FROM THE HELM

By Mike Benjamin, SV Exodus, President SDSA

GUESTS ABOARD! - A SURVIVAL GUIDE

You’ve successfully completed a passage to the Caribbean and your crew has finally departed!  Ahh…alone time, sundowners with fellow cruisers, afternoon naps, time to do repairs and finally, the boat is just how you like it.  You are in an amazing location - the weather is outstanding.  Why not have friends and family down for a visit to share your adventure?  So, you start inviting and planning.  But before you make those plans final, beware of the lingering guests, the sloppy guests, the big footprint guests, and the dreaded water hogs.  Don’t get me wrong, we love having guests and we invite our friends and family year after year.  It’s great fun but it can also be a real challenge.

BREAKING NEWS!!

Azores Rally

Starts from Hampton, VA and St. Maarten for Bermuda:  May 18, 2025
Start from Bermuda for Horta: June 1, 2025 (weather permitting)

Set sail on an unforgettable adventure across the North Atlantic! Join us for an exhilarating rally to Horta on the island of Faial in the Azores, departing from Bermuda on June 1, 2025. Whether you're sailing from the US East Coast (Hampton, VA) or the Caribbean (St Maarten), our feeder rallies promise an exciting start to this epic journey. Is exploring the Med on your boat for a season or two on your bucket list? Benefit from the expertise of our seasoned members and organizers who have been there.

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BVI Rendezvous

March 3 - 12, 2025

Nanny Cay wants to win you back and is pulling out all the stops to bring you to the BVI including on-site custom clearance in/out, discounted slips and moorings, and specially priced hotel rooms.  Nanny Cay will host a Welcome Party and a Farewell Dinner Event.  The rendezvous includes a cruise to Virgin Gorda  Sound and The Bitter End for a Beach Day extravaganza.  

Learn more

P.A.Y.S Salty Dawg Rendezvous, Portsmouth, Dominica

February 13 - 20, 2025

Combine exploration of the natural beauty of the island with volunteer efforts to an island project. Usually each night brings social gatherings, cookouts, pot-lucks and other creative evening gatherings on the beach. Get ready for lots of fun! Invite your cruising friends and join us for all or part of the week. 

Learn more 

 2025 RALLY REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!! 

AN UPDATE ON THE SALTY DAWGS APP

The SDSA App has been available to members for about 5 months and we have more than 500 users–300 using it weekly. The Messaging feature continues to be the most popular, but be sure to check out the Member Map to locate and message other members directly; the Rally Map to track rallies; and Posts, where it is easier to keep content and comments together in one place. 

The app is still being actively developed and improved. The ultimate goal is for the app to handle all interactions with the association–renewing membership, registering for rallies, purchasing merchandise, buying and selling treasures from the bilge, and posting notices on the crew bulletin board. Work also is underway to improve the most popular features. This includes better performance, search features for messages and posts, accurate messages and posts counts and an improved user interface. 

SOUTH PACIFIC CROSSING

Written by Tim Sander, SV Always

Greetings from SV Always, a Seawind 1260 catamaran that crossed the South Pacific in 2024.  I’m Tim Sander, a Salty Dawg member since 2022, and I live (mostly) full-time aboard Always since January of 2022.  I’ve enjoyed sailing since I was a kid and dreamt about circumnavigation.  Honestly, I figured it would be as crew aboard someone else’s vessel, but I’m fortunate enough to be underway on that dream with Always.

After purchasing Always in 2021 and sailing her back from the West coast of Mexico to the Chesapeake Bay, I had a good taste for living aboard, but I wanted more open water experience.  I joined the 2022-23 rally to Antigua as a way to build sea miles.  What I got was a fantastic experience of sailors helping sailors in the SD group.  Learned more about weather, off-shore planning, provisioning tips, safety gear, and great stories from everyone I met.  It was a fantastic cruising season and a great way to gain confidence on Always.

After returning from the Caribbean in May, I started thinking about what was next.  Was I ready to start a multi-year voyage?  In short, I decided yes, now was the time for a lot of different reasons.  But where, how, with whom?  Let me walk through some of the decisions I made, in the order I processed them.

THE JANUARY JUMP!

Written by Kathy Kubic, Island Time, Rally co-Captain

36 Salty Dawg boats joined the Salty Dawgs' first ever January Jump Rally from West Palm Beach to the Bahamas, and what a time it was! Fleet Captains Kathy Kubic on Island Time and Doug Weibel on Frolic designed the rally to leave in mid January so that sailors had the opportunity to stay home with families for the holiday season, yet they still have a full cruising season in the warm Bahamas.

SETTING SAIL IN THE MED:  UNDERSTANDING YOUR LICENSING OPTIONS

by Captain Mark and Sharon Noneman, Calypso Sailing Life, a NauticEd Sailing School

The Mediterranean, with its azure waters, historic ports, and charming coastal towns, is a sailor's paradise. But before you charter a yacht or set off in your own boat on your dream voyage, it's essential to ensure you have the proper sailing license. Unlike sailing in North America, many countries in the Med including Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Croatia, and others require a license that verifies sailing competence.

Two prominent options for international sailing certification are the International Certificate of Competence (ICC) and the NauticEd Sailing License and Credentials (SLC™). Let's explore these credentials to help you determine which is the right fit for your Mediterranean adventure.

THIS MONTH IN PICTURES