Pacific

The End of the World

by Sail Staff, Posted August 8, 2008

Cruising the challenging waters of the Beagle Channel and Cape HornThe change in the weather is as emphatic as it is fast. One moment we're meandering along, running wing-and-wing before a light northerly breeze that's just enough to get our heavy 56-footer trundling along at 5 knots. The next, the sky to the west takes on a gunmetal hue and the jib shakes itself as the

Las Islas Encantadas

by Amy Ullrich, Posted August 14, 2008

Charles Darwin wasn’t impressed when in 1835 the Beagle arrived at her first landfall in the Galapagos Islands at San Cristbal (then Chatham Island), which was my starting point too. “Nothing could be less inviting than the first appearance,” he wrote. “A broken field of black basaltic lava, thrown into the most rugged waves, and crossed by great fissures, is everywhere covered

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

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

A Taste of the East

by Nigel Calder, Posted January 4, 2011

You know you are in for a different kind of cruising experience when a) the guide book says: “Do not go ashore onto either of the Koh Liang islands. They are sites for the collection of swallow’s nests to make bird’s nest soup. They are patrolled by local Thais armed with automatic weapons;” and b) the charter base manager (ours was Andy Middleton, who runs the Sunsail base in Langkawi, Malaysia)

Whitsunday Magic

by Adam Cort, Posted September 30, 2011

Australia’s Whitsunday Islands, on the edge of the Great Barrier Reef just off the Queensland coast, are one of those “bucket list” destinations, known far and wide for great snorkeling, great sailing and some of the best beaches in the world. This past February, I had the opportunity to explore the islands aboard the 41-foot Seawind 1250 catamaran Seawindow, which proved to be the