“We were having our best year ever. People were booked back to back to back. The instructors were starting to complain that they couldn’t get a day off…then the oil hit.” For Peggy Van Sleen of Emerald Coast Yachts (ECY) in Pensacola, Florida, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill has devastated more than just the Gulf of Mexico; it’s crippled her charter company as well.The worst oil spill in
It started, as so many of these things do, over a beer. At the time, a circumnavigation of Cape Cod sounded easy. After all, its our home territory.That conversation took place sometime in 2003, and here we were last summer, still planning this epic voyage. Not that we hadnt tried. Twice, SAIL editors had set off in Corsair F-24 trimarans borrowed from the Multihull Source in Wareham,
It started, as so many of these things do, over a beer. At the time, a circumnavigation of Cape Cod sounded easy. After all, its our home territory.That conversation took place sometime in 2003, and here we were last summer, still planning this epic voyage. Not that we hadnt tried. Twice, SAIL editors had set off in Corsair F-24 trimarans borrowed from the Multihull Source in Wareham,
I was sitting on the beach in Philipsburg, St. Maarten, in awe of the enormous cruise ships docked there, including the mammoth Oasis of the Seas. A couple sitting in beach chairs next to me asked which ship I was on. I laughed and said, See that little charter sailboat out there, anchored in front of the cruise ship dock? They nodded their heads in unison. Thats the ship Im on.
The water may be blue, but Island Yacht Charters, Inc. has gone green. The St. Thomas-based bareboat charter company recently received the 2010 National EPA Environmental Quality Award in recognition of a multi-year effort to make its boats and its base more earth-friendly.Over the course of the past five years, Island Yachts transformed its fleet of 16 Island Packets, ranging in size from
You’ve taken the sailing courses, received your certifications and spent a few summers crewing on your friend’s raceboat. You’ve learned to tie a mean bowline and trim a pretty mainsail. Still, the reason you first ventured into the world of sailing, to captain a charterboat in an exotic locale surrounded by friends and family, seems just out of your reach—and you’re not alone. In February 2010,
We got a late start departing Ventura Harbor that Memorial Day weekend. Arriving at their Swan 40, Blue Moon, on Thursday, my hosts Mark and Christine Mohler discovered there was a problem with the shore-power main breaker. The Mohlers hadnt been cruising for a couple of months, and now found their dead house batteries needed replacing.We finally got underway late on the Friday
We got a late start departing Ventura Harbor that Memorial Day weekend. Arriving at their Swan 40, Blue Moon, on Thursday, my hosts Mark and Christine Mohler discovered there was a problem with the shore-power main breaker. The Mohlers hadnt been cruising for a couple of months, and now found their dead house batteries needed replacing.We finally got underway late on the Friday
The sun shone a milky white. Its weak rays were barely able to drive off the damp chill of the early afternoon as we made our way eastward in the Deer Isle Thorofare, a passage snaking between Deer Isle and the beautiful smaller islands of Merchant Row in Down East Maine. I carefully checked the chart against the red and green buoys marking the channel, mindful that straying off course could mean
The sun shone a milky white. Its weak rays were barely able to drive off the damp chill of the early afternoon as we made our way eastward in the Deer Isle Thorofare, a passage snaking between Deer Isle and the beautiful smaller islands of Merchant Row in Down East Maine. I carefully checked the chart against the red and green buoys marking the channel, mindful that straying off course could mean
In Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, sailing, maritime history, and community are uniquely connected.
Sailors involved with a rescue during the Newport Bermuda Race discuss the takeaways, big and small.
Restoring a Thames sailing barge is about far more than preserving maritime history.
What happens when you put a young racing rockstar and a lifelong cruising legend on stage together—and then throw a bunch of questions at them?
Cruising advice and tips from Tom Cunliffe
Starlink is becoming ubiquitous on sailboats,making instant connectivity everywhere a reality. That’s a good thing, right?
This is the column where I hopelessly date myself, and it came to me in the weirdest place—the short passage just beyond the bar at
With one of yacht racing’s most extreme events kicking off this weekend, masses have already begun to gather in Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, to witness the
The November/December issue of SAIL is here, and we’re closing out the year with stories to fire your imagination, expand your knowledge, and broaden your
November marks the start of the quadrennial Vendée Globe. Here are a few campaigns to keep an eye on.
