Splat! A large lump of something yellow hit the path in front of us. Then another, and another. Flinching, I glanced up into the rain-forest canopy. Flashes of movement and an insolent chattering betrayed the culprits—monkeys, and plenty of them. Splat! Now we recognized the somethings as the remains of mangoes dropping from the canopy as the monkeys finished munching them. Messy
Splat! A large lump of something yellow hit the path in front of us. Then another, and another. Flinching, I glanced up into the rain-forest canopy. Flashes of movement and an insolent chattering betrayed the culprits—monkeys, and plenty of them. Splat! Now we recognized the somethings as the remains of mangoes dropping from the canopy as the monkeys finished munching them. Messy
A charter in the Ionian sea yields a sampling of the “real” GreeceWe sailors are lucky. Thanks to the availability of boats that can be chartered in many of the world’s wonderful places—and to my mind, many of these wonderful places are islands—we can travel around at will, complete with housing, a kitchen, and a clothes closet. Within certain parameters, of
Every once in a while, lake Superior fails to live up to its fearsome reputationStory and Photos by Fred BagleyMy wifes father was 98 years old when I asked him why, having sailed Lake Michigan and Lake Hurons 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.Superiors
Yes, temperatures may be high, but there are brisk southeasterlies, warm waters, and the biminiEvening was still very hot. Friends had told us not to miss the unique monastery on Cat Island, and my wife, Carol, seemed eager and able. But as we traipsed the beachfront in the sun, I was waiting for my life to flash before my eyes. Going out in the noonday sun has never seemed
There’s more to cruising than wide-open spacesI 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
Mother-daughter bonding on the high seasAs I dialed my mothers number on the Panama City pay phone, I told myself not to be disappointed if shed changed her mind. My father, whod been worrying ever since Id announced my decision to sail the 3,200-mile passage from the Galpagos to the Marquesas alone, had e-mailed me the night before. Subject line: Crew for your
Palmerston Atoll, in the Cook Islands, delivers hospitality unheard-of in the real world.We were six long days out of Bora Bora. The wind was like a babys breath, and the rolling swells frequently knocked it out of our sails. Progress was slow but peaceful until the western sky filled with the rapidly lowering cumulus of an approaching cold front. We were soon hunkered down in
Theres always an anchorage around the bend when youre cruising the rivers and sloughs of Californias Central ValleyMuch of our world has lost a proper sense of the journey, but not the world of sail. A friend of mine once told me how he sailed his two boys 80 miles up the Sacramento River from San Francisco. We went when the boys were 14 and 12, he said. Along the way we
Cruising the challenging waters of the Beagle Channel and Cape HornThe change in the weather is as emphatic as it is fast. One moment we’re meandering along, running wing-and-wing before a light northerly breeze that’s just enough to get our heavy 56-footer trundling along at 5 knots. The next, the sky to the west takes on a gunmetal hue and the jib shakes itself as the
In the water or on the hard, winter storage is a matter of choices. Here’s a rundown of the pros and cons of each.
The Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup came to a dramatic conclusion on Saturday off Barcelona, Spain, when Defender Emirates Team New Zealand notched match point
Relieving the Load In an ideal world, any boat that needs to move her genoa fairleads forward when reefing would have dedicated purchases for the
Crew on charter can surprise, exasperate, and entertain—sometimes all at once.
Picture this: We’re anchored Swedish-style, bow up against the rocks, stern anchor pulled tight on the starboard quarter, pine trees gently rustling in the light
Five years and a ton of sweat equity turned a “piece of work” into their soul mate boat.
SAIL‘s team is on the docks at the Annapolis Sailboat Show so come on over to booth F5 and say hello! And don’t forget to
A shakedown passage across the Bay of Biscay proves challenging and empowering.
About halfway through the 635-mile Newport to Bermuda Race, in the middle of the night, partway through our Gulf Stream crossing, the boat I was
Seawind 1370 Seawind Catamarans have managed to walk a thoughtful line creating serious bluewater cruising cats that deliver solid sailing chops without the complexity and
