Dreams fulfilled, sailors return to an unsteady terra firma Issue 111: Nov/Dec 2016 Odysseus, I was recently reminded, eventually got so fed up with his sea travels that he wanted to walk inland carry...
A logbook by lamplight and a flood of memories Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 I’m an old man with an old boat moored not far from my old house. My desire for new things has waned into a dying moon sliver wit...
. . . means coping with the occasional nightmare Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 What happens when someone who has discarded a dream, a dream clearly beyond reach, meets a dreamer? Possibilities germinate. Yo...
Could old boats be the new old cars? Issue 112: Jan/Feb 2017 When reader George Chase offered his perspective on owning good old boats, we decided to share it with all good old boat caretakers. –Edito...
A sailboat evokes a certain kind of emotion Issue 113: March/April 2017 Many a captain will tell you a sailboat is a conscious being. She can be a jealous thing, a sensitive gal whose dependability ri...
Saying farewell to a first small boat Issue 113: March/April 2017 In the two-page color advertisement, the million-dollar yacht was sailing briskly across blue water against a background of the white ...
From essential spar to useful accessory Issue 113: March/April 2017 Once upon a time, all sailboats that carried headsails had bowsprits. In the days when masts were cut from trees, there was a defini...
A latecomer to rowing dips in her oar Issue 113: March/April 2017 The title of Richard Bode’s wildly popular little book says it all: First You Have to Row a Little Boat. I don’t know how many copies ...
Do not poo-poo the smarts of swallows Issue 114: May/June 2017 Birds and other wild creatures that inhabit our boating waters are tough, adaptable, and innovative — and sometimes annoying. But always ...
Issue 114: May/June 2017 While the first fiberglass auxiliary sailboats were introduced in the mid-1950s, and the 28-foot 6-inch Pearson Triton (1959) was widely considered the most successful series-...
Love at first sight and its consequences Issue 114: May/June 2017 Long before he belayed himself to the legendary Spray, Joshua Slocum found himself taken by the Northern Light when she sailed into th...
Scenes from a sailing season Issue 114: May/June 2017 Friday, May 22 On the water at last! I step into the cockpit and feel Finn dip toward me as if in greeting. I scull away from the boat ramp past t...
Mystic sometimes hosts very special guests Issue 114: May/June 2017 Our Mystic is no ordinary C&C 30. Not only has she been featured in this magazine uncountable times, she’s had two sailing lumin...
A fellow sailor’s life viewed with a little envy Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 I was shocked when I saw her standing there . . . stark . . . alone . . . desolate . . . a solitary silhouette against a blazi...
Reentry after cruising has its ups and downs Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 Not too long ago, we returned from our longest sailing adventure to date, almost a year of cruising from Tennessee to the Bahamas ...
A high-schooler falls for a derelict in the woods Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 Do you remember when you were younger, before you’d been thrown a few surprises and knocked around a bit by life? Back then, ...
. . . to a fresh crew of familiar old hands Issue 115: July/Aug 2017 In early April, Jerry and I experienced “the first day of the rest of our lives.” This followed my waking one morning in late Febru...
The novelty of a first sail is a source of joy Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 Avital Keeley was 13 last summer when she spent a couple of days as a guest of Good Old Boat founders, Jerry Powlas and I, aboar...
Well-drilled junior sailors help save a mast Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 To the tune of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song . . . Let me tell you a little story ’bout an engineer named Tom.Had a little bo...
No deviations in Good Old Boat’s wake Issue 116: Sept/Oct 2017 Back in 1998, when Loran-C was in widespread use and the world’s attention was focused on Y2K, a couple of Great Lakes sailors noted that...
A father and son rediscover an old family “friend” Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 For 22 years, we didn’t hear much about Quelle Vie, the boat my grandfather purchased in 1966. She was a Grampian Classic 31,...
Generations bond while stitching and gluing Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 When my grandson Ryan was born, in 2007, I was reminded of the fact that I never knew my grandfathers, as both had passed away befor...
Its master commands it by radio Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Shortly after becoming a sailboat owner, I became intrigued by the idea of building a radio-controlled model sailboat that performed like the re...
Objets d’art emerge from an off-season pastime Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 When my boat is under wraps for the winter, I seek outlets that help me preserve my sailing sanity. One of my off-season pastimes...
Signature sailboat designs seem to have gone by the board Issue 117: Nov/Dec 2017 Doug Peterson drew a 35-foot sailboat, borrowed money from his grandmother to have it built in his hometown, raced it ...
The McBride knack for sidestepping misfortune Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 Sitting in St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, four weeks after the eye of Category 5 Hurricane Maria missed us by a few miles, with no ...
An older boat is good enough for a crew of older sailors Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 This adventure started just like our last one (“Narrowboat Adventure,” July 2016), over a bottle of wine in the cockpit...
The yen to travel by boat is in her blood Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 I grew up in a megalopolis of five million people. My father always seemed to me a city person. He was an engineer, a tutor at the uni...
Intrepid Great Loopers survive in frigid Duluth Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 Most cruisers complete the Great Loop cruising route — up the ICW from Florida, through the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes, south...
A departure delayed by foul ground and a lee shore Issue 118: Jan/Feb 2018 Following years of laid-back dreaming, of soaking up from books, magazines, and YouTube the wisdom and experience of voyagers...
