Sailboat Cruising

Although big, multi-million-dollar projects like the Large Hadron Collider and the human genome project with their legions of PHD’s tend to grab headlines, there’s still a part of play for the “citizen scientists” of the world. Amateur birders have long contributed to an ...read more

Discovering Amistad and Mystic Seaport Museum have partnered to organize their third annual Juneteenth festival, featuring concerts, speakers and a reflection on the lasting legacy of racial injustice in America. Declared a National Holiday in 2021, Juneteenth celebrates the end ...read more

My first job ever on a boat was picking weevils out of bags of sugar in preparation for a 1,200-mile delivery from the South Pacific island of Tonga to Opua, New Zealand, aboard a 43ft catamaran. Up to that point in my life, the sum total of all my sailing experience had been a ...read more

This June, after over 25 years of research, planning and work, the completed replica of the Virginia will be launched from the Bath Freight Shed in Bath, Maine. This former railway station has been converted into a maritime hidden gem, featuring a small visitor center and ...read more

As long-term cruisers, my partner, Timo, and I are used to up-cycling our belongings into any new items we might need rather than looking for a store-bought solution. Making a crib for our son, Nemo, was no exception. A few weeks before I was due to give birth, Timo and I ran an ...read more

I was never supposed to take my boat through New York City. After getting sucked backward through the Cape Cod Canal on my way south from Maine, when the speed of the current exceeded the maximum speed of my little electric auxiliary, I wanted nothing to do with Hell Gate and ...read more

Even the dome of light glowing above the city behind us had disappeared as if swallowed in a gulp by Noah’s whale. The moon was absent. Not a star twinkled overhead. The night was so dark we could have been floating in a pot of black ink. The only artificial lights to be seen ...read more

Every year, countless parents find themselves navigating the do’s and don’ts of enrolling their children in a summer learn-to-sail program for the first time. While the prospect of getting your kid on the water is exciting, as a sailing camp program director, there are a lot of ...read more

“Keep it simple, sailor,” was always our mantra. Aboard our 1985 Niagara 35, Plaintiff’s Rest, my partner, Phillip, and I didn’t have heat, AC, a hot-water heater, generator, watermaker or bow thruster, which meant we also didn’t have to absorb the costs and time required to ...read more

February 2, 2019. Somewhere near mid-Atlantic, on passage aboard the Swan 48, Isbjørn, from Gran Canaria to Antigua, from my personal logbook: “Something clicked for me in the early morning hours after midnight. I had slept well before Mia woke me up at 0200 to finish her ...read more

The autopilot on my 35ft sloop, Second Wind, had been both commissioned and sea-trialed. I had also completed all of the other upgrades I’d had planned in preparation for perhaps a year-long cruise through the Caribbean. Working with various local technicians, I’d added solar ...read more

An ex-Vendée Globe racer is an unusual choice as a world cruiser, so why was it ours? Although we already both owned a pair of production boats, my partner, Timo, and I were searching for something to spice up our cruising life. We toyed with the idea of a classic schooner, but ...read more

I walked up to the bathroom and the couple was just getting out of their boat. The man appeared to be in surprisingly good shape. He was well tanned, trim and muscular, not exactly what you would expect for a guy in his 70s. He appeared to be moving without any stiffness. The ...read more

The Bath Freight Shed is a long, low building that smells like wood shavings and is lit by twinkling strings of lights in the rafters. When you first enter, a small exhibit space introduces the significance of the place, complete with historic artifacts and models of a tall ship ...read more

Let’s talk about performance sailing. Specifically, women’s involvement on the big boats. The idea of inclusive sailing at the highest level is not a recent phenomenon. In fact, in 1900 (yes, you read that right, 122 years ago) Hélène de Pourtalè was the first woman to ever ...read more

The January 14 volcanic eruption in Tonga not only triggered tsunami surges in coastal communities as far away as Japan and Canada, these same surges battered hundreds of boats throughout the region. The most damage was done on Tonga’s largest island, Tongatapu, where volcanic ...read more

The first map of the Gulf Stream, which Benjamin Franklin helped create by tapping the combined knowledge of the whalemen and merchant captains of his day Although enormous multi-million-dollar projects like the Large Hadron Collider and the Human Genome Project with their ...read more

