Great Coastal Cruises

Cruising San Francisco Bay

by Sail Staff, Posted May 16, 2005

On day two of my San Francisco Bay cruise I proved an age-old principle: As soon as you go home, you fall back into the same old roles.I hadn't really been gone, but I had not in years idled away a succession of days on my home waters with no agenda except to go wherever I wanted, and do whatever seemed like a good idea at the time. What seemed like a good idea today was to sail my nephew,

Driving The Interstate ICW

by Sail Staff, Posted August 8, 2008

Unfavorable winds turn an offshore adventure into a sleepy crawl down the DitchBy Dave BaldwinWe emerged from the darkness of an overnight passage 10 miles off the North Carolina coast when Joe asked an ordinarily easy question: “Should we turn off the engines and sail?” The light breeze had finally clocked around so that it wasn’t hitting us on the nose and—having spent

Muddling Towards Golden Gate

by Michael Petrie, Posted November 21, 2008

They say you never forget the first time. For me, cruising offshore began back in 1976 onboard Azulo, a 20-year-old, 31-foot Mariner ketch. Three friends—Dave, Karl, and Allen—and I set out to follow the path of 19th-century writer Richard Henry Dana, up the California coast. A motley crew of four young sailors off sailing the high seas!I kept a journal during that first cruise,

Feeling Blessed

by Kimball Livingston, Posted December 19, 2008

Here’s what hit me on my last trip to Catalina. It happened on the wrap-up night of a Seawind Catamaran rendezvous, and we were six cats abreast, rafted in cozy Cat Harbor across a narrow neck from Isthmus Cove. The few scattered lights ashore stole little from a starry sky. The guitars and the singing went on for a bit. A few dozen people were sated by a potluck spread (and whatever else). Tales

My Favorite Weekend Cruise: Damariscove Island

by Ken Textor, Posted February 1, 2012

Even after dozens of visits over the years, I still find that Damariscove Island is pleasantly mysterious in a way unmatched by Maine’s other offshore islands

It's the End of the World

by David W. Shaw, Posted June 14, 2010

The sun shone a milky white. Its weak rays were barely able to drive off the damp chill of the early afternoon as we made our way eastward in the Deer Isle Thorofare, a passage snaking between Deer Isle and the beautiful smaller islands of Merchant Row in Down East Maine. I carefully checked the chart against the red and green buoys marking the channel, mindful that straying off course could mean