Years ago I owned an O’Day 25 on which my family and I explored the coast of British Columbia. Our travels took us from the far reaches of the Salish Sea all the way up to Desolation Sound and beyond,...
A mission to meet a circumnavigating friend takes an unexpected turn. Issue 138: May/June 2021 Bill Norrie had been singlehanding Pixie, his Bristol Channel Cutter 28, for nearly 90 days, sailing from...
Love ruins everything, until the right one comes along. Issue 138: May/June 2021 I grew up with a sailboat because I have a big brother. Steve is five years older than me with a can-do attitude and an...
After a long hiatus, the first sail is more than sweet. Issue 138: May/June 2021 Six a.m. I tiptoe out of the quiet house, pausing only when I reach the water’s edge. Buzzards Bay broadens like the ba...
Vineyard hopping through Long Island Sound makes for a mellow shakedown cruise. Issue 137: March/April 2021 It had been three years since we had last sailed through Long Island Sound. To be honest, it...
Wherein a foolhardy notion and a puff of wind nearly end in disaster. Issue 137: March/April 2021 Get a bunch of sailors gathered around a table at the club and they’ll tell stories. Sometimes the sto...
Anxiety can scuttle everyone’s time aboard. Here’s how to understand it and help. Issue 137: March/April 2021 My husband and I were sailing our 1974 Olympic Adventure 47 slow and easy down...
Want to successfully sell your boat on your own? Here’s how. Issue 136: Jan/Feb 2021 Over the past decade, my husband and I have bought six sailboats and sold five of them (we live aboard the boat we ...
For years I’ve been landing 36- to 48-inch striped bass during the Chesapeake Bay spring trophy season. It’s a spring ritual and yet, I never cease to be amazed at how easy it is to wind in 200 feet o...
We were preparing for our spring cruise and going over our on-board dry-cell battery inventory. Our conclusion? Our inventory of AA and AAA batteries stays fresh because we go through them, whereas we...
Tips from a world-cruising fellow sufferer It never fails. Every time we get into a discussion with a new or would-be cruising sailor, there comes a moment when a concerned look crosses his or her fac...
Tricing is a quick fix for a multitude of dangling dinghy issues. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 For a sailor on the hook, few things are more convenient than a dinghy on davits. As soon as the anchor is set...
Circumnavigating Vancouver Island provides stiff sailing, natural wonders, and kind locals. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 Years ago, after decades of sailing the Salish Sea, my wife, Carey, and I decided we...
Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 At Highland Yacht Club in Toronto, two of the last three years’ sailing seasons were cut short by months due to high water levels. It was the same for all Lake Ontario sailors....
Even a small boat can teach big lessons when it comes to abrupt, discontinuous change. Issue 135: Nov/Dec 2020 Ellen and I have owned our 12-foot catboat, Finn, for 16 years. We love how the working c...
“There you are! Are you out for a sail, or out for a swim?” With these thoughtful words, a fellow club member sailed by us in his Laser. We were indeed swimming, next to my swamped open-hulled ...
Maybe you’ve found the exact boat you want and have the money to pay for it, but you don’t have the free time to bring it home. Maybe you dream of cruising far from your home port, but you have only a...
Sam rushed on deck to meet us as we rowed across the still starlit patch of water between our two boats. “Hey, good to see you two. When’d you get back? How was your delivery job? Climb on board and m...
I guess we could sense trouble even before it started. The 35-foot sloop was making a downwind approach into the crowded mooring area, its engine running, a spray dodger in place so the helmsman had a...
Refined to its elements, a day of sailing becomes miraculous. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 Wind and physics create the lift, sucking me along, the same dynamics as flight. One man, two sails, three sheets...
Georgia’s Cumberland Island is a land of strange beauty and rich history. Issue 134: Sept/Oct 2020 It may be the world’s largest Thanksgiving potluck. Six miles up St. Marys River, the dividing ...
We’re among the lucky ones, we made it. After years of dreaming and prepping, we’re living aboard our boat in the Tropics. It’s everything we hoped it would be and we miss none of the creature comfort...
Secrets of a cheese lover revealed at last Whether you decide on cocktail nibbles, late-night snacks, a sandwich filler, or a main course spice, cheese is one of the most versatile ingredients in a cru...
We’ve known for a long time that dark colored plastic water jugs far outlast clear or white ones. Seems the color gives UV protection. We noted colored dacron sails seem to outlast white ones unless t...
For this couple, one time around with a special boat just wasn’t quite enough. Issue 133: July/Aug 2020 It had been a rather sad Christmas; my husband and I had not yet hit on a way to resolve s...
Battered old boats deserve our love. Let us count the reason why. Issue 133: July/Aug 2020 We try to keep her in good shape, but our Catalina 30 is over 40 years old, and as the number of cracks in he...
In 1950, a friend of mine paid $7.00 for one half of a surplus aircraft wingtip fuel tank, made of aluminum. He added a keel to it, lost interest in the project, and sold the fuel tank boat to me for ...
A problematic first passage provides abundant lessons learned. Issue 133: July/Aug 2020 People often transition from smaller boats to bigger boats, but our jump from a 21-foot trailer-sailer to Roam, ...
Wanting to be more self-sufficient and increase my knowledge of the diesel engine aboard my Beneteau 311, I signed up for Boater University’s online course Marine Diesel Maintenance and Troubleshootin...
A trip through Florida’s Okeechobee Waterway is a study in small towns and solitude. Issue 133: July/Aug 2020 I untie Sonas, our Catalina 320, from her mooring as the sun brightens the morning s...
