Destinations

Heading Down Island

by Amy Ullrich, Posted August 14, 2008

It’s been a while since I sailed out of St. Vincent—the “mainland” to the eight inhabited (three by resorts) islands of the Grenadines, plus the Tobago Cays—so I was happy to be invited on a press trip there, especially one that included two days of sailing. It’s probably the most popular charter area after the Virgin Islands, and with good reason: the sailing is superb, though more

Deja Vu All Over Again

by Amy Ullrich, Posted August 21, 2008

Echoes of a long-ago family charter reverberate in a Florida charter with grandchildren. Maybe it's genetic. It was a long time ago—in our family's history and in the history of chartering boats—when my husband, George, feeling in immediate need of a vacation one August, chartered the only boat available in the state of Maine. It was our first time

Caribbean, the Real Deal

by Jan Hein, Posted October 31, 2008

If you think a Caribbean charter is all about the perfect reach, you might be missing the boat. There’s plenty of fun to be had on shore, so jump ship and find it. Sure, you’ll have a good time at the hangouts catering to sailors and pirates, but for a true taste of island life, take a hike. Stroll to a back street, walk the beach, or climb a hill to find that little store full of nothing or a

Flying Fish and Pounding Cats

by David Schmidt, Posted November 25, 2008

"Mike, are you going to catch dinner for us?” Mom asks as my brother pads barefoot down the docks of The Moorings’s base in Marigot Bay, St. Lucia, toward our Leopard 4300 charter catamaran, a rented trolling rod slung over his shoulder.“You know it,” he says, his excitement over spending the next week cruising St. Lucia, Martinique, and Dominica obvious. As we wrap up last-minute

Spanish Isles

by Peter Nielsen, Posted October 20, 2008

I like Jimi Hendrix, but enough is enough. As the final chords of “All Along the Watchtower” pierced the night air and vanished into the mangroves, I waved goodnight to the rest of the crew and went below. That started an exodus. Ten minutes later the bay was as completely, spookily silent as it had been that afternoon before we steamed in, dropped anchor, popped open some cold ones, fired up the

Antigua and Barbuda

by Sail Staff, Posted October 20, 2007

I'd not been back to Antigua since I left in 1994. After graduating from college and spending three years skiing and surfing, I set off to see the world as a paid deck hand. My first gig was a delivery from subfreezing Newport, Rhode Island, to balmy English Harbour aboard a Swan 65. I had no money, nor a place to stay once we arrived, but how hard could it be, I thought, to find a job on one of

Once Around Tortola

by Sail Staff, Posted October 29, 2007

We get our first glimpse of delights to come as our plane makes a wide circle on its approach to Tortola’s Beef Island airport. Spread out below us are turquoise seas and a flotilla of boats sailing up and down the Sir Francis Drake Channel. We land, and the warm tropical breezes of February greet us as we walk across the tarmac. Clearly, nothing important has changed in the British Virgin

Seven Days Under Sail in Desolation Sound, British Columbia

by Meredith Laitos, Posted September 12, 2011

It’s difficult to put into words what it’s like to sail in Desolation Sound, British Columbia, but “spectacular” and “breath-taking” are a good start. Located roughly 450 miles north of Seattle, Washington, the sound features abundant sea and wildlife. Along the winding inlets, 1,000-foot waterfalls cascade into 1,000-foot deep seas under bright blue skies. In the late summer, the weather is

Hitched in a Hurricane

by MacDuff Perkins, Posted September 20, 2011

After a full day of racing, there's nothing I want to do more than put the boat away and hit the rum tent. When asked if I want to spend the night on a boat, what I actually hear is, “Do you want to sleep in a pile of recycling that we keep down in a wet cellar? There’s a bathroom right by your head.” So no, I am not a cruiser.

2 by 2

by Dawn Dupree, Posted September 27, 2011

Conventional wisdom has it there can be only one captain on a boat, and that skippering by consensus never works. When it comes down to the wire, one voice must be heard above all others, or chaos will ensue. Well, that’s obviously a male viewpoint. My friend Pip and I share a passion for sailing and adventure, and we’ve done some offshore racing and family cruising, but neither of us had ever