A rally cruise for small sailboats could become habit-forming Issue 125: March/April 2019 The best way to start any voyage is by seeking advice, in my case from an old high school friend who was once ...
Trying to undo them exposes their stubborn side Issue 125: March/April 2019 The title of Henry James’ classic novel The Turn of the Screw is a metaphor for the stress felt by a governess in her strugg...
An old salt learns an old trick from a docking master Issue 125: March/April 2019 On day six of a challenging singlehanded adventure tackling the Delmarva loop aboard Base Camp, my 27-foot Pearson, I ...
Could the 2018 Golden Globe Race have been fairer and safer? Issue 125: March/April 2019 As I write this column, four of the five sailors remaining in the 2018 Golden Globe Race have rounded Cape Horn...
Novelty luggage tags help prevent embarrassing oversights Issue 124: Jan/Feb 2019 We all have a checklist, formal or not, that we consult before casting off. Depending on our boats and ambitions, to-d...
A high school sailor questions their value Issue 124: Jan/Feb 2019 My former high school sailing-team coach was always telling us “consistency is key.” What does that even mean? What if consistency fo...
Fulfilling dreams with boats once destined for landfills. Issue 124: Jan/Feb 2019 In an age where the norm is to throw away the old and buy something new, I have learned that thrown-away sailboats can...
All-inclusive fleets welcome novice racers at the starting line. Issue 124: Jan/Feb 2019 When I was a child, my family would spend every summer cruising and sailing out of our home port. Years later, ...
Learn to refine it by chasing good old boats around the buoys Issue 124: Jan/Feb 2019 I am not a very skilled sailor. I’ve sailed thousands of miles in all types of weather, from Glacier Bay to Panama...
In warm weather, full-length foul-weather pants are rather uncomfortable to wear for too long...
Editor’s note: Has this happened to you? You’re out for a sail and realize the cockpit-led reefing line or mainsheet that has sailed many years with you is showing signs of wear or UV damage. Back at ...
As our boat is 40 years old, she’s not free of blemishes but so far there is no indication of chalking on the gelcoat. Accordingly, every year when my wife, Eileen, and I polish the hull of our good o...
A ravenous rat unites a community while wreaking havoc on board At our farewell party at the Club Náutico de Sevilla, Spain, I ate something I shouldn’t have, and on returning to Entr’acte, I lay down...
We occasionally go to potluck events in our marina where four or five couples are trying to cook their food on a single gas/charcoal grill. There is usually too much food to cook on the grill at one t...
Editor’s note: A Taste of Sail! I love this concept and I know it’s practiced at clubs all over. But if it doesn’t happen in your community, hopefully you’ll be inspired by A Taste of Sail to start so...
2017 was a disastrous sailing season for the boaters of the lower Great Lakes. At launch time in late April, the water was several feet higher than normal. Owners donned rubber boots to wade through s...
Keeping up an older boat pays back in family time, not dollars What is the point of all the effort and expense I put into owning a good old boat? I often find myself asking this question, usually afte...
This project, like so many others, just didn’t go as planned. A surveyor had pointed out the need to replace a failing exhaust hose on Second Star, the 1993 Sabre 362 I’d just bought. Complying ...
The best fishing is behind my boat, a 1967 Morgan. I know this because every time I settle into a new anchorage, one, two, or more fishing boats inevitably appear, only a fish’s throw from my cockpit....
Many of us have Barient winches on our good old boats. If you’ve got them, you may have noticed that they aren’t what they once were. My late 80’s cruiser/racer has 8 of them. Years ago, servicing the...
In late September, our marina manager asked if I would be interested in salvaging a few sailboats in the winter storage yard. All had been neglected and eventually abandoned by their owners. In each o...
I stood in the cockpit of our boat, my trunks dripping wet from the swim out. Usually being aboard releases a spurt of euphoria within me. If I’m on the boat, most likely I’ll soon be sailing. Instead...
Novice, beginner, nimrod, greenhorn; we have all been this kind of sailor at one time or another. Many of us still are, and so this is written for you. You are the ones who have not (yet?) sail...
I am somewhere between the middle and end of refurbishing for fun and charter my 1982 Islander 48, Crescendo, hull number 1. She’s just about ready to move from Port Charlotte, FL where she’s been on ...
I rush to the Chesapeake Bay to fill up on sailing adventures. I explore the Bay with my boyfriend, Jordan, on Base Camp, our simple and reliable Pearson 31. You too may know the magical moments: smoo...
A friend and experienced boater related an interesting story over lunch. He’d recently had trouble backing his boat into a slip. The wind was on the beam and his bow would blow off, keeping him ...
Well-drilled junior sailors help save a mast To the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song . . . Let me tell you a little story ’bout an engineer named Tom. Had a little boat that he sailed upon t...
I drag the dinghy down the dune to the beach. The water lies so calm only an occasional ripple slurps ashore. I set my knapsack on the bow seat and shove off, the scrape of the hull on the sand giving...
About 27 years ago, a group of sailors at Yankee Point Marina, off the Rappahannock River in Virginia, decided that a sailboat race in November would make a fine climax to the sailing season. Some of ...
A tour of the marina was illuminating My good fortune to live on a small barrier island in Florida is offset by the misfortune of full-time employment that requires me to commute to the mainland daily...
