It doesnt take much to lure me out of the Northeast in Februaryjust a little warm salt water and a sailboat will always do it. But it was pure East Coast envy that brought me to Magdalena Bay, on the Pacific Coast of the Baja peninsula, for a whale-watching/sea-kayaking/camping adventure run by Sea Kayak Adventures. Mag Bay is the northernmost of the three bays on that coast to which
It isnt always possible to sail to a plan; you need to look at the big picture.When I started cruising, in 1992, I jumped in with both feet, literally. Id just bought a 1976 Bristol 24, and in early September I left my home in New Jersey, bound for the Great Lakes, where Id leave the boat for the winter. I planned to head west the following spring, then south to the Gulf
Amy UllrichCaribbean regattas aren’t the sole province of locals and sailing journalists. Three big ones—the St. Martin Heineken Regatta (early March), BVI Spring Regatta and Sailing Festival (early April), and Antigua Sailing Week (late April)—have non-spinnaker charter divisions, and several charter companies allow their boats to enter.
Think you’re the next great sailing writer? If so, we’d like to read your best coastal (or inland lake) cruising story. Please e-mail it as a Word document to sailmail@sailmagazine.com. Don’t forget to include your full name, hometown and state, and daytime phone number. Please write: “Cruising North
We get our first glimpse of delights to come as our plane makes a wide circle on its approach to Tortolas 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
We get our first glimpse of delights to come as our plane makes a wide circle on its approach to Tortolas 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
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
We cruised by the Strawberry Island Lighthouse in Canada’s North Channel at 7 knots in a brisk 25-knot wind. I was aboard Henk Vanderhulst’s Precision 23, Go Gently, and he, despite his 80 years, was unwilling to risk his reputation for leaving the fleet in his wake.
Once youre out of sight of land for a while, you understand why they speak of offshore sailing in the Great Lakes.Once youve been through a few sail changes, you might think of the prevailing wind as variable.And once youve gone the length of Lake Michigan, you will be, in a small way, a veteran of sailing in the heart of America. I say in a small way because there is a lot of
Most of the 263 Bermuda Race entries have arrived now in Hamilton Harbour. Only a handful are still at sea, and Dr. Richard Shulman of Barrington, Rhode Island, has the signature St. David’s Lighthouse division sewed up with his IMX 45, Temptress. SAIL’s West Coast editor, Kimball Livingston, sailed in the Demonstration Division aboard the Open 50, Gryphon
I have RecPak on board. These are complete nutrition meals, 700 calories. Add water, shake it up, drink it like a shake, and feel recharged.
Relive the adventure of the Race to Alaska with SAIL’s Technical Editor Adam Cove as he preps his 18-foot catboat and competes in the race of a lifetime, now compiled into one video for convenient viewing.
Dissatisfied with the results in their own sailing experience of trying to find an easy, more affordable way to route plan and navigate, the founders
Call us old school, but we still think books are among the greatest gifts you can give or receive. We’ve reviewed a few this year, and we’ve added some additional suggestions for sailors of every age on your list. Happy reading!
A new adventure begins for Nanni.
In a life marked by unusual and beautiful boats, the Luders 27 has become a standout.
Searching for a new-to-them family cruising boat was a revelation. “The worst part about buying a boat is that the search is over!”
Like many cruising sailors of my generation, Graham Cox was first inspired to dream of bluewater voyaging by teen circumnavigator Robin Lee Graham.
After rounding Cape Horn in relatively calm conditions, the Pardeys pay the piper in the Roaring Forties.
Canvas is one of your boat’s most valuable assets. Here’s how to care for it in the off-season.
