There are a lot of offshore sailing events coming this year and for those of us preparing ourselves and our boats for the rigors of sailing over the horizon, now is the time to be boning up on seamanship, weather, and everything we need to know about safety at sea. In the spring, there is the Salty Dawg Rally Home from the Caribbean and the Marion-Bermuda Race; in summer there is the Transpac to Hawaii and the Salty Dawg Down East Rally; in the fall there is the Baja HaHa to Mexico, the NARC and the Salty Dawg Caribbean Rally. And, there are many more local or specialty offshore events, such as the Bermuda One-Two from Newport to Bermuda and back. Due to the pandemic, most of the safety at sea and seamanship training that was available at in-person seminars is now available as online webinars. US Sailing offers an in-depth 15 session Safety at Sea course on their website for a fee; the Salty Dawg Sailing Association offers a series of live webinars and a library of past webinars on safety, weather, communications and much more for a small fee; and, the Seven Seas Cruising Association offers members their Circumnavigators Summit in a series of informative videos. There is one live two-day Safety at Sea Seminar on April 22 and 23, run by US Sailing, The Cruising Club of America and The Marion-Bermuda Race. So, if you are hungry for knowledge and vicarious experience as you get ready to head offshore, these resources will prove most valuable for you and your crew.
