to explain our 45 model, defending against the latest generation of Neels, namely the 47 and 51 (now replaced by a 52). Generally the discussion revolves around performance…

Amanda Seltzer 11/2/23 Amanda Seltzer 11/2/23

Our Favorite Boats of the 2023 Annapolis Sailboat Show

There are certain boats we get quite excited to see at boat shows. If you know us, you probably can guess a few. But dive-in, and here our thoughts for our top 2023 Annapolis Sailboat show boats…

Amanda Seltzer 9/4/23 Amanda Seltzer 9/4/23

Our Top 5 Maine Anchorages

We have only been cruising the coastline for three seasons, two of those offering trips aboard our Neel 45 trimaran, and we feel as we have barely scratched the surface of the numerous amazing anchorages in Maine. But, there are always a few we keep going back to, so here they are!

Amanda Seltzer 7/15/23 Amanda Seltzer 7/15/23

Sailing a Pogo

Big fun and broad smiles aboard this impressive little boat, a Pogo 30.

Amanda Seltzer 6/4/23 Amanda Seltzer 6/4/23

5 Tips for sailing greenland

Thinking of cruising to Greenland? We have some top-tips from our summer sailing in the Southern coast!

Amanda Seltzer 5/1/23 Amanda Seltzer 5/1/23

How to optimize storage on a boat

Curious to learn a few tips about optimizing storage aboard?

Amanda Seltzer 4/28/23 Amanda Seltzer 4/28/23

Landfall in Bermuda

Learn why Bermuda is our favorite pitstop sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.

Amanda Seltzer 3/17/23 Amanda Seltzer 3/17/23

Sailing an Open 50

Want to hear about a first-hand Open 50 sailing experience? Darren and Amanda take a trip aboard Sparrow, a racing Open 50 piloted by Ronnie Simpson, and learn that Fast is Fun!

Amanda Seltzer 3/14/23 Amanda Seltzer 3/14/23

Installing a High Powered Alternator

Looking to install a high powered marine alternator? Read about our installation, experience, and long-term review of our Balmar 250XT marine alternator.

Amanda Seltzer 3/12/23 Amanda Seltzer 3/12/23

Monohull vs Trimaran

Monohull vs Trimaran: Which is better? There is a lot that goes into that question which I will help shed some incite into MY opinion from personal sailing experience.