Fun comes first in the St. Petersburg GOB Regatta Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 Steve Lang started something big in St. Petersburg, Florida. As a Good Old Boat subscriber, beginning with the very first issu...
A springtime sail dishes up variety Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 It was my fault, really. I had unwittingly set the ball in motion by giving my husband, Dave, a copy of John Kretchmer’s Used Boat Notebook ...
A circumnavigator adjusts to life’s shifting winds Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 Last spring, a friend of ours sailed from our adopted homeport of Brunswick, Georgia, on the first leg of a planned circumnav...
A tall-ship captain sails a petite Dana 24 Issue 72 : May/Jun 2010 Minstrel is the perfect name for Karen Sullivan’s Dana 24. Karen has done a fair amount of wandering from coast to coast and beyond a...
Is it really good for the soul? Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 I have a confession to make. I have booked a passage to Alaska on a cruise ship. I’m confessing because for years I’ve been saying to anyone wit...
Cruisers pull together for the dear departed Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 The brassy summer sun beat down on the tiny Turkish port of Marmaris. Tom, the crusty old Brit, sat sweating under his cockpit awni...
Listening to the lovely sound of no engine Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 “If you don’t mind, let’s not start the engine yet,” Jim said as we sailed across a tide rip between Sucia Island and Patos Island St...
The point of going is to be gone Issue 73 : Jul/Aug 2010 This summer — for the first time in my adult life — I will have a 12-week vacation. By the time you read this issue, Jerry and I will have just...
It doesn’t get any better than this Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Like most boats in the north, mine spends the winter hauled out and bundled up, gathering snowdrifts and growing icicles. To feed my sailin...
It’s just a friendly get-together — they say Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 The silver lure soared into the soft late afternoon sunlight before splashing into the quiet water of Mattituck Harbor, Long Islan...
She’s the best crew a man could hope for Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 Too many stories about my sailing exploits leave out, or at least don’t give enough credit to, my first mate, Jac. Here is a girl who,...
When cruising, our days begin with tea and the forecast Issue 74 : Sept/Oct 2010 One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as we cruise is the difference between weather reports for the landed gentry an...
Code words let Mars understand Venus Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 The question comes up a lot. Not from sailing friends, they are mostly too polite, but landlubbing friends don’t mind asking, “When you’ve ...
A chance encounter opens a window in time Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 A few years before I was born, my parents bought a 26-foot Sparkman & Stephens-designed New Horizon sailboat built by Ray Green. T...
A well-loved sailboat sparks a romance Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 The town of Annapolis has a reputation as a drinking town with a sailing problem. If that’s true, I would add that many of the sailboats ...
How do boats get our attention? Issue 75 : Nov/Dec 2010 One of these days, scientists will announce a study that shows boats excrete pheromones and that certain groups of humans are drawn irresistibly...
Independence is the best gift for a youth Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 If our priorities define us, then my husband, Dave, and I are irresponsible, capricious, and more fond of boats than money. A few Nove...
Joint ownership provided a path to the water Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Picnicking one day in a park in Oxford, Maryland, on Chesapeake Bay, we watched sailboats glide into a wooded anchorage. That did i...
A schooner’s crew won’t be dock-bound by a defunct engine Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Sailing a heavy fixed-keel boat without an engine could be viewed as a challenge and a good opportunity to improve one...
Seafaring women earn the right to lament Issue 76 : Jan/Feb 2011 Not all women believe they were meant to go to sea. I’m convinced, in fact, that the vast majority are sure that women are not meant to...
Even where it’s endless summer, the weather rings the changes Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 My son’s education is lacking. Now in his ninth year of homeschooling, he’s earning A grades in physics, Spanish I...
Consignment stores match good old parts to new old boats Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 Let’s say a part on your boat needs to be replaced. Perhaps the fuel gauge isn’t working. You poke around online for a ...
A boat provides a happy mix of activities and security Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 Naming a boat is serious business. When we upgraded from a decrepit 1972 Cal 20 to our second boat, a 1976 27-foot O’Day,...
A sailor and photographer recalls a dream assignment Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 Every once in a while a boat comes along that captures your heartstrings. Thankfully, it usually happens at a dock or marin...
And guaranteed not to drag Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 Every sailor knows the price of gear goes up exponentially with size. Interestingly, this appears to be completely untrue once an anchor gets above a...
Grandfathering kids into sailing Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 The story of Pop Pop’s Cruise is rooted in a question asked of me by my 18-year-old grandson, Tony, when he was just 9. Following an extended t...
The secret to harmony aboard Issue 77 : Mar/Apr 2011 There is aboard some couples’ sailboats a phenomenon known aboard our boat as “the Princess Principle.” This is a condition in which the guy (usual...
Shared experiences a world apart Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 As we worked our way inshore at Lovell’s Island to anchor for the night — after spending a day ashore in Boston — I waited too long to give the...
Fundraising and fun at the Hospice Turkey Shoot Regatta Issue 79: July/Aug 2011 August, 2006 At first we thought it was trash, the Ziploc-enclosed brochure thrown into the cockpit of our Bristol Chann...
Bird sightings enrich the cruising experience Issue 78 : May/Jun 2011 We never took much notice of birds before we went to sea. We didn’t need to. We had human company everywhere we went. Not all of i...





































