Why taking care of things big and small on your boat makes a difference Issue 152 Sept/Oct 2023 Perusing a Craigslist ad for a 40-year-old, 40-foot sailboat, I laughed out loud when I read, “Everythin...
A winged visitor catches a ride on a glorious late summer sail Issue 152: Sept/Oct 2023 Early on a brisk September morning, as we motored out past the Absecon Inlet jetties on our way offshore and lef...
A young couple finds a boat to call a home, from San Francisco Bay to the Chesapeake Bay Issue 152: Sept/Oct 2023 The idea of buying a boat came about one afternoon in my apartment off Mission Street ...
After a lifetime of sailing, an ideal last boat creates enduring memories Issue 153: Nov/Dec 2023 There are many resources for learning how to sail. It is a fascinating subject with so many things to ...
Memories of food and boats swirl together, powerfully evoking time and place Issue 153: Nov/Dec 2023 Eating while afloat ranks among my greatest pleasures, with the old saw about salt air quickening t...
An engine failure prompts an unexpected road journey through three states Issue 153: Nov/Dec 2023 I was pushing up the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) approaching mile 403 when the engine quit. Again. I w...
Grimsby to Georgian Bay, and why you should never bring bananas on board Issue 153: Nov/Dec 2023 In the cold days of January 2023, my wife and I made the move from Hamilton to Barrie, Ontario. There w...
A serendipitous spotting of a family’s first boat sparks a nostalgic mystery Issue 154: Jan/Feb 2024 I’d like to think most people have experienced déjà vu, that odd feeling that you are reexper...
Nasty weather provides a curtain call for a memorable cruise Issue 154: Jan/Feb 2024 I knew the last storm was coming. I’d been checking the forecast daily on my C. Crane pocket weather radio. My wife...
When it comes to sailboats, bigger isn’t always better. Issue 155: March/April 2024 “Buy a bigger boat.” That’s the refrain we’ve often heard from friends and family. The reason: Finn, our Barnstable ...
A cruise leads to a harrowing experience and an important lesson for newbie sailors. Issue 155: March/April 2024 It all started when I found an available mooring just a few yards’ walk from our beach ...
From pocket cruisers to beloved classics, dying boats need to be saved. Issue 155: March/April 2024 Last spring, the yard where I store my sloop for the winter cleared out a small trove of derelict sa...
A series of bad decisions leads to a potentially fatal situation Issue 154: Jan/Feb 2024 Squalls were building rapidly as Jo Beth rumbled along under engine power, some 10 miles southeast of the entra...
Hitting a Tanker in the Dark Issue 153: Nov/Dec 2023 Sailing through the night is a phenomenal experience. I have had some of my best and worst moments in the inky black of night — ghosting, coasting,...
The challenges and rewards of 48 days sailing the Florida Keys Issue 152: Sept/Oct 2023 It took hours to rig, pack, and launch the boat. We suffered in the heat and humidity, sweating through our too-...
A desert native goes cruising and takes a leap into unfamiliar territory Issue 151: July/Aug 2023 The story starts in Kanab, Utah, where we bought a sailboat. Nobody thinks of sailboats when they thin...
Sitting in the cockpit together, my wife Jill and I watched daylight slowly appear over the Washington coast as our boys, Porter and Magnus, slept soundly in the gentle swell. It was good to be out on...
To rest or wait out weather, heaving to remains a tried and true tactic at sea Issue 150: May/June 2023 Some seafaring traditions are worth carrying on, especially those based on knowledge and techniq...
There is a common saying that every object on a boat must serve more than one purpose, and I recently learned that the sentiment can be applied to clothes as well. Although we cast off for cruising tw...
This Old Boat author Don Casey used the Coronado 35 as the poster child for ugly sailboats. Hollywood must not read such books. In two of the 10-episodes of The Night Agent currently on Netflix, a Cor...
Charley Morgan — 1929-2023 Sailing legend Charles E. Morgan (Charley to his friends, which was just about everyone) passed away January 6, 2023 on Treasure Island, Florida, at the age of 93, mere hour...
For six-time circumnavigator Webb Chiles, small boats are bluewater revelations. Issue 145: July/Aug 2022 I have owned three great boats, and two of them were small: Chidiock Tichborne, an 18-foot Dra...
Size evokes no envy when sailing is its own reward My wife, Jen, and I were settling down in one of our favorite anchorages after a hard but rewarding day of sailing. We’d broken out the margaritas an...
If one Bristol Channel Cutter fulfilled their sailing dreams, two could only be better. Issue 145: July/Aug 2022 “This poor, poor boat,” I thought, looking at the forlorn Bristol Channel Cutter tied t...
We’ve all heard it: “The two happiest days in a boat owner’s life are the day you buy the boat and the day you sell the boat!” While the idiom can be overused, it does apply to many sailors. I c...
This sailing tale needs to begin with the caveat that we are cruisers, not racers, and our 1978 Alberg 37 is outfitted as such. Yes, at one point in the Alberg’s past glory, she was considered fast by...
“Learn from me, if not by my precepts, by my example, how . . . much happier that man is who believes his native town to be the world, than he who aspires to become greater than his nature will allow,...
Navigating turbulent insurance waters calls for planning, preparation, and patience. Issue 144: May/June 2022 You’ve never made a claim, yet your insurance carrier just dropped you. You’ve just receiv...
Four friends and a refit rocket tackle the raucous Race to Alaska. Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 Gripping the tiller in my left hand and the coaming in my right, I spin my head from side to side, desperate ...
The fluffy snow that fell a few days ago has gone slushy. The wet cold soaks my gloves and stings my hands as I clean off the dinghy’s gunwales before turning her over on my front yard. My palms...
