Library of Prior Webinars

The webinars are grouped into the subjects below. You can view brief descriptions of the recorded webinars here. Access to the webinars is available to Salty Dawg Members only, to view click here and log in.

Choosing your Boat, Buying / Selling and Boat Restoration (2021)
Choosing Your Blue Water Yacht – Monohulls Noted naval architect Bob Perry will discuss the qualities of blue water cruising monohulls.	Bob Perry, world renowned Yacht Designer
Choosing Your Cruising Multihull Noted multihull designer Gino Morrelli of Morrelli & Melvin Design & Engineering will share thoughts on key features of performance cruising multihulls to look for, and what that tells you about the designer’s intent – speed, ability to sail to windward, comfort in a seaway, stability, light-air performance, payload, comfort at anchorage, storage space, etc. All boats are a result of compromise – you need to decide what is important to you in a cruising multihull.	Gino Morrelli, Morrelli & Melvin
The Sailboat Purchase Process Purchasing a blue water boat is a sizeable financial transaction, and it needs to be done properly. The quality and condition of the vessel must be confirmed, and the funds transferred properly to protect you, the buyer. Issues of survey process, selecting a quality surveyor, buying from a private seller, using a buyer’s broker, negotiation, contract process, protecting funds, custom’s duty, shipment, and taking delivery are some of the topics to be considered.	Josh McLean, David Walters Yachts
Refit/Restore an Older Boat: Part I – Above Decks Rigging, mast, boom, furling, winches, arch, davits, wind, solar and more. What to look for in a used boat. Typical projects, lead time, budget, things to be careful of, DIY or contract.	Steve Madden, M-Yachts Services
Refit/Restore an Older Boat: Part II – Hull and Below Decks Hull, electrical, electronics, plumbing, engine, generator and cabinetry. What to look for in a used boat; project length; contract or DIY; typical budgets, lead time, shake-down.	M-Yacht Services, Marc Mayo
The Sailboat Selling Process Selling your boat from start to finish.	Josh McLean, David Walters Yachts

Destinations and Cruising with the Salty Dawgs (2021)
How is a Salty Dawg Rally Different? SDSA World Class Sailor will share information on how we run our rallies, what features are provided, why they appeal to old salts as well as those new to blue water sailing, and how these are different from most folk’s perception of a “rally.” The Salty Dawg Fall Rally is the most popular rally on the east coast of the US, by far.	x Sheldon Stuchell, SDSA Ocean Class Sailor
Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbour: A Historical Overview of the most Beautiful Anchorage in the World. English Harbour, Antigua, is the location of Nelson's Dockyard, a Georgian-era dockyard used to refit the Royal Navy's warships in their fight for supremacy against the French in the Age of Sail. This talk covers the history of English Harbour and Antigua, with an emphasis on things do see and do when you visit.	Dr. Christopher Waters, Director of Heritage Resources, National Parks Authority
Cruising the Lesser Antilles Learn more about what cruising the Islands from Antigua to Grenada has to offer. Bob, SDSA board member and Port Captain for Antigua, will share thoughts on what a season cruising this region might look like. He will highlight must-see events and top places to visit in the Windward and Leeward islands.	Bob Osborn SDSA Antigua Port Officer Ocean Class Sailor
Caribbean Rally - focus on Antigua - 2021	Bob Osborn SDSA Antigua Port Officer
Caribbean Rally - Focus on Bahamas - 2021	Allen Roberts, Bahamas Port Captain

Getting There (2021)
Weather Models 101 What are weather models? How they are created, and assumptions that are made. Degree of uncertainty. How they should be used. Major weather features and how they are portrayed on models. My favorite models and their limitations.	Nick Olson, PredictWind
Weather Routing Tools A review of the weather routing tools available to the cruising skipper.	Nick Olson, PredictWind
Caribbean Weather Patterns and Impacts on Sailing Chris will cover general weather patterns and some unique weather features that can impact safety and convenience.	Chris Parker, Marine Weather Center
Route Planning Strategies - A Cruisers Perspective This webinar covers fundamental parts of route planning and considerations for better efficiency and comfort along the way.	Behan and Jamie Gifford, Sailing Totem

