Over my years as SAILs charter editor, Ive worked with many bareboat-charter companies both as a charterer and as an editor. Truth is, the people you interact with in setting up a charter vacation and dealing with the details are almost invariably as helpful and knowledgeable as you could wish.When a friend who was planning a first-time charter came to me with questions, I seized the
Mother-daughter bonding on the high seasAs I dialed my mothers number on the Panama City pay phone, I told myself not to be disappointed if shed changed her mind. My father, whod been worrying ever since Id announced my decision to sail the 3,200-mile passage from the Galpagos to the Marquesas alone, had e-mailed me the night before. Subject line: Crew for your
Palmerston Atoll, in the Cook Islands, delivers hospitality unheard-of in the real world.We were six long days out of Bora Bora. The wind was like a babys breath, and the rolling swells frequently knocked it out of our sails. Progress was slow but peaceful until the western sky filled with the rapidly lowering cumulus of an approaching cold front. We were soon hunkered down in
Theres always an anchorage around the bend when youre cruising the rivers and sloughs of Californias Central ValleyMuch of our world has lost a proper sense of the journey, but not the world of sail. A friend of mine once told me how he sailed his two boys 80 miles up the Sacramento River from San Francisco. We went when the boys were 14 and 12, he said. Along the way we
HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT CHARTERING?Readers want to know: How to get there; when to go; what to pack. I’m not a travel agentfar from itbut I do have some practical experience to share, especially when it comes to the Caribbean.How to get there. San Juan, Puerto Rico, has long been the hub for travel from the U.S. mainland to the islands, and American
Cruising the challenging waters of the Beagle Channel and Cape HornThe change in the weather is as emphatic as it is fast. One moment we’re meandering along, running wing-and-wing before a light northerly breeze that’s just enough to get our heavy 56-footer trundling along at 5 knots. The next, the sky to the west takes on a gunmetal hue and the jib shakes itself as the
If you’ve done any sailing outside your home waters, you already know how invaluable a cruising guide can be. I suppose it’s possible to tough it out with just the chart and the chart checkout, but at the very least this means you’d be reinventing the wheel when it comes to choosing an anchorage, figuring out what time you should arrive there, finding groceries, and much more.Chris
A resident of Grenada, Chris Doyle wrote his first Cruising Guide to the Windward Islands in 1980. The current 2007-08 guide is the twelfth in the series.By Chris DoyleFOOD AND DRINK» ProvisioningThere was a time when charterers set off for the Windwards with bags of food—who knew what you would find down island? Forget
Chris Doyle has been writing and updating the Cruising Guide to the Leeward Islands since 1989.FOOD AND DRINK» ProvisionsIf you decide to self-provision or just need to restock, it doesn’t get better than in St. Martin, where the supermarkets are giant and waterside provisioning services ensure that superyacht guests (and you) are never
Nancy and Simon Scott wrote their first Cruising Guide To The Virgin Islands in 1982By Nancy ScottTRAVELING ON YOUR STOMACH» Self-ProvisioningIt’s convenient to have your charter company provision for you, but it’s an adventure to do it yourself. Cooking in the Virgin Islands is influenced by American, British, Spanish, East
The year is 1966, in the heart of Orange County, California, when White Seal is laid up in fiberglass, by hand, at the Jansen Marine
Caribbean sailors marked a milestone this past weekend as they celebrated the 50th St. Thomas International Regatta (STIR), a unique three-day event that draws a
Ever since the government started polluting our fuel with ethanol, I’ve agonized over how best to power the dinghies I use when cruising. I did
It has been a long, hard winter and the summer months can’t come soon enough. We wish we were in Lauderdale, soaking up the sunshine,
Sailors have a longstanding history with music. From ancient seafaring cultures to modern sailors, music has played a vital role in maritime life, offering solace,
The latest from Nautitech is what getting it right looks like.
We had stopped to snorkel at Cayo Sal in Cuba, and I grabbed my mask and fins to check on the anchor. This weather-beaten, low-lying
I could feel the boat find her groove and settle in at 7.2 knots on a beam reach with the code zero flying. It was
Would a brief passage to no particular place soothe this landbound sailor’s pelagic soul?
It was half past midnight and the wind had been building for the last few hours. We had left the west coast of Puerto Rico
