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by Meredith Laitos

Meredith Laitos is SAIL’s Senior Editor. She sails in and around Boston and specializes in charter destinations.

Much Ado About St. Martin

by Meredith Laitos, Posted November 11, 2010
Most people think of St. Martin/Sint Maarten—northernmost of the Leeward Islands—as being half-French, half-Dutch. But it’s also Creole, Caribbean and a hodgepodge of over 125 other nationalities. More importantly, it is an excellent jumping off point for a charter cruise replete with lovely sailing, blue bays, white sand beaches and high-end French shopping and cuisine.Several charter

Work Hard, Play Hard

by Meredith Laitos, Posted November 10, 2010
After four years of college sailing, I thought I knew a thing or two about sailboat racing: hit hard, hike hard, trim well and yell loudly enough to intimidate the competition. Then I stepped aboard my first big keelboat, where I found winches, heavy lines, an electrical panel and a loud, frightening engine. Though I understood the principles of sailing, this was a very different animal from a

An Extreme Passage

by Meredith Laitos, Posted November 5, 2010
“I am at the entrance to Dease Strait, and last night I tied up to a large piece of ice using rope and an ice axe. I managed to get a good five hours of sleep.” Graeme Kendall, September 1, 2010Challenges like this were par for the course during Graeme Kendall’s recent transit of the Northwest Passage. On September 9, 2010, the Kiwi sailor became the first

Secrets of the Virgin Islands

by Meredith Laitos, Posted September 24, 2010
In the October issue of SAIL, we take you on charter adventures in the Spanish, U.S. and British Virgin Islands. You may have sailed there a dozen times before, but there are always new gems to discover. We asked our panel of Island Experts to divulge their best Virgin Island charter secrets. Here's what they came up with

The Longest Starting Sequence

by Meredith Laitos, Posted September 23, 2010
On Memorial Day weekend in 1972, four sailing buddies came up with a great idea. “Let’s sail from Hyannis to Nantucket, spend the long weekend there, then sail back—and let’s race.”It was so much fun they decided to do it again, inviting other friends to join in. By 1978, there were more than 75 boats on the starting line, and the newly established race committee added a lay-day in

Florida's Nightmare

by Meredith Laitos, Posted September 23, 2010
“We were having our best year ever. People were booked back to back to back. The instructors were starting to complain that they couldn’t get a day off…then the oil hit.” For Peggy Van Sleen of Emerald Coast Yachts (ECY) in Pensacola, Florida, the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill has devastated more than just the Gulf of Mexico; it’s crippled her charter company as well.The worst oil spill in

Island Yachts wins Green Award

by Meredith Laitos, Posted July 28, 2010
The water may be blue, but Island Yacht Charters, Inc. has gone green. The St. Thomas-based bareboat charter company recently received the 2010 National EPA Environmental Quality Award in recognition of a multi-year effort to make its boats and its base more earth-friendly.Over the course of the past five years, Island Yachts transformed its fleet of 16 Island Packets, ranging in size from

Fitness At Sea

by Meredith Laitos, Posted July 14, 2010
The old axiom that “War is hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror” might as easily be applied to sailing. You may spend hours lounging in a sun-baked cockpit, but you must always be ready to jump into action, to grind a winch, raise a sail or simply brace yourself against 20 degrees of heel as wind and waves threaten to throw you overboard.These explosive maneuvers are the

Life After Graduation

by Meredith Laitos, Posted July 12, 2010
You’ve taken the sailing courses, received your certifications and spent a few summers crewing on your friend’s raceboat. You’ve learned to tie a mean bowline and trim a pretty mainsail. Still, the reason you first ventured into the world of sailing, to captain a charterboat in an exotic locale surrounded by friends and family, seems just out of your reach—and you’re not alone. In February 2010,

On the Shoulders of Giants

by Meredith Laitos, Posted June 14, 2010
In a classroom on Captiva Island in Florida, six students gather around a white board and watch their instructor draw a diagram of the points of sail. The students range in age from 30 to 70 and hail from Ireland, South Africa, Texas and New York. As their minds take in the new information, a door opens behind them. “Hi, we’re Steve and Doris Colgate!” says a grinning Doris. “Just stopping by to
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