Hylas 54 Yacht Review!

Yacht Reviews

By Rich

Our WordPress website data shows that over the last six years of blogging my yacht reviews are the most popular posts with our readers by a considerable margin. The data surprised me somewhat, since I am neither an industry nor sailing professional. No matter – I love writing them and people seem to love reading them so I’m going to keep them coming! Having covered thousands of miles aboard our own 2006 Hylas 54, Rover, and as crew aboard the 2015 Hylas 56 Odette, I thought it was high time I put my reflections on these yachts down on paper for the benefit of anyone who might be interested. Moving forward, I plan to segment my yacht reviews into the following sections:

  • Designer’s Intended Use (to put the review in context)
  • Design Characteristics
  • Performance Under Sail
  • Sailing Dynamics & Handling
  • Performance Under Power
  • Handling When Docking
  • Ground Tackle Fittings
  • Quality / Fit & Finish

Continue reading Hylas 54 Yacht Review! →

Cape Ann, Ma and New Hampshire

New England Cruise 2020

By Paula

Hello from New England!  We continue to head north along Massachusetts on our way to Maine.  We arrived at Cape Ann, the northernmost limit of Massachusetts Bay, which encompasses the city of Gloucester and towns of Essex, Manchester-by-the-Sea, and Rockport. Continue reading Cape Ann, Ma and New Hampshire →

Whales, Workouts, and Weathervanes!

New England Cruise 2020

By Paula

Hello from Rover!  When I last left you we were in Quisset, Ma. a lovely, quiet and serene location.  Our next venture started after meticulous piloting so as to enjoy a favorable current.  Speeding through the Cape Cod Canal at 10 knots left us on the inside of the Cape with a sail to the next port of call, Provincetown, or Ptown (did they know I was coming?) Continue reading Whales, Workouts, and Weathervanes! →

“You Work From The Boat Full Time? How’s That Going?”

Hylas 54, New England Cruise 2020

By Rich

We bet a lot of you wonder how it’s going with three of the four of us working day jobs from the boat. It’s an interesting question because while I have been working from boats for long periods full time for several seasons between Rover and our prior boat, Le Saberage, those experiences were very different in that the boats tended to stay in one marina for weeks at a time, most often at a slip. That meant marina-supplied WiFi, electrical power supplied from the marina, and a known cell phone signal strength.

Continue reading “You Work From The Boat Full Time? How’s That Going?” →

Reader Poll! What Is The Dumbest Thing You’ve Seen A Crew Do When Anchoring?

Uncategorized

By Rich

Alright readers! If you’ve ever anchored out in Annapolis for Blue Angels, the 4th of July, or Bands in the Sands, or if you’ve ever anchored … ummm …. anytime in the BVI, then you’ve no doubt seen some pretty heroically hair-brained stupidity by fellow captains trying to set or retrieve an anchor. Use the comments selection below (or PM me and I can post) and let’s see if we can select the winning story!

Just to kick things off, I’ll start with two stories: one I witnessed and one (because if you can’t laugh at yourself, you shouldn’t laugh at others) that I starred in! Continue reading Reader Poll! What Is The Dumbest Thing You’ve Seen A Crew Do When Anchoring? →

Hylas 54: Reflections On Ground Tackle

Hylas 54, New England Cruise 2020, Yacht Design

By Rich

Fortunately for each member of Team Rover, we are all aligned on preferring to be at anchor by far over moorings or slips. That’s a really good thing because the experience is considerably different for each of the three options. Slips and (in particular) moorings are more or less tie-up-and-forget-it affairs, whereas anchoring requires more diligence and skill in choosing the right spot and monitoring to be sure swing radiuses are appropriate and the boat is not dragging in stiff breezes. So far we’ve been anchored more than half or 3+ week trip and I have the following reflections to share about the experience so far: Continue reading Hylas 54: Reflections On Ground Tackle →

Paula’s First Post!

Hylas 54, New England Cruise 2020

By Paula

Greetings from Rover!  This entry covers almost 3 weeks of information on our stops to include site info, workout options and food.  Future posts will be shorter as I get into the groove of writing.  So, here we go…after 10 years of planning, we finally embarked on our “around the world” excursion on June 27, 2020 from Annapolis, MD.  Like everyone, we needed additional thoughtful planning to account for the new normal, “living with Covid.” More of that to come for sure. Continue reading Paula’s First Post! →

We Are Giving A Live Seminar This Sunday!

Hylas 54

By Rich

Join us this Sunday at 5PM! We are giving the first of a three part seminar for the Annapolis Yacht Club on our transition from inshore Bay racers to offshore passage making and cruising. Here are are the details, we look forward to seeing you there!

3-Part Cruising Webinar: Starts this Sunday – 4/26, 5PM
Part 1 (April 26) will be an introduction to the crew and will cover our preparation for the cruise. Part 2 (May 3) will focus on yacht selection and Part 3 (May 10) will be about what we’ve learned so far.
Join using this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82273152784?pwd=dS83NlhkNWE0NkgwZ1Y3Z1RaRlVodz09
Meeting ID: 822 7315 2784
Password: 251750