Sail Magazine

by Fred Bagley

Animal Encounters Under Sail

by Fred Bagley, Posted April 1, 2012

Cruising the Great Lakes has one drawback: you don’t see many whales or dolphins, or frigatebirds or puffins, for that matter. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still have plenty of equally meaningful brushes with nature.

The Finest Stretch of Water...Anywhere

by Fred Bagley, Posted July 1, 2011

This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issueThe question came up every year: “Whadya think about chartering in the Caribbean?” And every year the answer was the same: “Nah.”My wife, Jennifer, and I sail our Caliber 38, Catamount, in the northern latitudes, on the fresh waters of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. The idea of chartering in the Caribbean

Cruising Croatia

by Fred Bagley, Posted March 10, 2011

I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy, but here I am sampling octopus salad. When I grab it's usually a Bud, but today I'm enjoying a Karlovacko. I usually anchor in monosyllabic places like Gore Bay, but tonight the hook is dropping in Starogradski Zaljev. My chartplotter has always read longitude west of Greenwich, but this screen says 16 degrees east. Where am I?Croatia,

Locking Through The Soo

by Fred Bagley, Posted January 4, 2011

Many Great Lakes sailors make the pilgrimage to Mackinac Island at the junction of lakes Michigan and Huron. But those who want real adventure head north to the St. Mary’s River, the border between the United States and Canada, and check out the twin towns of Sault St. Marie, which lie in Michigan and Ontario and are known collectively as “The Soo.”The St. Mary’s River drains Lake Superior

No One Goes There: Manitoulin Island Circumnav

by Fred Bagley, Posted July 22, 2010

My wife, Jennifer, and I cruise Lake Huron’s famous North Channel on Catamount, our Caliber 38. We enjoy its many hidden anchorages, which are surrounded by four-billion-year-old granite and quartzite hills studded with wild blueberries. Smack in the heart of this great cruising ground is Manitoulin Island, which forms much of the channel’s south shore and is the biggest freshwater

Winter Vacation

by Fred Bagley, Posted October 22, 2009

The question came up every year: “Whadya think about chartering in the Caribbean?” And every year the answer was the same: “Nah.”My wife, Jennifer, and I sail our Caliber 38, Catamount, in the northern latitudes, on the fresh waters of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron. The idea of chartering in the Caribbean raised many different questions: Isn’t everything so

Island Time: Lake Michigan

by Fred Bagley, Posted October 1, 2009

Every time my wife Jennifer and I sail to the Beaver Islands, something goes wrong. So why do we keep going there? Initially it was because of where they are, but now it's because of what they are.First, the "where" part. The Beavers are a dozen islands in northern Lake Michigan, 30 miles from Michigan sailing centers like Mackinac Island, Harbor Springs and Charlevoix. To the west, it's a

Getting away from it all on Lake Michigan

by Fred Bagley, Posted September 3, 2009

Every time my wife Jennifer and I sail to the Beaver Islands, something goes wrong. So why do we keep going there? Initially it was because of where they are, but now it’s because of what they are.First, the “where” part. The Beavers are a dozen islands in northern Lake Michigan, 30 miles from Michigan sailing centers like Mackinac Island, Harbor Springs and Charlevoix.

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

Too Much Fog, Too Damn Cold

by Fred Bagley, Posted August 13, 2008

Every once in a while, lake Superior fails to live up to its fearsome reputationStory and Photos by Fred BagleyMy wife’s father was 98 years old when I asked him why, having sailed Lake Michigan and Lake Huron’s North Channel for 65 years, he had never taken any of his boats to lake Superior. George replied without hesitation, “Too much fog, too damn cold.”Superior’s