Cruising Most Commented

SAIL's Tip of the Week

Peter Nielsen
May 16, 2013

When you have to make a docking line fast to a ring or bollard, a round turn and two half hitches is better than a bowline. Why? Because you can untie the round turn and two half hitches when the line is under load; try that with a bowline and you’ll soon be reaching for a knife. As a fringe benefit, the round turn also resists chafe.

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Tartan will Build Fleet for 2014 Gay Games

Becca Oken
May 09, 2013

Ohio-based Tartan Yachts will be supporting the 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland by building 20 boats for the sailing portion of the world’s largest LGBT multi-sport event.

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Wounded Nature--Working Veterans' Unique Mission

Becca Oken
May 07, 2013

Even with the more recent rise of environmentalism, marine life is perishing after eating remnants of party trash from the sea. Wounded Nature—Working Veterans is an organization dedicated to stopping this problem at its source.

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Chain Messenger

by Ann Hoffner, Posted August 21, 2008

A handy technique for rereeving lost halyardsBy Ann Hoffner

With our Peterson 44, Oddly Enough, snug in a slip in Darwin, Australia, we stripped the gear off her deck before flying home for an extended visit. I bought three small bales of light polypropylene line and rigged messenger lines so I could rereeve the halyards when we returned. But I was distracted by the

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American Cruiser Murdered in Guatemala

by Sail Staff, Posted August 15, 2008

Four men wielding machetes attacked a retired U.S. couple aboard their sailboat in Guatemala Saturday, killing one tourist and seriously wounding his wife, according to a report by the Associated Press.

After demanding money, the assailants hacked Daniel Dryden, 66, to death, then stabbed Nancy Dryden, 67, which resulted in Mrs. Dryden sustaining a punctured lung. Mrs. Dryden is now in the

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Passage To Tomorrowland

by William Yates, Posted August 13, 2008

A California sailor becomes the world’s first solo golden shellbackBy William Yates

The reefing line just parted, making a shot gun blast—BLAM!—as it went. This gets my attention. I don T-shirt, shorts, shoes, and harness, slip on the spreader lights, and climb the ladder to the cockpit. The big sail is flapping wildly. I ease the preventer and take in the main, then

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Too Much Fog, Too Damn Cold

by Fred Bagley, Posted August 13, 2008

Every once in a while, lake Superior fails to live up to its fearsome reputationStory and Photos by Fred Bagley

My wife’s father was 98 years old when I asked him why, having sailed Lake Michigan and Lake Huron’s North Channel for 65 years, he had never taken any of his boats to lake Superior. George replied without hesitation, “Too much fog, too damn cold.”

Superior’s

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The Joy of Gunkholing

by David W. Shaw, Posted August 11, 2008

There's more to cruising than wide-open spaces

I glanced to port at the anvil-shaped cloud rising high over the mainland to the west, then at the genoa eased to catch a southerly breeze blowing anemically up the Johns River off Elizabeth's stern. My heavy full-keel Bristol 24 barely moved. More to the point, I was losing the race with my friend's Tartan 27 as he glided toward

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