Cruising: Miracle On Ice
December 1, 2021
I was preparing some tea just before heading topside for my watch. Even though it was summertime, the tea was not iced—it was hot. That’s
I was preparing some tea just before heading topside for my watch. Even though it was summertime, the tea was not iced—it was hot. That’s
As I write this, another hurricane season has passed. In hundreds of harbors and marinas, sailors are breathing a sigh of relief. I know the
At sea, the boundary between dream and reality can prove rather elusive. Could my shipmate actually be waking me with these confusing words: “Ray, wake up! We’re way off course, and we need to reef the deck chairs!”
Sitting at a café overlooking “Palace Row,” where the big catamarans floated at the Miami Boat Show, I had a startling realization. Most of the potential buyers I observed being passed from greeter to salesperson to loan specialist to closer were the same people you might see in a Ferrari showroom.
They didn’t hoist the Jolly Roger or fire a shot across my bow, but their intentions were worrisome.
They didn’t hoist the Jolly Roger or fire a shot across my bow, but their intentions were worrisome. I was 80 miles off the coast of Nicaragua, on a rhumb line course from Panama to Key West. The seas were sloppy and felt more like Mother Maytag than Mother Ocean. My Spanish is bueno, and I had been trying to raise my visitors on the radio for 20 minutes. Surely the four hombres aboard the 70-foot rust museum weren’t blasting through these dreadful seas just to sell me a fish.
After the rigors of our Ouija board navigation, Ken treated me to a spontaneous VHF serenade. Suddenly, blasting out of the radio came the unmistakable sound of the “Ride of the Valkyries.” I grabbed the microphone and hollered to my mid-ocean friend, “Charley don’t surf…Charley don’t surf!”
If you promise not to tell too many people, I’ll let you in on a little cruising secret: Bocas del Toro. Located on the Caribbean coast of Panama near the Costa Rican border, this unspoiled archipelago of nine big islands and many smaller ones creates an inland sea where the breezes are so tranquil the waves rarely exceed knee height. And because Panama is south of the hurricane zone, there is no “season.” You can safely cruise here all year round.
During the “treasures of the bilge” segment of the cruisers’ radio net in Bocos del Toro, Panama, someone named Felix offered a metal sextant for sale. Two minutes later I was racing out to his handsome ketch Boisterous.
After ten days of non-stop sailing from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, I deserved a night of deep sleep. So why was my crew awakening me at an hour that even a bishop would find ungodly?
Analog alarms offer important feedback about how the boat is doing.
A friendly club boat with serious potential.
The lure of early-season boating is a beast with two heads.
A new four part docuseries details the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild campaign to defend the Route du Rhum title, available now on Youtube.
Eight Bells: Charlie Dalin
A fleet-footed foiler that everyone will want to take for a spin.
Where you’ve seen his work: Onboard photography and video during four editions of The Ocean Race Ross grew up in New Jersey and says he
The Laser was a little worse for wear. It was an old one, a little too heavy with chips and gouges that left the fiberglass
The foiling grand prix fleet made a stop in New York this week, but tricky conditions on Saturday left some out of the racing. Still, the home team moved up the leaderboard and a few notable names joined the racers.
Take a look inside the build process of a foiling Classe Mini 6.50 as Peter Gibbons-Neff gears up for a second go at the Mini Transat.
