u/YachtWorld_Official

The Single-Handed Sailing Podcast

Summer boating season is right around the corner, so we started putting together a list of some of our favorite boating, sailing, yachting, and liveaboard podcasts to throw on during long runs, marina days, or drives to the water.

A few good ones:

• On The Wind
• Boat Briefing
• The Quarterdeck
• Offshore Sailing And Cruising With Paul Trammell
• Under The Sheets With The O’Kellys
• Shipshape
• Bar Karate
• Ocean Sailing
• Three Sheets
• Stomping Grounds
• The Boat Galley
• From The Helm
• Boating Tips LIVE
• The Boat Princess Podcast
• Anchors Aweigh

Which ones did we miss?

Apparently “yacht” comes from the Dutch word “jacht,” which meant “hunter.” The first yachts were fast sailing vessels used by the Dutch navy to chase pirates in shallow waters back in the 1500s. And now the same word now makes people think of superyachts, beach clubs, and floating mansions.

https://preview.redd.it/rwz0xobv8qzg1.jpg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1cf2e6363c68ff1c2636c4399b73febfb2867945

Before GPS or modern navigation, sailors apparently paid attention to things like seabirds, cloud formations, water color, and even changes in smell to figure out if they were getting close to land. Certain birds usually wouldn’t stray too far from shore, so seeing them offshore was considered a pretty big clue.

Some sailors even carried birds on ships and released them to see which direction they’d fly. Kind of wild to think people crossed oceans relying on observations like that.

What do you think been the hardest part about navigating back then?

Ernest Hemingway’s 38-foot Pilar (1934), Image by VÉHICULE

Sportfishing boats started as simple wooden boats used for practical fishing, and today some are over 170 feet with 4,000+ horsepower and 1,000 mile range.It’s a pretty remarkable shift from utility to high-performance offshore vessels.

What do you think had the biggest impact on that evolution?