The past year has been a strange and tragic one, to say the least. A funny thing happened, though, on the way to everybody just saying to hell with it and giving up. Namely, people—and sailors, in particular—didn’t. Despite the uncertainty, sailors from coast-to-coast took to ...read more
Presented by VETUS MAXWELL Got a tip? Send it to sailmail@sailmagazine.com Steer into the Seas Any sailor’s natural mindset is to steer straight along the shortest distance between two points. In heavy beam seas, though, this can be uncomfortable or even dangerous. When the ...read more
TIME FOR NEW SAILS? Q: I have had the same Dacron sails on my boat for five years, and the previous owner had them for a number of years before that. I know that they are getting old, but how do I know when it’s time to replace them? Pat Chandler, Chardin, OH BRIAN HANCOCK ...read more
For the past seven years my wife, Jody, and I have been cruising aboard Blue Pelican, our Pearson 424 ketch. We spent most of those years sailing the East Coast of the United States and the Caribbean, but in 2015 we transited the Panama Canal and sailed Blue Pelican across the ...read more
Sailmaking ain’t what it used to be, especially out in the Nevada desert Some years ago I visited the Bavaria factory and was amused at the thought of a powerhouse boatbuilder turning out its products smack bang in the middle of rural Germany, surrounded by fields of cows and ...read more