Yacht designer Ted Brewer gazes back over a storied career. Issue 133: July/Aug 2020 Ted and Betty Brewer’s living room is warm and inviting. Two harpoons hang on teak-colored walls, and a model boxca...
The designer of some of sailing’s most legendary boats, Bob Perry continues to push boundaries. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 The design studio of Robert “Bob” Perry, upstairs in his Marysville, Washi...
A lifetime’s love of sailing was inspired by a most inauspicious early voyage. Issue 132: May/June 2020 The curious thing is the way it creeps up on you. One day you’re asking the old salts at the clu...
A singular voyage leads to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence’s stunning Mingan Archipelago Issue 131: March/April 2020 It was on the way back from a trip to Tadoussac—a fun adventure from Montreal on E...
Fill your water tanks the natural way Issue 52: Jan/Feb 2007 Larry woke me during the morning off-watch with a shout: “It’s raining!” He struggled into his foulweather gear, and I soon heard the sound...
Wherein a glorious small-boat adventure ends in ignominy and terror. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 When I was young and thought I knew everything about boats and sailing, I would have laughed in your face ...
In a lifetime of passagemaking and writing, John Kretschmer pays the love of sailing forward. Issue 130: Jan/Feb 2020 When we were planning our eventual leap to the full-time sailing life, my b...
Lee Brubacher and 17 other volunteers from the West Highland Baptist Church of Hamilton, Ontario are our Dogwatch Sailors of the Month. In September of this year, these folks partnered with Oceanwise ...
Close your eyes and climb aboard your little sailboat. Hoist the sail and drop off the mooring and slip across the deepening waters, mainsheet and tiller in hand. Feel the worn cedar planks and sand g...
The ice from the previous Canadian winter had pushed, moved, and piled up a lot of rocks, wood, sediment, and lord knows what else, in the waterway. Above water, there was no way one could tell. No wa...
I get up and check the calendar. It’s late in the season and only a few days remain before the marina’s deadline for hauling out my boat. I check the weather; 7 to 9 out of the east, sunny with...
A short solo voyage comes with challenges faced and lessons learned. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 When I was 12, my parents bought me a Sunfish, a little board boat with a lateen sail. I’d been reading abo...
Spicing up a marriage with a sailboat means learning some new ropes. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 A few years ago, just prior to our 24th wedding anniversary, I got to wondering what made our marriage so s...
Blackberries, apples, and balancing stones grace a princess’ gift in the Salish Sea. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 Somebody reminded me the other day that my wife June and I have been cruising around Puget ...
New crew in the fam? Here’s how to take them sailing. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 When my husband, Michael, and I found out we were going to be parents in eight short months, the first thing our family an...
Can you call it sailing when you’re not leaving the dock and the work list? Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 Seaview, Washington. For about half the year, half the time it’s raining and blowing, the other half...
A tool roll stocked with these top indispensable tools will be your go-to kit. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 After nearly a decade of living aboard full-time and earning my keep fixing other people’s boats ...
An automatic bilge pump for the dinghy solves that sinking feeling. Issue 129: Nov/Dec 2019 For the past couple of years, I’ve kept my dinghy at the dock, butter side up. It’s easy to stow it and use ...
My wife, Rhonda, and I didn’t grow up around boats. But after moving to Florida and raising a family, we grew fond of the idea of buying a boat and perhaps one day sailing away. New to the world of wi...
We had been sailing the west coast of Vancouver Island over the past 30 days. Our final day dawned hot and sunny without a ripple on the water, and so we motored our 1978 Islander Bahama 30, Natasha, ...
I was still green, having only a month ago traded my Great Lakes home in Michigan for the salty sea air and hot sun of the Caribbean. Now, here I was, crewing with a bunch of strangers aboard Windy an...
A first cruise after downsizing Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 Like many baby boomers, my husband, Chris, and I aren’t quite as quick, strong, and nimble as we once were. Increasingly attracted to the advan...
A Bristol and her crew are schooled on the Chesapeake Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 It was a calm, foggy Friday morning in Rock Creek, just southeast of Baltimore. The day before, Keith, Scott, and I had s...
Life and the sailing season don’t always align Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 My wife sits down on the seawall above the beach. I tell her that I won’t be long. She laughs and waves me away. “Take your time...
A J/40 races celestially to Bermuda Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 On the way back from Bermuda after the 2014 Newport-Bermuda Race, the inevitable “What’s next?” came up. Captain Dana of his J/40, Eagle, s...
Helping the next generation of sailors to find sailing Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 In 2016, my family and I were lucky to witness the dawn of the resurgence of youth sailing in American Samoa. I wish eve...
Correct adjustment of your spreaders may save your rig Issue 128: Sept/Oct 2019 Next time you’re at the marina, look up. If there are enough sailboats around, you’ll likely find a variety of rigs, wit...
Solving the problem of icing up in winter For those of us who live in the higher latitudes, the approach of the fall season reminds us of an upcoming conflict between our boating agendas and the impen...
Vang/preventer: a fast, effective safety device I was guilty of contempt. Never a good thing, in this case it turned out to be a serious error. I had held a thunderstorm cell in contempt all morning. ...
Ease that fear of falling: Techniques for making a trip up the stick safer. The only sure things in life are death, taxes, and that – sooner or later – you will have to go up your mast. Ma...