Getting There - Additional Recorded Webinars
Offshore Weather Forecasting & Routing Tools. What is the state of the art?	Nick Olson, PredictWind
Passage making in the Caribbean, weather considerations	Chris Parker, Marine Weather Center
Weather routing to the Caribbean: Why Antigua is your best place to make landfall - Part 1	Chris Parker, Marine Weather Center
Weather routing to the Caribbean: Why Antigua is your best place to make landfall - Part 2	Chris Parker, Marine Weather Center
Where to leave from: Departing for Antigua and points south	Chris Parker, Marine Weather Center

Passage Preparation (2021)
Becoming a Successful Cruising Couple A discussion on the steps to take to get both to the stage of being competent sailors, how projects are handled, workable watch schedules, boat setup and handling considerations (approaches they have devised from sails to docking) , lessons learned on managing crew dynamics, keeping entertained and questions from the participants.	Lisa McKerracher and Pierre Caouette, s/v Biotrek, Salty Dawg World Class sailors
Transition from Coastal Cruising to Extended Time Aboard Being aboard for a few weeks on a summer vacation or weekend sailing is much different than being aboard, covering distances and living on the hook for months at a time. Making the boat a home, keeping comfortable underway and being sure that you are prepared to deal with gear issues that inevitably crop up. It has been said that being aboard for a year puts as much wear and tear on a boat as a decade of weekend cruising. This discussion will dive into the changes that can be made to ensure the most rewarding time aboard.	Bob Osborn, s/v Pandora
A Recommended Path for Developing Blue Water Skills This webinar discusses the Salty Dawg guidance paper on this subject, providing the collective wisdom of experienced Salty Dawgs on how one might go from little to no sailing experience, all the way to being comfortable in the world of offshore sailing. The guidance is designed to allow anyone to enter at their current level of experience, and will describe a variety of experiences and pathways that are available. These will include discussions of particular classes, passagemaking and experience opportunities, webinars, and reference materials that are designed specifically to help you to achieve your blue water sailing goals.	Bennett Kashdan, SDSA Director and World Class Sailor Hank George, SDSA President and World Class Sailor
Using the Salty Dawg Comprehensive Offshore Checklist Compiled by World Class Salty Dawgs; an extremely comprehensive list, valuable to all who go offshore	Russ Owen, World Class Sailor

Passage Preparation - Additional Recorded Webinars

The Cruiser’s Medical Kit

Recommended contents of a cruisers medical kit. Training, prescription drugs and other medications to consider, crew questions, pre-travel visit to your healthcare professionals, insurance types, resources before departure and from afar, predeparture checklist, accident and injury avoidance, recommended first-aid guides.

Jo Barnes, long time cruiser and Ocean Class sailor, s/v Starburst

Outfitting Your Boat for Offshore Passages
Russ Owen is a Salty Dawg World Class sailor and circumnavigator. He covers essential systems and upgrades for safety and convenience for ocean passage making. From batteries, charging options, inverter hints, anchoring choices, Watermakers, dinghies, and much more…

Russ Owen,
World Class Sailor

Sails and Rigging (2021)
Selecting Your Blue Water Sail Inventory Taking your boat offshore is very different than coastal cruising. Which sails should you have and the priorities of a limited budget. Today’s sails are made from a bewildering array of fabrics and it is important to choose the cut of the sail and materials to ensure long life and performance, especially in the conditions that you are likely to encounter on passage. Dave will demystify the process of choosing the right sails.	Dave Flynn, Quantum Sails
Rigging Fundamentals Moving beyond a credit card solution: 1. Rigging basics: materials, terms, loads, tune 2. Common rigging faults and how to find them. 3. Pre-passage inspection	Behan and Jamie Gifford, Sailing Totem
Sails: the Fundamentals Sail fundamentals (materials, terms, loads); sail repair basics and common causes of problems; self-inspection before going offshore; observations while underway.	Behan and Jamie Gifford, Sailing Totem

Sails and Rigging - Additional Recorded Webinars
Planning Your Cruising Inventory: What Sails do you Need?	Dave Flynn, Quantum Sails
Trim for Control: Sail trim from an offshore sailor’s point of view	Dave Flynn, Quantum Sails

