This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issueWhen I first saw Antares, she was sitting forgotten and forlorn in a boatyards back lot. Weeds grew tall around her and her once bright hull was streaked with grime. But something in her lines caught my eye and I knew at once that this Westsail 32 was what I wanted in an offshore cruiser. Gazing up, I was smitten
This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issueThe question came up every year: Whadya think about chartering in the Caribbean? And every year the answer was the same: Nah.My wife, Jennifer, and I sail our Caliber 38, Catamount, in the northern latitudes, on the fresh waters of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. The idea of chartering in the Caribbean
This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issueThe question came up every year: Whadya think about chartering in the Caribbean? And every year the answer was the same: Nah.My wife, Jennifer, and I sail our Caliber 38, Catamount, in the northern latitudes, on the fresh waters of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. The idea of chartering in the Caribbean
This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issueWe were 450 miles south of Bermuda and three days into a passage from Bermuda to St. Martin on Dream Weaver, our 50-foot cutter, when Dawn, my wife, asked me, Why is the sink filled with water?. With moderate northerly winds wed made good progress for two days, but then the wind had died and turned southerly. Wed been
This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issueMany sailors think the best way to reach the Caribbean from the northeast U.S. is to head for Bermuda, spend a few days there, and then take an easy ride down to the islands. In my experience this is neither the quickest or safest route for boats under 55 feet. Many American insurance companies, and almost all Lloyds
This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issueWed been racing Counterpoint, our C&C 33, intensely and it was time for a break. So when my wife, Susan, said, Lets take a cruise, just the two of us, I eagerly agreed.Racing can be intoxicating, but it can also mirror the stress of corporate life; it cant refresh the soul the way cruising does when you
A mere five days before he and the crew of Mar Mostro set sail in the 2011 TransAtlantic Race, Ken Read sat down between surfing giant Laird Hamilton and legendary designer Juan K. to talk about a very different hobby: paddleboarding.Specifically, paddleboarding the PUMA way.PUMA has always gone against the grain, Antonio Bentone, PUMAs Chief Marketing
This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issue The Burnett River is a big, slow-moving river, muddy from eons of moving silt. Where Moose, our 39-foot cutter, is moored at “Bundy,” eight miles up from the sea, the current direction changes twice a day as the tide floods and then ebbs. But Moose doesn’t clock around with tide cycle because she’s tied,
This article originally appeared in the April 2009 issueI dont know about you, but although I much prefer to go to sea with tried and tested buddies, there are times when I end up shipping out with total strangers. Youve met the type. They might be those credible people you run into in a waterfront bar with a tale to tell. There I was, and the waves were 40 feet high And so
This article originally appeared in the December 2009 issueSweet little Bocas del Toro, Panama, was slipping astern of me. It is an obscure but superb cruising stop where life and laughter flow as easily as a mid-moon tide. The hub of the scene there is the Bocas Marina and a delightful bar called the Calypso Cantina.This is a classic example of what I call a cruisers’
There is perhaps no area of human endeavor that has shaped the modern world as much as trade and transport. Think of the vast network
Does anyone else ever get the feeling they’re being followed by hurricanes? It may be a bit of hubris, but it honestly seemed that way
I’m a week away from having to get tested for Covid-19. I dread it. I’ve heard it’s like a brain swab, but less fun. Nevertheless,
Time was when New England was preeminent among the production boatbuilding regions of the world. More recently, however, the mantle of leadership has seemingly passed
SAIL’s former editor-in-chief, Peter Nielsen, was recently rescued by a Chinese fishing boat after the catamaran he was crewing aboard struck a whale. According to
There’s nothing like having nice, big, fat fenders when it comes time to raft up with another boat or tie up alongside a nasty-looking dock.
I was inelegantly bent over the bow pulpit, struggling to remove the lashings that secure the anchor when we’re offshore. We had just sailed 400
We left Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, at 1230 on a Friday. My husband, Hugh, my brother-in-law, Jim, and I were sailing overnight to Charleston. The
