Sailboat Cruising

Boat: AltairYee-haw! What a terrific way to finish up the passage. On the last day of this year’s Caribbean 1500, we completed a 200.6 mile day from noon to noon. For a boat like ours, a 200 mile day is the equivalent of a four-minute mile (in 1975). We charged along under blue skies and puffy white clouds going 8-10 knots, beam reaching in 18-20 knots of wind. It

Crew, Lady, Catalina 470First-time Caribbean 1500 Crew MemberTrying to land a berth as a crewmember on a Tortola-bound Caribbean 1500 vessel is a bit like one of those middle school dances, where the boys and girls try to match up without knowing much about each other, where there is competition for the best partners and where the

Crew, Joy For All, Farr 502009 was my fifth Caribbean 1500, and the second crewing on Joy For All. It was a clean start, with enough wind to sail and we quickly settled into our watch rotation. My watches were 12:00 to 3:00, so I took the first watch. On Joy For All, the “on watch” crew is responsible for sail trim, watching for other boats,

Boat make: Dawn 48Owners/ admiral and captain: Nan and Chip Davison / Boothbay, MECrew: Sam Scott, Scott Briggs, Jeff Curtis, Charlie Cochrane, Brett KorpellaIt has been a dream of Chip’s to do the Caribbean 1500 and we definitely picked the right year to make the trip. What a sail! One of our goals was to share this offshore

Every day, men and women of the Coast Guard risk their lives to save people in need in the oceans, rivers and bays across the country. But who takes care of the Coast Guard? The Coast Guard Foundation, now in its 40th year, is honoring its officers with a new one-in-a-million campaign and various celebrations. October 28, 2009: A Coast Guard helicopter rescued five people after their boat

Every day, men and women of the Coast Guard risk their lives to save people in need in the oceans, rivers and bays across the country. But who takes care of the Coast Guard? The Coast Guard Foundation, now in its 40th year, is honoring its officers with a new one-in-a-million campaign and various celebrations. October 28, 2009: A Coast Guard helicopter rescued five people after their boat

To hear firsthand accounts from the participants of the rally, check out their stories on the right under “Tales from the Rally.”Twenty years ago, an enthusiastic cruiser introduced a group of boats to the concept of an offshore sailing rally, where they could travel as a community from the states to the Caribbean to while away the winter.

The northwest winds blew fresh and cool, ushering in some of the finest autumn weather I’d ever experienced on Chesapeake Bay. The light, shifty breezes and stultifying humidity of summer were gone, and I congratulated myself for waiting well into September before making the passage south aboard Sonata, the 36-foot Pearson cutter my wife, Liz, and I lived aboard. We’d come down the coast from

The northwest winds blew fresh and cool, ushering in some of the finest autumn weather I’d ever experienced on Chesapeake Bay. The light, shifty breezes and stultifying humidity of summer were gone, and I congratulated myself for waiting well into September before making the passage south aboard Sonata, the 36-foot Pearson cutter my wife, Liz, and I lived aboard. We’d come down the coast from