Cruising Grounds

Heading Home

by Fred Bagley, Posted April 13, 2009

It’s not because you can’t get there. Or that it’s dinky. In fact, it’s the biggest city on the biggest freshwater lake in the world. It’s just that it is the farthest end of the biggest and baddest freshwater lake in the world.H.O.M.E.S: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior. Childhood mnemonic for memorizing the five Great Lakes.By now all you Carmen Sandiego

Port of Call: Beaufort, North Carolina

by Peter Nielsen, Posted January 13, 2011

For cruisers bound south from points north, the long slog down the Intracoastal Waterway often ends at Beaufort, North Carolina, on the Crystal Coast, at the southern end of the Outer Banks. For some weary sailors, this backwater (in the best sense of the word) provides a chance to recuperate, repair, regroup, refuel and re-provision before firing up the diesel once more and plugging on down

Fine & Wild

by Jayne Finn, Posted September 7, 2011

Conventional wisdom dictates that you not enter an unknown harbor at night, and as we prepare to depart Quebec City, I wonder if the same applies to leaving. For three days the wind has been blowing a steady 25-plus knots from the east, against the current of the Saint Lawrence River, pinning us down in Bassin Louise, the old port, now Quebec City marina. But let's be clear; this is not a

Stories from The South Pacific: Time Out in Tonga

by Peter Nielsen, Posted October 22, 2012

Eskimos, according to urban legend, have 32 words for snow. Or perhaps it’s nine, or 15. No matter. Tongans must have at least that many words for the color blue.

Sunstone Discovered in Ancient Shipwreck

by Becca Oken, Posted April 29, 2013

Scientists recently discovered what they believe to be an ancient “sunstone” at the site of a 1592 British shipwreck near the island of Alderney in the English Channel. Before the invention of GPS or even magnetic compasses, sailors may have used this as a navigatation tool on cloudy days.

The Joy of Gunkholing

by David W. Shaw, Posted August 11, 2008

There's more to cruising than wide-open spacesI glanced to port at the anvil-shaped cloud rising high over the mainland to the west, then at the genoa eased to catch a southerly breeze blowing anemically up the Johns River off Elizabeth's stern. My heavy full-keel Bristol 24 barely moved. More to the point, I was losing the race with my friend's Tartan 27 as he glided toward

Out the Gate to the Giant Dipper

by Sail Staff, Posted May 7, 2009

Sailors and non-sailors alike respectfully refer to the ocean beyond my home waters of San Francisco Bay as “Outside the Gate.” Along the northern California coast there are miles of rocky coastline separating the few harbors of refuge, which often have challenging entrances. Along the way you had best be prepared for strong winds, fog, and sizable seas. Of course, it may also

Dry Tortugas Adventure

by Jack Foard, Posted January 24, 2011

Drop your hook in crystal clear turquoise water, walk these white sandy beaches under the bright warm sun and blue sky, and you might just think you are somewhere deep in the Bahamas or Caribbean. It’s hard to believe the Dry Tortugas, my favorite sailing destination in Florida, is only 70 miles west of Key West.It was 2000 on a warm September evening when my wife, Desir, my sister Jane,

Port of Call: Penn Cove, Washington

by David Schmidt, Posted October 31, 2011

While Pacific Northwesteners are a laid-back lot, some things are sacrosanct. Take seafood. Sure, we might roll into the marina in an aging Subaru wearing worn-out Birkenstocks, battle-scarred jeans and an old regatta T-shirt, but you can bet your last roll of duct tape we don’t tolerate inferior seafood. Why should we?

Stories from the South Pacific: Entranced in Tahiti

by Wally Moran, Posted October 25, 2012

I yearn to return to Tahiti. I was there in 2010 for the Pearl Regatta and fell in love with the islands. I can still hear the crash of surf outside my room that first night, smell the scent of orchids at the top of the mountain on Raiatea...