We learn to expect the unexpected, then tell the story Issue 122: Sept/Oct 2018 Fifteen miles off the coast of Mexico on a sunny New Year’s Day, 2012, the autopilot steering, my wife, Windy, and I and...
. . . but not one to brag about or to repeat Issue 123: Nov/Dec 2018 When I was 15 or so I spent my weekends hanging out at the local yacht club looking pitiful until an old man felt sorry for me and ...
Staying afloat in good old boats through life’s ups and downs Issue 123: Nov/Dec 2018 Twenty-five years ago, I stood on a dock in Redondo Beach, California, and watched Windswept, our Catalina 34, sai...
Notes for creating harmony on board Issue 123: Nov/Dec 2018 On a torturous August crossing of Lake Superior from Isle Royale to Grand Marais, the wind was either light and on the nose or roaring up ra...
Posting Preface Jim and Connie Grant started Sailrite at a young age, driven by a deep passion for boating and sailing. Beginnings is Jim’s personal recounting of how it all began. The Sailrite story ...
Boat ownership triggers the gene for self-reliance Issue 123: Nov/Dec 2018 Acknowledging a bit of hyperbole, I think that Kenneth Grahame’s Water Rat was right: “. . . there is nothing — absolutely no...
They’d set sail tomorrow if it weren’t for . . . Issue 125: March/April 2019 We see it all the time. A boat is purchased and an announcement made, but, after some time has passed, either realit...
A novice sailor finds it easy to slip out of time while learning a new world. Issue 130: Jan/Feb 2020 It all started as a writing project. Assigned an article on sailors who singlehandedly sailed acro...
A meander along Nova Scotia’s southwestern coast is just the ticket for a miles-weary sailor. Issue 130: Jan/Feb 2020 Straws and camel’s backs are funny things. I’d been sailing with my husband and ou...
A monster wind wreaks havoc on a “safe” harbor. Issue 130: Jan/Feb 2020 In March 2019, we were halfway up Mexico’s Baja California Peninsula, sailing on the Sea of Cortez side and looking ...
A meditation on mountains helps define an evocative passion for sailing. Issue 130: Jan/Feb 2020 At 45 degrees North, our bedroom overlooks an old neighborhood with mature hardwood and conifer trees, ...
A liveaboard sabbatical wasn’t quite as expected, but maybe even more. Issue 130: Jan/Feb 2020 I’ve dreamed of the liveaboard sailing lifestyle. What could be better than a life of purpose, nonstop ad...
A chilly morning at the edge of autumn foretells the longer journey. Issue 131: March/April 2020 Sunlight streaming through the port-side window into my V-berth burns my eyes open. Last night’s howlin...
Issue 131: March/April 2020 “Do you miss living on a sailboat?” We traveled to visit extended family over the holidays, and I was asked the question a few times, in some form. The question was small t...
Fresh sailing grounds of the Salish Sea offer perspective on Lake Superior. Issue 132: May/June 2020 Nothing in four years of summer sailing on Lake Superior has prepared me for this. Adrenaline pulsi...
Off the grid and off most sailors’ itineraries, Lasqueti Island is a community unto itself. Issue 132: May/June 2020 “You should stop here,” said our new friend, Kevin, tapping his finger on our route...
Ready to buy a boat and sail away? Try this first. Issue 132: May/June 2020 I blame YouTube. I blame those sailing channels filled with bikini-clad sailors living carefree lives in tropical paradises....
Issue 132: May/June 2020 I’ve heard the refrain, over and over: “I would never leave the dock without paper charts aboard!” It rubs me the wrong way. I think it’s often used as a declaration of one’s ...
Anything for love, right? Or was it something else… Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 This fool thinks I’m going to buy his boat. I can tell by the look on his face, he thinks I’m hooked. He hasn’t a clue...
Hot springs and cool sailing help accomplish the goal to circumnavigate Vancouver Island. Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 By the time my wife, Carey, and daughter, Nicky, met me and Dreamer in Tahsis on Vanco...
Deciding to sell the boat was tough enough. Then came the “buyers.” Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 I was done. I was dangling from the top of my mast, trying to free the tangled jib halyard as boat wakes on ...
A quick dismasting led to months of navigating insurance claim waters. Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 Five seconds is all it takes. Five seconds for your entire rig to come down, causing tens of thousands of...
Finding their perfect boat had less to do with love than with research, compromise, and patience. Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 We’ve all heard the story: Man or woman sees boat, falls in love, opens wallet...
A pulpit-mounted spotlight can make all the difference when navigating in the dark. Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 I tend to sneak up on new ideas, so it took me many years of night sailing in the Chesapeake...
Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 Putting this issue together, Good Old Boat Senior Editor Wendy Mitman Clarke said to me, “Personally, I think it’s stupid, the whole ‘two happiest days’ adage. There’s no truth...
New to night passages, a sailor finds help from an unexpected visitor. Issue 137: March/April 2021 I had stared into the night sky many hundreds of times from the cockpit of my 1967 Rawson 30 Ave Del ...
Issue 137: March/April 2021 Something’s been troubling me for a few months. Late last year, US Sailing, the governing body of sailing that’s been around for over 120 years, held several online forums ...
Issue 138: May/June 2021 At the core of sound seamanship, aside from all the navigational, weather, and sailing skills required, lies a deep and thoughtful preparedness for all contingencies. At sea, ...
Issue 138: May/June 2021 I was a Southern California kid, still a bit lost in my early 20s, when I decided sailing was something I should be doing. It pains me to type these words, but my motivation s...
Some boats you just can’t live without. Issue 139: July/Aug 2021 Somewhere along the line, my boat ate one of my favorite earrings. It was a small, silver-set piece of green glass, with a clasp that k...
