Sail Magazine

by Amy Ullrich

Chartering with a Crew in the BVIs

by Amy Ullrich, Posted March 15, 2012

Most sailors I know—and there are many sailors where I live in coastal Massachusetts—are unmitigated do-it-yourselfers who like to do their own trip planning, boat prepping, provisioning, cooking and cleaning.

DVD Review: Around Alone

by Amy Ullrich, Posted June 1, 2011

In 1983, Dodge Morgan, then 53, sold his electronics company and made a promise to himself: he would sail around the world, alone, without stopping. He hoped to complete the 27,459-nautical-mile voyage onboard his 60-foot cutter, American Promise, in 220 days. That would require him to sail 100 miles a day at an average speed of 6.25 knots. As Morgan boarded American Promise in

River Cruising

by Amy Ullrich, Posted March 7, 2011

A pamphlet I picked up in a tourism office in Cahors, the big city” of the Lot Valley, refers to the area as la France profonde (“deep France”). The phrase is in fact the title of a book by a French academic, Michel Dion, and refers to the culture and traditions of village life in rural France—the “real” France as it was. The pamphlet doesn’t elaborate further, but this

40 Years of Chartering (and Then Some)

by Amy Ullrich, Posted March 2, 2010

When we arrived at The Moorings’s Tortola base last February, our 40-foot catamaran was waiting at the dock, replete with modern conveniences: electric refrigeration, electric heads that always worked, a propane stove and, of course, a compass and an anemometer. We pre-ordered some provisions from a long online list and bought the rest from a nearby supermarket and a well-stocked store on the

Decisions, Decisions

by Amy Ullrich, Posted January 7, 2010

"If I were on my boat, I wouldn’t go out today,” says Harry from the wheel. Of course he wouldn’t. Harry and Lyn Wey—friends, neighbors and lifelong sailors—keep their boat in Maine, where even a tiny splash could freeze you in the winter. Harry, who is on his first Virgin Islands charter, hasn’t quite tuned in to the essential facts of Caribbean sailing: any splash will be as warm as bathwater

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

Oh, the Places You Can Go

by Amy Ullrich, Posted March 9, 2009

With daily news about the increasing awfulness of the economy, this seems the wrong time to be planning an exotic charter vacation in a far-away place. But it’s not the wrong time to think about it in a recreational sort of way. I like to think about particularly successful or unusual charters of the past, hoping that at some happier moment they will turn into charters of the future. Meanwhile,

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

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)