Destinations

Where to Charter: Antigua

by David Schmidt, Posted May 11, 2011

You’ll have to go pretty far to find better sailing conditions or a more pleasant Caribbean destination than Antigua. The tradewinds here typically blow out of the east at 15 knots, and the island’s high coastline provides a spectacular backdrop. On shore you’ll find great restaurants, sailor-friendly bars, quaint villages and an abundance of great anchorages.“The four main places that I

The Chesapeake Bay

by Meredith Laitos, Posted June 13, 2011

When John Smith sailed into the Chesapeake Bay in 1607, he couldn’t have known the precedent he was setting. Ever since that early cruise, the area has been teeming with sailboats—everything from skipjacks dredging for oysters to race boats competing in regattas and flagships strutting their stuff at the United States Sailboat Show. With all of this on-water action, it’s no surprise that a dozen

The Young and the Restless

by Meredith Laitos, Posted June 23, 2011

This article originally appeared in the December 2009 issueLook around a skippers’ meeting at a typical regatta and you’ll see all the usual suspects: seasoned salts, their families and a smattering of recent college grads or young adults sampling the sailing culture. The same folks populate most charter bases and destinations, which makes sense, considering the means and

Hole in the wall

by Duncan Gould, Posted April 6, 2009

From a mile out you see nothing but a sheer rock wall, 150 feet high and running both ways for miles. Run up to the north a bit and a sliver of a crack appears—the Hole in the Wall, one of Langkawi, Malaysia’s hidden jewels. Once you’ve butted through the tidal outflow, a view like a Chinese landscape opens. Mangroves line the shorelines, and limestone cliffs climb 500 feet

Sailing Turkey's Turquoise Coast

by Amy Ullrich, Posted March 12, 2009

Blue Voyages along the Aegean and Mediterranean coasts of Turkey were the brainchild of either Cevat Sakir Kabaagacli, a writer, or Bedri Rahmi Eybo˘glu, a painter and poet; Bedri Rahmi has a bay named for him, so perhaps he’s the one. Both found themselves in the area for one reason or another and encouraged their friends to visit. The friends publicized the beauties of the coast and the lives

Charter in the San Juans

by Robby Robinson, Posted March 9, 2009

"It really was warmer last week (last month/yesterday).”We heard that refrain throughout our brief week’s cruise. Wherever the warmth was, we missed it. Chartering in mid-August in the San Juan Islands, the storied archipelago of the Pacific Northwest, we weren’t prepared to don multiple layers, burrow in sleeping bags, and crank up our in-cabin heater every morning.

Summer Vacations: Cruising French Polynesia

by Amy Ullrich, Posted March 9, 2009

The first Europeans to come to French Polynesia were Spanish and Portuguese explorers, in the early 17th century. They were followed by a Dutchman, Le Maire; the British; the Frenchman Bougainville, in 1768, who at least gave his name to a plant; and Captain Cook in 1769 (to observe the transit of Venus), 1772, and 1779. It seems fair to say that they were all overwhelmed by

Spectator sport

by Amy Ullrich, Posted February 11, 2009

When I was visiting Bequia as part of a press trip a year or so ago, I took a walk along the Port Elizabeth waterfront and came upon a man fussing with his boat. We chatted for a while about boats and life; then he told me his crew was AWOL for the day’s racing, and he invited me to join him. I recognized this as the chance of a lifetime, but I was, first, overwhelmed by the size of the mainsail

Mediterranean charter tips

by Sail Staff, Posted February 11, 2009

We North American sailors tend to take our “away” sailing vacations in the Caribbean, where the charter companies are well known through advertising and magazine articles. And it’s certainly not hard to find a fellow sailor who’s been there, done it, and can’t tell you enough about it. That’s the good news. We’ve also come to expect, and get, a high level of service and a certain amount of

Summer is a-coming in

by Amy Ullrich, Posted February 11, 2009

Eventually. But now, as this issue of SAIL is arriving in your mailbox, is the time to start making plans for Summer ’09 if you’re thinking about a charter cruise in southern New England. The cruising grounds range from Massachusetts to Rhode Island to Connecticut, and the waters are chockablock with iconic destinations: the big, inhabited islands (Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Block Island)