Sailboat Cruising

Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in the big city. One day the little girl’s mother and father brought her to a big garden center. There were rows and rows of seeds and bulbs and saplings, and in the very middle there was a sailboat. She climbed on board and found a little kitchen, a little bed, and even a little toilet. Her mother called to her, “Honey, what on earth are you

Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived in the big city. One day the little girl’s mother and father brought her to a big garden center. There were rows and rows of seeds and bulbs and saplings, and in the very middle there was a sailboat. She climbed on board and found a little kitchen, a little bed, and even a little toilet. Her mother called to her, “Honey, what on earth are you

Every time my wife Jennifer and I sail to the Beaver Islands, something goes wrong. So why do we keep going there? Initially it was because of where they are, but now it’s because of what they are.First, the “where” part. The Beavers are a dozen islands in northern Lake Michigan, 30 miles from Michigan sailing centers like Mackinac Island, Harbor Springs and Charlevoix. To the west, it’s a

Every time my wife Jennifer and I sail to the Beaver Islands, something goes wrong. So why do we keep going there? Initially it was because of where they are, but now it’s because of what they are.First, the “where” part. The Beavers are a dozen islands in northern Lake Michigan, 30 miles from Michigan sailing centers like Mackinac Island, Harbor Springs and Charlevoix. To the west, it’s a

Get your chartplotter working around the clockAll chartplotters have an anchor alarm that can be set to sound when the boat moves outside a specific radius around a GPS position. The concept is great, but in the real world it is often not all that helpful. The reason is that the anchor alarm’s radius is normally set on the boat’s position rather than the position of

Get your chartplotter working around the clockAll chartplotters have an anchor alarm that can be set to sound when the boat moves outside a specific radius around a GPS position. The concept is great, but in the real world it is often not all that helpful. The reason is that the anchor alarm’s radius is normally set on the boat’s position rather than the position of

Lady Pitkeathly, my beloved Jack Russell terrier, is a fishing fool. She can spend hours searching for fish and crabs in the shallows. Whenever we are in the dinghy, she keeps a watchful eye on the water. Her greatest fishing adventure began when I had our dinghy up on a plane racing along the mangroves, the warm breeze in our faces. Lady P, as usual, was perched on the bow like a hood ornament

CAPE COD FROSTYMany old salts hold to the adage that the wise sailor only goes sailing in a boat that’s at least as long as the sailor is old. The Cape Cod Frosty Class, a one-design class used for frostbiting in New England and Canada, defies this wisdom. The boats measure a scant 6ft 4in and weigh roughly 35 lbs, so pouring a full-sized adult into a Frosty can be