Eventually everyone wraps a line around a prop. I was told this on my first-ever job as a captain—leading teenagers on liveaboard dive-training trips in the Leeward Islands—and bragged about being the only skipper not to have done so.
It all started midway through a cruise on Mexico’s Sea of Cortez when we were having dinner aboard Born Free and Chris of Starship announced: “Anne-Marie [his wife] and I have been talking and she agrees, we should do a partner swap.” An uncomfortable silence followed as I failed to respond.
Though we’d dragged our 6,000-pound Balboa 26 over three mountain ranges and through seven passes, our pilgrimage from Colorado to Washington State had been relatively carefree. After that we’d spent three weeks in the Gulf Islands east of Vancouver, all without a serious mishap. Then, as we were moored in Oak Harbor preparing for the final leg back to Seattle, everything changed.
My 42-foot Pearson ketch, Silverheels, was originally built with a shallow anchor well on the foredeck that could not accommodate the long anchor rodes needed for serious cruising. While converting the shallow well to a deeper chain locker, I decided I wanted a fore-and-aft partition so I could carry two separate rodes.
As I write this, I am aboard First Light, our Pacific Seacraft 31, in an anchorage at Isla San Francisco, in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. As usual, ours is the smallest cruising boat in port.
In response to a letter in our July issue, SAIL editor Peter Nielsen asked our readers to spout out on their thoughts on multihulls. Check out reader responses to “Not Everyone’s Cup of Tea”.
Have you ever spotted a lone sailboat anchored in what looks like a dream location—someplace not on the charts—and wondered how the heck they got there?
The 17-foot Old Town sailing canoe that we learned to sail in the 1970s was perfect for camping on the shores of the distant Bahamas. It was small enough for the two of us to lift in and out of the water, but still big enough to carry our camping gear, food, water, clothes and a typewriter. Granted, it did not have enough room to carry us as well. But that is another story.
Gesturing toward an oil painting rich with painterly light, French maritime historian Daniel Charles declares, “Monet was an observant sailor, and the boat that we see here would have been the first he had seen that was rigged the new way. A painting such as this is not only art, it is a textbook.”
The wind was howling, the tall, young trees outside the motel window roared as they whipped from side to side, and the sturdy building shook nervously.
I was preparing some tea just before heading topside for my watch. Even though it was summertime, the tea was not iced—it was hot. That’s
For all the consolidation in the boatbuilding world in recent years, there remains plenty of variety out there, as can be seen in these two
I suppose it isn’t merely a coincidence that I’ve made significant changes to the sailplans of the last three cruising boats I’ve owned. The first
Chartering and the notion of going “off the beaten path” may sound self-contradictory. Charter companies tend to put bases where demand is high and they
Watching charterers make a run for the last mooring in a cove is fun—and weird. I always wonder why so many would rather try to
11th Hour Racing’s Mālama kicked off the second week of the Transat Jaques Vabre with keel problems, forcing co-skippers Charlie Enright and Pascal Bidégorry to
Award season is upon us, and US Sailing is looking for the next Yachtsman and Yachtswoman of the Year. Established in 1961 by US Sailing
I’ve always known the importance of having good sails. As a low-budget boat punk, I prioritize making sure I can get where I’m going with
The Defender, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, and Challenger of the Record, INEOS Britannia, have announced the protocol and class rules for the 37th America’s
