Fleecy cotton candy clouds were stacked high across the southern horizon that summer afternoon as my Hobie 16 catamaran, Kat Baloo, ghosted silently along the low-timbered shoreline, leading us closer to the shipping channel into the Gulf of Mexico.
Years ago, my wife, Sandy, and I heard about a clump of islands about 40 miles off the coast of southern Italy, just north of Sicily in the Tyrrhenian Sea—a little archipelago known as the Aeolian Islands. The ragged, volcanic island group includes few natural, protective harbors, but plenty of “sheltered” anchorages that are considered suitable for hooking into, so long as the weather permits.
Around the world, there are only a few sailing events with a recipe potent enough to capture a sailor’s senses so effectively that they too become immediate repeat customers. For those events that have mastered the recipe, the result is a regatta with a long life.
Esli and Carolijn decided to spend a few weeks in the San Blas islands, a collection of 365 bounty-islands along the Caribbean coast of Panama. Before long, they found out they never wanted to leave.
We dropped anchor in the lee of an uninhabited island and pulled the dinghy up the sandy beach. Soon we had a campfire blazing and the entire island to ourselves.
Imagine sailing 4,198 feet above sea level on a lake that’s saltier than the ocean and larger than the state of Rhode Island—a lake where sudden storms erupt from nearby mountains and conditions shift from glassy to gale-force in an instant.
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.
Scientists recently discovered what they believe to be an ancient “sunstone” at the site of a 1592 British shipwreck near the island of Alderney in the English Channel. Before the invention of GPS or even magnetic compasses, sailors may have used this as a navigatation tool on cloudy days.
Sailing alongside Florida’s Overseas Highway, the road that follows the route of Flagler’s historic East Florida Railway from Miami to Key West, it’s easy to picture the turn-of-the-century developer pushing to expand his vision of Florida.
Narragansett Bay is an ideal charter locale, but it’s also my home port. So when I found myself planning a charter out of nearby Bristol, I wasn’t expecting any surprises.
Bali has announced the launch of the new Bali 5.2 just a year after the launch of the 5.8, and a first look suggests 5.2 takes lessons from her big sister and fits them skillfully into a more approachable LOA.
The Magenta Project seeks applicants for its 2025-26 mentorship program.
Cottage Park Yacht Club hits a milestone: one million dollars raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Perfect places to drop the hook are hard to come by. Have a few different anchoring techniques in your back pocket to make the best of it.
We recently ran a sail design trivia question about an outdated sail called the “blooper.” It stumped a good number of you who guessed that
Lydia Mullan takes the helm at SAIL Magazine, succeeding Wendy Mitman Clarke.
This past weekend we had the pleasure of being invited to the Marblehead, MA stop of our sister publication Sailing World’s national tour—the Helly Hansen
Routine summer care of your boat is as valuable as long-term maintenance. Here’s a handy schedule to follow.
A summer cruise in Maine becomes a whole new adventure when island hiking leads the way.
Toward evening on a summer’s day, there’s nothing like a quick spin around the harbor.