Gear and Techniques (2021)
Windvane Self Steering Imagine a crew member who spends endless hours steering, doesn’t eat or sleep, and never complains? A windvane self steering system will steer your monohull or catamaran for short distances or across oceans with absolutely no power consumption. Will and Sarah Curry provide an overview of the different types windvane systems (and emergency rudder options), demonstrate the Hydrovane, and discuss what a windvane can do for you with video and cruising anecdotes.	Will and Sarah Curry, Hydrovane International Marine Inc.
ParaAnchors and Sea Drogues Why blue water sailors need these. Conditions when appropriate, how to deploy, adjusting, recovery, storage and budget. Cool photos and videos	Zack Smith, Fiorentino ParaAnchor
Gadgets, Gizmos and Thingamajigs Special tools you should have aboard. Helpful little things to have on your cruising boat - things to save you time, do a job better, facilitate boat maintenance, and help in emergencies. And, and some cool galley thoughts as well. Hank & Seale have compiled some of their tried-and-true things from 200,000 miles of sailing, and have pulled in favorites from many other seasoned Dawgs. You'll be taking notes!	Seale and Hank George, World Class Sailors
Our Favorite Dinghy Hank will pose questions on preferred makes and models of dinghies and outboards, key features, things to avoid, nice additions like chaps, seats, and storage, where stowed when offshore, security, and more. All important considerations for the “Family Car.”	Panel Discussion, moderated by Hank George, SDSA President; Panel: Jo Barnes, Brian Stork, Barbara & Ted Owen – Salty Dawg World Class and Ocean Class sailors
Satellite Communications at Sea Staying in touch is more important than ever and is changing every year. E-mail, Internet, Weather data, GRIB files, TV. Learn about the latest satellite technology available, how it can keep you safe and in touch wherever you go, and the newest technology available.	Jeff Thomassen, OCENS, Inc.
Offshore Power Management/Off the Grid Choosing power sources, charging options, and sizing.	Simon Ytterbom / Victron Energy

Gear and Techniques - Additional Recorded Webinars

Basic Diesel Maintenance: Keeping Her Humming

Review of basic maintenance procedures on a diesel engine, diagnostic of common engine problems, recommended spares, and focus on becoming comfortable in doing basic maintenance functions.

Russ Owen, s/v Nexus, Salty Dawg World Class sailor

Safety at Sea (2021)
Being Found - EPIRBS, AIS and PLBs What to know so you can be seen and found.	Brian Flowers, Life Raft & Survival Equipment Inc. (LRSE)
Heavy Air Tactics and Strategy Heavy air tactics and strategy for cruising sailors.	Dave Flynn, Quantum Sails
Safety at Sea - Dealing with Stressful Situations A course on this topic usually conjures up MOB drills and inflating a life raft. These are helpful for those specific emergencies. The focus of this discussion is preparation, practices, and procedures to lower the risk of getting into an emergency, and improve the outcome.	Behan and Jamie Gifford, Sailing Totem
Heavy Weather Tactics slow down; heave-to; run off; drogues and para-anchors; tactics and tips for monohulls and catamarans; how to set-up.	Zach Smith, Fiorentino ParaAnchor
Catamaran Heavy Weather Tactics	Gino Morrelli, Morrelli & Melvin

Safety at Sea - Additional Recorded Webinars
Seamanship tips to ensure a safe passage Getting crew and boat ready.	Russ Owen, Hank George, SDSA board
USCG briefing: Staying safe and what to do when things go wrong.	Geoff Pagels USCG

Keep You and Your Crew Happy (2021)
Successful Offshore Fishing Blue water fishing techniques for all - including references to different locations	Kevin Ferrie / Salty Dawg Ocean Class sailor
Successful Offshore Fishing from a Sailboat - Part 1	Kevin Ferrie / Salty Dawg Ocean Class sailor
Successful Offshore Fishing from a Sailboat - Part 2	Kevin Ferrie / Salty Dawg Ocean Class sailor

Keep You and Your Crew Happy - Additional Recorded Webinars
It's Not All About the Boat Enjoying your time at sea.	Seale George, Salty Dawg World Class Sailor

Ask The Experts (2021)
Q&A Session, Ask the Experts - Winter I	Russ Owen, Bob Osborn and Jo Barnes; moderated by Hank George
Q&A Session, Ask the Experts - Winter II	Hank George World Class Sailor, Steve Stelmaszyk World Class Sailor, Pierre Caouette and Lisa McKerracher World Class Sailors, Bob Osborne Ocean Class Sailor; moderated by Alex Helfand Ocean Class Sailor
Q&A Session, Ask the Experts - Spring/Summer I	Steve and Linda Stelmaszyk / Salty Dawg World Class sailors Hank George, Salty Dawg World Class Sailor
Q&A Session - Ask the Experts- Spring/Summer II	Russ Owen, Kevin Ferrie and Dave Flynn / Quantum Sails; moderated by Alex Helfand Ocean Class Sailor