SAIL.SailMagazine

Inshore Racing On the East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast...on the Great Lakes and all the little lakes and rivers, too—most American sailors have been wooed at one point or another by the siren call of an occasional low-stress, mid-week race. (OK, perhaps it was the skipper’s promise of beer and burgers afterwards.) These informal “beer-can chases” are a great way to break up the
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Inshore Racing On the East Coast, West Coast, and Gulf Coast...on the Great Lakes and all the little lakes and rivers, too—most American sailors have been wooed at one point or another by the siren call of an occasional low-stress, mid-week race. (OK, perhaps it was the skipper’s promise of beer and burgers afterwards.) These informal “beer-can chases” are a great way to break up the
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Cruising I steered Sonata, my 1981 Pearson 36 cutter, out of the landcut linking Goose Creek to Bay River, in eastern North Carolina. Turning to my wife, Liz, I triumphantly announced, “We’re done! No more landcuts till next spring.”

Liz smiled quizzically. “What?” she asked. “You mean you don’t like landcuts? Imagine that.”

We’d navigated many landcuts along the

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Everything Else Summer sailing and fun in the water go hand-in-hand, and there’s nothing like a few water toys to keep younger crews amused in those quiet anchorages. The limited stowage on most sailboats rules out carrying traditional kayaks or windsurfers on board, so we thought we’d try out a selection of inflatable/collapsible playtime gear. As SAIL’s intern, I was volunteered to be the “splash-test
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Northeast A gentle west wind rippled the placid waters of Silver Bay, glistening in the light of a full moon that truly did make the bay look silvery. I was sitting alone in the cockpit, a cold beer in hand. Beads of condensation from the bottle dampened my palm. It was after Labor Day and the anchorage was deserted, except for me and my two Elizabeths.

A flash of light caught my

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