Conventional wisdom has it there can be only one captain on a boat, and that skippering by consensus never works. When it comes down to the wire, one voice must be heard above all others, or chaos will ensue. Well, thats obviously a male viewpoint. My friend Pip and I share a passion for sailing and adventure, and weve done some offshore racing and family cruising, but neither of us had ever
Conventional wisdom has it there can be only one captain on a boat, and that skippering by consensus never works. When it comes down to the wire, one voice must be heard above all others, or chaos will ensue. Well, thats obviously a male viewpoint. My friend Pip and I share a passion for sailing and adventure, and weve done some offshore racing and family cruising, but neither of us had ever
After a full day of racing, there’s nothing I want to do more than put the boat away and hit the rum tent. When asked if I want to spend the night on a boat, what I actually hear is, “Do you want to sleep in a pile of recycling that we keep down in a wet cellar? There’s a bathroom right by your head.” So no, I am not a cruiser.
After a full day of racing, there’s nothing I want to do more than put the boat away and hit the rum tent. I need some separation between my body and the boat. When asked if I want to spend the night on a boat, what I actually hear is, Do you want to sleep in a pile of recycling that we keep down in a wet cellar? Theres a bathroom right by your head.So no, I am not a
It’s difficult to put into words what it’s like to sail in Desolation Sound, British Columbia, but “spectacular” and “breath-taking” are a good start. Located roughly 450 miles north of Seattle, Washington, the sound features abundant sea and wildlife. Along the winding inlets, 1,000-foot waterfalls cascade into 1,000-foot deep seas under bright blue skies. In the late summer, the weather is
Conventional wisdom dictates that you not enter an unknown harbor at night, and as we prepare to depart Quebec City, I wonder if the same applies to leaving. For three days the wind has been blowing a steady 25-plus knots from the east, against the current of the Saint Lawrence River, pinning us down in Bassin Louise, the old port, now Quebec City marina. But let’s be clear; this is not a
This past July, while sailing in Maine, we were surprised to discover there were no lobsters to be had on North Haven Island. Ya got a boat? a woman with no lobsters to sell asked us.As it turns out, this years lobster season hasnt been the best one for Mainers, and youre just as likely to get a fresh catch in Brooklyn as you are in Rockland. Lobster middlemenfloating barges that
When I boarded Mercantile, an 80-foot schooner docked in Camden Harbor, Maine, my iPhones battery had about five minutes of life left on it. Heydo you have an iPod dock or outlet on board? I asked a scruffy-looking young man who could have walked straight out of a modern-day Moby Dick casting call.Aw, lady, you dont know how much fun yer gonna have once that things
Driving up to Lake Champlain with our 21ft San Juan sloop Puffin in tow, my wife Dawn and I felt our excitement mounting. Wed had plenty of sailing experience on our home lake in New Hampshire, but this would be our first time on the big body of water in the northwestern corner of Vermont. We were looking forward to a week-long sailing vacation in a beautiful locale.A light rain
Six weeks before we took off for St. Lucia, my nervous father texted me, “I’m buying some new clothes for the trip. Will I be okay in T-shirts and quick- dry tops?” “Sure!” I replied, “Think about buying some linen, too.” “Linen?” he texted back, “where on my body and where on a boat would I put linen?”
Changing up their longstanding formula, Leopard Catamarans reimagined a midsize cruiser to deliver versatile living and greener cruising.
Have you had an encounter or collision with marine life while at sea? The Marine Mammal Advisory Group (MMAG) needs your help compiling their global
Helly Hansen has rolled out their Spring/Summer 2025 Collection, and with it a new take on their costal foulies.
The Cruising Club of America (CCA) is a collection of 1,400 ocean sailors with extensive offshore seamanship, command experience, and a shared passion for making
Designed and built with expedition sailing in mind, the Allures 51.9 is a powerful platform for shorthanded sailing exploration. Read the review here.
Getting up close and personal with the water on a beautiful, silent fish hunter.
A simple, clean embodiment of the racer cruiser concept, the J/40 is a SAIL Top 10 Best Boats winner for 2024. Read the full review
Hanse is embracing the best of big boats alongside the often overlooked advantages of a small boat.
Every sailor has a Covid story, many involving themselves—or their boats—getting stuck where and when they least expected. I am willing to bet, however, that
How do you answer the second most unanswerable question?
