The outlying Bahamas islands of the Allens Cay group offer a pristine, almost landlocked anchorage for yachts transiting between the Exumas and points west and north. One of them, Leaf Cay, is also the last refuge of the endangered Allens Cay Rock Iguanas
Cruisers call it the “forgotten coast,” both because it’s off the beaten track that leads to the islands of the South Pacific and because coastal cruisers rarely make it further south than Mexico. For many, the Pacific coast of Central America conjures up visions of corrupt governments and guerilla warfare, but for others it means palm trees and pristine beaches.
During my 30 years of chartering, I have learned that all charter companies want their guests to have a great experience and that most go out of their way to ensure it happens.
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, isn’t just a destination for resort-based tourists. It’s also a great place for cruisers and an ideal base from which to explore the Pacific Coast of Mexico.
What a difference 18 years can make. Entering the harbor at the picturesque town of Velas on the island of São Jorge in the Azores, I am remembering the last time I was here. “Disastrous” is a word that comes to mind.
What you see is not what you get in Hatchet Bay. Located about two-thirds of the way up the long and narrow Bahamian out-island of Eleuthera, it is a great place to visit for cruising sailors
Chart briefings are like snowflakes in that no two are the same. This was especially true of the one Al Ashford of Horizon Yacht Charters gave before my family and I set sail on a recent weeklong getaway in Antigua—if for no other reason than the amount of time Al spent talking about the seas.
Being a skilled bareboat captain is about more than being a skilled sailor—just ask the folks at the American Sailing Association, who have been massaging the curriculum of their Bareboat Cruising Course for several years.
Chasing after a sea turtle, grinning like a maniac behind my snorkel, all I could think was, “That turtle is my best friend!” This is the kind of slap-happy thinking that occurs when you’re hundreds of miles from home, sailing on a 57ft luxury catamaran in the so-blue-it-can’t-possibly-be-real waters of the Caribbean.
My wife, Nancy, and I are big-time charterers. We love to sail, we love to travel, and we love to do the two of them together—so much so that after several years of chartering once or twice a year, we were looking to increase that to four or five times a year. In our travels we’d heard about owning a charter boat in a fleet
Without challenges we wither, and sailing serves them up regularly, making it the supreme teacher.
Another fuel pump failure leads to an engine rebuild, this time on the hook.
The fleet couldn’t have wished for better conditions at the start of the 363-mile ocean race.
As the first competitors eye their approach Hawaii, Stan Honey talks strategy.
Living champagne dreams on a Top Ramen budget — and how you can do it too.
Simrad has upgraded their line of chartplotters with the NSS 4, a new model designed with going off soundings in mind.
Nearing the halfway mark of Falken’s passage between the Galápagos and Marquesas
Today we’re celebrating the birthday of one of history’s greatest yachtswomen.
Celebrating its 50th anniversary, Coneys Marine on Long Island has always counted on the power of family.
Bad puns aside, why do cats and sailing go so well together? It’s brain science.
