Opinion

After writing last month’s note about minimalist cruisers Thies Matzen and Kicki Ericson and their exploits in the much-traveled 30-foot sloop Wanderer III, I was overcome by some uncharacteristic soul-searching.

My dad came from a long line of sailors and seafarers, but he didn’t start boating himself until he was nearly 50. I was 12 years old when he bought a 14ft Rhodes Bantam. Together, with some trials and errors, we set about learning to sail it.

I am lounging in the cockpit with a lemonade in hand, sunglasses on my face and flip-flops nearby. The boom above my head drifts from side to side in perfect time with the small waves.

My wife and I were aboard Eftihia, our Beneteau 331, sailing from Jost Van Dyke to Beef Island one beautiful afternoon in the British Virgin Islands. Our plan was to rendezvous with friends for dinner at The Last Resort in Trellis Bay, which lay a few miles to windward through restricted waters.

It is sadly ironic that my musings last month on the nature of risk in sailing—and our acceptance of it— should be followed by the tragic capsize of the Kiwi 35 WingNuts (see page 16) in the Chicago Mackinac Race, and a little later by the maxi-racer Rambler 100 turning turtle in the Fastnet race after its keel fell off and plummeted to the bottom of the Irish Sea.The

My favorite possession as a child was not a toy or a pet, but a life jacket with the characters from Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” printed on the front. Flounder sat smiling on my right shoulder, while Ariel floated elegantly on the bottom left. To me, the lifejacket being dragged out of the basement was the most exciting part of the summer. It meant Daddy was taking us sailing!Fifteen

January means various things to a sailor. If you live in the southern regions it probably means that you don’t sail as often as you might in, say, milder months like December or March. If you are a snowbound northerner then you are almost certainly counting the weeks until the cover comes off the boat and life can get back to what you wish was normal.The only consolation about cold winters

So it’s goodbye to 2010, a year that was a vast improvement over its predecessor in almost every respect. In looking back I find few causes for complaint, which is a rare thing indeed for a sailor in the Northeast.A suspiciously warm spring meant that the essential boat projects got done and the non-essential ones got half done; already I was way up on 2009.Spring merged into summer

In today’s historic inauguration, president-elect Barack Obama shed the latter half of his title and became our nation’s 44th president. He enters office during an uncertain time both domestically and globally, as economies fizzle and international tensions swell. Citizens from Kenya to Calcutta will watch with anticipation as Obama’s presidency unfolds with a hefty agenda. No matter what their