Pre-cook your meals for the first two days. Reef early. Don’t drink too much the night before departure. Don’t expect to poop until the third day at sea. Don’t sail to a schedule. Some lessons are ubiquitous and obvious (including the pooping one, though it might not be as ...read more

Time was sail-powered vessels ruled the waves. The Age of Sail, as we now call it, lasted millennia. Then came steam engines and the internal combustion engine. For over a century, sail hung on. But the end was never really in doubt, and with the arrival of the 20th century, ...read more

February is National Black History Month, and to celebrate we’re highlighting some of the contributions of Black sailors at the height of the Age of Sail. For centuries here in the United States, sailing was one of the most equitable professions for Black Americans. It was a ...read more

The waters off the Atlantic coast of the southern Iberian Peninsula can be tough enough as it is, but in recent months resident pods of orcas have created a whole new kind of challenge, ramming boats and chewing off rudders. Though initially confined to smaller vessels, larger ...read more

. In episode three of the Practical Celestial Navigation course, Andy Howe examines the theory behind celestial navigation, the celestial triangle and the celestial sphere, and why it is important to have a basic understanding of each. Topics introduced include zenith position, ...read more

Celestial navigation is an invaluable tool for all kinds of sailors. In episode two of the celestial navigation series, learn the basic elements of navigation and the sight reduction process using declination and GHA to determine the Geographic Position and navigate using a ...read more

Along with other timeless pursuits, like baking sourdough and gardening, singing sea shanties surged back into popularity during the recent lockdown, thanks, in part, to the app TikTok and its “duet” feature, which allows singers from around the world create music together. By ...read more

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, local racing had resumed with household crews only. My wife, though, while always up for a pleasure sail, was not up for this kind of thing, so, for the fifth time in what was any measure an unusual sailing season, I found myself singlehanding my ...read more

Have you ever wondered how sailors navigated before GPS? Do you want an analogue backup if your electronics fail? Are you just curious about navigating by the stars? Enter Practical Celestial Navigation from The Nav Station. This free, online course will cover celestial theory, ...read more

Hanneke Boon, one of James Wharram's longtime partners, has announced that the famed catamaran pioneer passed last week after a long battle with Alzheimer's. He was 93. In a statement posted to the Wharram website, she said "People would refer to James as the great James ...read more

While neither my wife, Ivy, nor I came with a sailing pedigree, there has always been a sailboat in our marriage. Now, with our careers approaching their final curtain, we’re drafting plans to cross old waypoints and establish new ones as we retrace a journey that takes us back ...read more

We’re broad reaching with two reefs already in the main and the breeze rapidly building. We’ve already seen gusts in the upper 20s and a few above 30 knots. A third reef is clearly needed, but luffing up to depower the mainsail will see the apparent wind spike from the low 20s ...read more

The much-anticipated opening of Lovango Resort and Beach Club, on December 20th will mark the first time in nearly 30 years that a new resort has opened in the US Virgin Islands. "Lovango" as the locals call it is a private island just across the bay from St. John, and the ...read more

I was preparing some tea just before heading topside for my watch. Even though it was summertime, the tea was not iced—it was hot. That’s because our boat was in the High Arctic. We were trying to complete a westbound transit of the treacherous Northwest Passage. If we ...read more

I suppose it isn’t merely a coincidence that I’ve made significant changes to the sailplans of the last three cruising boats I’ve owned. The first project was the biggest. My old Golden Hind 31, Sophie, had lots of charm and character, but her sloop rig was laughably small. ...read more

Gragkkkk! Schschs! These are NOT the sounds you want to hear as you trailer your boat to the launch ramp. I was about a mile away from the ramp at the time, and looking in the rearview mirror I immediately noticed Betty Jane, my 1982 Mystic 20 Catboat, was now riding a good deal ...read more

Following a taco dinner and brief nap at anchor, the Swan 59 Icebear set sail from Falmouth, Antigua, weighing anchor at about 20 minutes to midnight. The first passage of the season had begun. As Icebear’s chief mate, one of my responsibilities is stocking the boat with food ...read more