A century ago, 300 individual communities dotted the islands of Penobscot Bay, Maine, each independently thriving off the land and sea. Today, the town of Rockland is one of 15 remaining communities, and it takes its role of culture-preserver seriously.
I like to consider myself something of a professional charter sailor. I’ve booked dozens of vacations under sail for myself and for others, and have read and written numerous articles on making chartering better, smarter, cheaper and more fun. So what could a charter broker possibly tell me that I don’t already know?
Admit it: there’s something unbeatable about sailing in your home waters. You know every tidal pattern, every obscured rock and every fluky habit of the wind. You could navigate with your eyes closed, though you’d never close your eyes, for fear of missing out on the scenery.
Eighty-some thousand miles and two children later, we crept up on Alaska from the west, sailing from Hokkaido, Japan, down the Aleutian chain in May aboard Seal, our 56-foot aluminum cutter.
When we tell folks we sail in Kansas, they are never quite sure if they should believe us. With deep roots in America’s Old West, Kansas is more likely to be associated with prairie schooners—a nickname for covered wagons—than schooners with keels and masts.
To superstitious sailors, the ocean holds many perils—some more legendary than others. There’s the Kraken, that fearsome tentacled beast that drags ships into the ocean’s depths, the ghost ship Flying Dutchman, the cursed Bermuda Triangle and, of course, the Gulf of Tehuantepec.
Sailors in the United States have become increasingly interested in environmental responsibility. Most modern marinas have up-to-date pumpout stations with fuel-spill kits and recycling containers close at hand.
One of the joys of cruising is that it enables us to visit extraordinary places, places we may not have even heard of were we not cruising: places like Selvagem Grande, the largest of Portugal’s Ilhas Selvagens, or Savage Islands: population two humans, one dog and 40,000 very noisy seabirds
On board any cruising boat, charts and guides are pivotal for route-planning. But have you ever thought about how those guides are created? We checked in with the co-authors of an ICW cruising guide to get the skinny on guide-writing and ICW cruising.
When most of us think about cruising in Sweden, we imagine a place that’s expensive and cold, with Volvos and Nordic beauties galore, and well-built boats with hefty price tags. The blondes are there, all right. So are the Volvos and the boats, but costly and chilly it is not.
Distilled from a 57-year passion for fast, stable sailing, this performance cruising trimaran is refined into one beautiful, fierce machine.
If you’ve ever been in a nighttime sailing situation where you wished you could turn night into day, the new FLIR Ocean Scout Pro thermal monocular may be just what you’re looking for.
Gift Ideas for Sailors 2025
From the Spring 2025 issue of Multihull Power & Sail, a special issue of SAIL published in partnership with our sister magazine Power & Motoryacht.
One Wild Cat: An 18-foot Marshall Sanderling catboat more than proves its mettle in the Race to Alaska.
Calling all sailors in the Pacific southeast of Hawaii! Some University of Washington students need your help retrieving a wayward data-gathering vehicle whose battery is on its last legs.
This weekend we’re looking back on the start of the inaugural Sunday Times Golden Globe, which began on June 1, 1968. There was no organized
Mark Synnott, Dutton,Penguin Random House, $32 You can fill a lot of shelves with books about Sir John Franklin’s doomed 1845 expedition in search of
Looking to clean up your technique this season? Hop onboard with Newport’s Wind Walker for a lesson on textbook mark roundings. View this post on
Want to sail on the edge? Try running the bow for the first time on a 140-foot classic schooner in a world-class regatta.
